I use either a standard tuner (the one I have is what I used to use for my violin), or the one built into my guitar. In the most basic sense, when you're holding the guitar: the top three pegs are turned away from you to make the note sharper (higher pitched), and toward you to make it flat (lower). It's the exact opposite for the bottom three pegs-- which is how I snapped my G-string. If you're using the tuner built into the guitar, you'll get a green light when the pitch is correct. If you're using something like my violin tuner, the needle will be centered on the screen. Just as a side note, I'm always at 440Hz with my violin tuner (it has to do with frequency, but don't worry about that too much).
The last thing I'll mention is different ways of tuning the guitar.
Standard tuning is EADGBe (excuse me for mixing up the A and D strings in the video).
Half a step down means Eb, Ab, Db, Gb, Bb, and eb. This took me a while to figure out, but the lower case "b" is used to mean "flat" in online tabs. So, E flat, A flat, etc. This means the top three pegs are turned towards you, to make the notes lower.
Drop D tuning means DADGBe.
Drop C is CGCFAD. This one tripped me up for a while, and I had to ask my friend for help. Basically, the first string drops two full notes (or "steps"), and each subsequent string drops one step. E goes down to D and then down to C. A drops to G, etc.
(For anyone who's not familiar with music at all, the notes are listed from A to G. Flats and sharps come in between the whole notes. If I have a C# (sharp), that's the same note as a Db (flat), because a sharp is half a step above a note, and a flat is half a step below a note.)-- If this is confusing, feel free to comment, and I'll ask my roommate (who's into music theory) to try and explain more clearly.
**Update** A quick note on "the hazards", which I suppose I haven't really gotten into yet: one of them of course (as mentioned above), is snapping a string while tuning.
Yet another, which has not been mentioned yet: not ten minutes after recording this video, have I lost my grip on the guitar pick, and dropped it inside my guitar. This is one of the most painful experiences you will ever go through while playing. Physical pain aside (unless your arm is really skinny, you can't reach in there and grab it), this is one of the most frustrating experiences I have ever had. Words of wisdom? It usually takes a lot of turning the guitar upside down and shaking it. It's especially difficult with mine, because of the numerous wires inside. The last time I did this, I was able to lift the pick out with a pair of tweezers. Just be careful not to drop those inside too.
**Update** My favorite guitar pick (.58 mm thickness), which has been stuck in my guitar since this post, has just been dislodged! I had been carrying the guitar back and forth today (2/22), since I was playing with my viola friend, and when I finally sat back down at my desk, I heard something that didn't sound like wires rattling around. Lo and behold, there lies my pick, obvious as ever within view of the sound hole. Took some maneuvering and tweezers again, but it has successfully been retrieved.
-Kal
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