I've just been looking at the electronic guitar tuners that clip on the guitar and wonder how they work and if they're any good.

My 10 year old son is about to start guitar lessons and I'm concerned that his guitar is going to be out of tune.  The family are all tone deaf so won't really be able to help him, and I would think it would take some time for him to become experienced enough to tune by ear himself.

I've been told that the cheaper the Guitar the quicker it goes out of tune, and so that he doesn't become frustrated with it and enjoys practising I've been wondering about these electronic tuners so that maybe I could help him a bit.

Are they easy to use for a non-musical person?  I've been looking at one that Argos have for £19.99

Any thoughts appreciated

Clio

My daughters both play guitar and they have one of these qwik tune things to tune them like this

ETA apparently I lied - one uses this one as she plays bass too :-D
No idea how easy they are but I'm sure his guitar teacher will demonstrate it for him :-)

My brother in law plays in a (quite successful) band and is also a guitar teacher.  I noticed recently that he uses one so it must be pretty effective!

If you go to a good music shop they'll probably use one too and will be able to explain what and why - I suspect speed is a key benefit .  Do check with the guitar teacher though, when my daughter had lessons this is one of the things they teach students and an ability to 'hear' music is very important.  The tuner might be useful for home though as packing the instrument in and out of a carry bag is all that's needed to louse it up again :)

Thanks for the suggestion - perhaps if I buy one for my daughter she might start playing again!!

Thanks

My sons lessons are only for half an hour and will be with 3/4 other children, so I don't expect the teacher will have a lot of time to tune each childs Guitar. 

I might get the one from Argos, it looks like it is digital so might be easier to use.  I think that I will need something to use at home in between lessons.