OK! You have a guitar, maybe you’ve purchased the Worship guitar for Beginners course and now you’re ready to jump into your first lesson.

Awesome!

Before you do, you should make sure your guitar is in tune. An out of tune guitar can make perfectly played chords sound off, like you’re making a mistake, when in fact it’s just the tuning of the guitar that is off. When looking for a tuner for your guitar you will have no shortage of options. It can be very overwhelming. So we’ve narrowed down a list of three tuners that we have used in three different price points. Let’s get started on these options so you can move on and start learning chords and songs!

A quick note before jumping into our tuner options. Some acoustic-electric guitars have built-in tuners on their electronics board. If you’re just learning to play and you’re not needing to tune on stage right away, these onboard tuners will do just fine! However, in my experience, these tuners don’t always offer the greatest tuning. If you’re interested in something that will tune your guitar quicker and more efficiently, keep reading! 

Option #1 – The PanoTuner App (Free)
($1.99 upgrade available)

Everyone has a smartphone these days and there’s an app for everything so why not have a tuner on your phone?!

I have found this free tuning app to be very accurate when tuning my guitar. You can purchase a no-ads version for 1.99 but the free version is great too! One downside to the app is it can be hard to tune in loud environments. Which makes this tuner a little tricky on a worship team or in a noisy room.

Pros:

  • It’s free!
  • It’s Accurate
  • It’s available on iOS and Android

Cons:

  • It relies on your phone’s microphone to tune. Loud environments can make this app hard to use.
  • Not overly conducive for church (or noisy homes) use.

Option #2 – TC Electronic UniTune Clip ($29.99)

This TC Electronic clip on tuner looks nice, has a bright LED screen, and a metal casing. It clips to the end of your headstock and uses the vibrations of the guitar to tune the strings individually. These are easy to use and perfect for onstage in church or in your living room getting ready to learn a new worship song.

Pros:

  • Easy to read LED screen
  • durable design and build
  • very portable ( just keep it in your case)

Cons:

  • Can be awkward to use during worship services, if your guitar isn’t muted in the main speakers (or if you forget to turn down your volume knob) you might be able to hear your tuning in the congregation
  • Can be easy to misplace
  • May have to strum louder to get good enough vibration to pick up a signal on the tuner

Option #3 – Korg Pitchblack Mini Tuner Pedal

One of the best options for tuning on a worship stage is a pedal tuner. Your guitar goes straight into the tuner before going to other pedals or the direct box. The direct plugin is best because you don’t have to pluck the string to loudly to get a decent read. You simply click it on, tune, then click it off. The Korg Pitchblack Mini Tuner Pedal is a great small footprint tuner pedal. If it’s your only pedal it’s very easy to keep it (and the power supply) in your guitar case.

Pros:

  • A quieter option for a worship stage
  • Plugs in direct and mutes the output so your tuning won’t go through the main speakers

Cons:

  • It costs more

In conclusion, there are three really decent options for tuning your guitar. No matter what option you choose, one thing is for sure, your guitar will be in tune and ready to play some songs. Once you’re tuned up, hop into a lesson or your favorite song knowing the chords you play will be in perfect tuning.

If you would a guide on tuning your guitar be sure to check out our video tuning your guitar.