我不彈吉他的時候要怎麼樣保養我的琴弦？

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這個問題已經被問了無數遍了，但是還遠遠不夠，我希望能有更多人問我這個問題。因為它涉及到了很多重要的知識領域，你應該認識到要如何正確的去保養你的吉他。

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首先我需要提醒一下，你要確保吉他的每一根弦都在調上。這不僅意味著每兩個相鄰的音之間的音程要準確（這裡Wechter沒有講明音程，音程就是兩個音之間的高低差距。大部分人都可以根據外界給出的一個標準的音高，然後用腦中的固有音程，把其他的音唱出來。舉個例子：如果我給你一個正確的數字「1」，你腦中的前後兩個數字的差是50，你就可以算出51、101、151。如果我給你一個錯誤的數字「2」，你腦中的前後兩個數字的差不變，你算出的52、102、152就都是錯的。同理，如果我給你一個標準的Do，普通人可以接著這個Do唱出Re、Mi、Fa、So……如果給你一個音高根本不是Do的Do，那你後面所謂的Re、Mi、Fa音高統統都都是錯的。而普通人給吉他調音，在沒有數字調音器的情況下，會去找一個標準音來聽一下，然後根據標準音來調音），你還需要保證每個音儘可能的靠近標準音高或者說標準的振動頻率。如果你吉他的音飄離標準音太遠，雖然彈奏的時候可能（聽起來）還「在調上」，但是琴弦的張力（受力程度）可能比吉他預先設定（固有頻率）的更緊或者更松。這會讓琴彈奏起來非常糟糕，或者甚至會使吉他變形開裂。

第一個要考慮的點就是，吉他的面板，用薄木板做成，靠內部的音梁支撐，來使之堅挺。但是當琴弦變得很緊的時候，面板會逐漸鼓起，並逐漸彎曲成S型。弦距也會越來越高，如果你一直沒能意識到這種變化，這種變形將會成為永久損害，不可修復。有時琴橋承受了太多的壓力就會被擠掉下來，或者隨著琴橋的移動而在琴的面板上擠出個大鼓包。

第二個要考慮的就是：琴頸內部有一個可調節的桁（héng）架拉杆（如下圖），這個已經是調節過的，只有這樣才能使指板抬起合適的角度，讓琴弦有足夠的空間去震動，而又不會打品。太緊的琴弦會讓琴頸彎的像個香蕉一樣，最後整個琴都沒辦法彈了；太松的琴弦會讓整個琴頸向後彎曲，使琴弦離指板太近，而造成打品。

應對方法實際上卻非常的簡單——數字調音器。儘管你的耳朵可能非常靈敏，可以準確聽出兩根弦之間音的高低差別（音程），其實對於大部分的演奏者來說，只要彈過一段時間就可以很自然地習得這個技能。這個技能與我們說的「完美音感」（或者說「絕對音感」，指對音高的辨別能力，可以憑空的唱出一個標準的音高）或者能聽出這個音和標準音比起來是高了還是低了的技能，根本不是一回事。擁有完美音感就好比你的腦袋裡已經有了一個辨別基準音調的裝置，可以用來調整你的吉他。世界上有一些十分幸運的人，被賦予了這種能力，但是我們中的大部分人，像我們這樣的凡人，並不像你自己想像的那樣優秀。數字調音器並不算貴，而且可以讓你很輕鬆的把音調正確。

然而言歸正傳，當你不彈琴的時候，你打算拿吉他怎麼辦？我的建議是弦還留在琴上，並始終讓它在標準音高上。除非你要把它放柜子鎖很長一段時間，「很長一段」時間是指三個月或者更久。如果你真的決定要把吉他放起來很長一段時間不再彈了，你也許就要考慮把每一根琴弦鬆開，將調音旋鈕松滿整整三圈，然後找人檢查一下桁架拉杆，看看是否也需要鬆開。當你再次把它拿出來上弦的時候，請注意，這可能需要花幾天的時間，來對琴身做一些調整，並讓琴身適應，才能重歸正常。

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我的前兩篇文章都是關於琴弦的——我將在我的下一篇文章中講一下在換弦的時候要注意的幾點，幾乎要涵蓋關於這個主題的所有關鍵點。但是！我自己就是個被「好奇心」給詛咒的人，從某種程度上說，我對琴弦發聲的原理十分好奇。這將遠遠超出我們在使用吉他時所需要的實用知識。所以，如果你對我的寫一些有深度的文章感興趣，而且會讓你覺著「他大半夜的不睡覺，腦子裡想這些奇奇怪怪的問題幹嘛？」那麼請回復「是」。如果你是一個比較務實的人，對深挖這些問題沒啥興趣，請回復「否」，然後我們會進行下一個章節。

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Q. Should I keep my guitar tuned when I am not playing?

A. This question comes up from time to time, and though itprobably doesn』t get asked as often as I wish it would, the answers touch onsome important subjects you should be aware of to properly take care of yournew guitar.

First let me stress you really need to make sure your guitar is properlyin tune. This means that not only are the strings tuned to the correct intervals relative to each other, but that it is tuned reasonably close tostandard pitch or frequency. If your guitar drifts too far from this standardyou may still be able to play 「in tune」 as long as you play by yourself, butthe tension on the strings may actually be a lot tighter or looser than yourguitar was intended for. This can cause the guitar to play very badly or evento break.

First point to consider is that the top of the guitar is made of thin woodthat has internal bracing to stiffen it, but if the tension is too high it willstart to bulge out and bend into an S curve. The strings can start to climbhigher and higher from the fingerboard and if it』s not attended to eventuallythe distortion will become permanent and your guitar will not be repairable.Sometimes the excessive stress on the bridge can also cause it come off andtake a chunk of the top with it when it goes.

The second point is that the neck has an adjustable truss rodinside that has been adjusted so the fingerboard has just the right amount ofcurvature to allow the strings to vibrate without buzzing against the frets.Too high a string tension can bend the neck into a banana shape, making theguitar impossible to play-too little string tension and the truss rod can bendthe neck backwards so the strings are too close to the fingerboard and theybuzz.

The solution is actually very simple-use a digital tuner! Even if your earis quite good at hearing the intervals between the strings correctly, whichbecomes natural for most players after a while, it is much less common to havewhat is called 「perfect pitch」 or the ability to tell if the notes are sharp orflat relative to the standard. Having perfect pitch is kind of like having abuilt in reference tone inside your head that you can compare your guitar to.There are some fortunate individuals who have this ability but most of usmortals are not as good at this as we may think. Digital tuners are inexpensiveand make this job easy.

But how about when you are not playing? My suggestion is to leave youracoustic guitar tuned up to standard pitch all the time unless you will beputting it into storage for a long time. By a 「long time」 I mean 3 months ormore. If you do decide to store the guitar for a long time, you might considerloosening each string about 3 full turns of the tuning machine button, andhaving someone check your truss rod adjustment to see if it also needs to beloosened. When you take it out again and tune up please be patient-it may takea few days and a little adjusting and flexing until everything really settlesin again.

"The last 2 topics I have written are about strings- I will do onemore article on some points to watch when you change strings, and this prettymuch covers the critical points regarding thissubject. However I am "cursed" with an inquisitive mind and am curiousabout how things work in a way that goes far beyond a practical understandingof how to use them. So if you are interested in asking me to write one morearticle that may leave some wondering "why does he stay awake at nightthinking about these things?" please vote "yes", and if you area more practical type and have no interest in digging deeper into the subjectplease just vote "no" and we will move on.

我的微博：米維斯吉他