Harmonic Tuning

Once you are satisfied with your ability to tune unisons, start practicing tuning octaves. Take any octave near middle C and mute out the upper two side strings of each note by inserting a wedge between them. Tune the upper note to the one an octave below, and vice versa. As with unisons, start near middle C, then work up to the highest treble, and then practice in the bass. Repeat the same practice with 5ths, 4ths, and major 3rds.

After you can tune perfect harmonics, try de-tuning to see if you can hear the increasing beat frequency as you deviate very slightly from perfect tune. Try to identify various beat frequencies, especially 1bps (beat per second) and 10bps, using 5ths. These skills will come in handy later.