I came to a startling realization recently: Some of my students don't know how to tune a guitar by ear.
Spending some time to learn this very important skill is very worthwhile. I can easily see why some people never learn the skill. These days, it is super common to just stick a portable tuner on your headstock, and just rely on it for all your tuning needs. Problem is, what do you do if your battery dies? There are times i rely on electronic tuners as well. Mostly in the live performance setting, when a musician is expected to not only be in perfect tune with him/her self but all the other musicians on stage as well.
Taking the time to start being able to hear when a string is in tune is crucial if you ever want to develop good relative pitch. Relative Pitch is the ability to identify or re-create a given musical note by comparing it to a reference note. Once you develop this skill, you can start to pick out single note lines, and then chords and even eventually guitar solos. I truly believe that taking the time to pick up the tuning by ear can lead a person directly down that path.
There comes to mind another very practical reason one might want to be able to tune by ear. Say you just happen to find your guitar leaning against the wall in your house. The guitar hasn't been played in a while, and its most likely not tuned. You left your tuner at your friends' house. Damn, you think to yourself "I really wish i knew how to tune by ear." Go look up a youtube video and teach yourself this crucial skill today!
