| If you play guitar consistently, you already know the | | | | accelerate the process a bit by "pre-stretching" the |
| importance of changing your strings on a regular basis. | | | | strings when you first put them on. |
| Old guitar strings lose their tone over time, and left on | | | | As you are installing each new string, gently rotate the |
| long enough, will eventually break. | | | | string, pulling and pushing it in a circular motion. |
| A guitar student playing on a daily or even casual basis | | | | This will help to get some of the stretch out of the |
| should replace guitar strings at least once a month. | | | | string before you actually start playing. Perform the |
| Many gigging guitarists will put on a new set of strings | | | | pre-stretch, tune the string to pitch, and repeat. |
| before every show. | | | | Do this several times until the string eventually remains |
| We all know the experience of putting on a fresh set | | | | at or close to proper pitch, then move on to the next |
| of guitar strings - installing the strings, getting tuned up, | | | | string. |
| then playing a song or two, only to realize the guitar is | | | | An important note is to do this "gently", and avoid |
| out of tune again. | | | | yanking on the string. Too much pressure can break |
| Then we tune up all over, play for a while, and before | | | | the string, or cause damage to the guitar nut resulting in |
| you know it, the strings are out of pitch again. | | | | a costly repair. |
| The reason for this is that new guitar strings go | | | | Speed up the normal stretching process of new guitar |
| through a "stretching" period before they finally "seat" | | | | strings by taking a minute to "pre-stretch" them, and |
| and hold in tune. | | | | you will find that you can quickly get back to what's |
| One way to alleviate part of this anomaly is to | | | | really important...playing guitar! |
