When you're a novice guitar player, it's easy to get frustrated when your instrument goes out of tune. While you can have your guitar teacher tune the instrument when you arrive for your guitar lessons, this won't necessarily help on the days between the lessons when the instrument goes out of tune again. The best strategy is to take steps to avoid this problem. There are a variety of different methods at your disposal and, while you'll still need to tune your instrument on occasion, these strategies should lengthen the time between tunings.

Lighten Your Pick

If you typically play with a heavy guitar pick, you're exerting more force on the strings each time that you strum. As you play, all this force will cause the strings to go out of tune quicker. Although some players favor heavy picks, try a medium- or light-gauge pick and see how it feels in your fingers. Lighter picks exert very little force on the strings, which can help prevent going out of tune.

Skip The Whammy Bar Tricks

For electric guitars that have a tremolo system, it can be tempting to bend the sound of your tones by pulling on the tremolo arm — more commonly known as the "whammy bar." This technique might seem fun, but few things will put your guitar out of tune more quickly. Remove the bar from the tremolo system so that you're not tempted to use it, and learn how to gently change the sound of notes through bends with your fretting hand. These bends are less aggressive than using the whammy bar and won't put your guitar out of tune as easily.

Invest In A Hard Case

If you have a soft-sided gig bag for your guitar, you might be putting your instrument out of tune slightly when you transport it back and forth between home and your lesson. A gig bag provides little padding, which means that any bumps during transit can risk putting the guitar out of tune. Avoid this problem by investing in a hard case. It will offer better overall protection, including keeping your instrument in tune while you travel.

Change Your Strings

Although changing your strings can be a bit of a challenge when you're a novice player, you shouldn't avoid doing so. Using old strings will not only negatively affect your tone, but can also make it difficult to keep the strings in tune because they're worn out and excessively stretched. Even if you have to visit a local guitar store to have someone put new strings on your instrument, it's a good idea as a strategy for keeping in tune.