How to String a Classical Guitar: A Step-by-Step Guide to Changing Nylon Strings
Guitar Care
How to String a Classical Guitar
A plain-English, step-by-step guide to changing nylon strings — with a photo for every move, from the bridge knot to the final tune-up.
Guitar strings don't last forever — they slowly go dull and lifeless, and every now and then one snaps without warning, usually right in the middle of a piece. The good news is that changing them yourself is easy once you know how, and well worth learning instead of trekking to a shop every time.
The first time can feel like it needs three hands and the steadiness of a surgeon. It doesn't. It's really just two knots — one at the bridge, one at the tuning peg — tied by hand, and once you've done it once the whole thing clicks. This guide walks you through it with a photo for every single step. Give yourself about half an hour the first time; after that it takes ten minutes.
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When should you change them?
Strings don't have to break to be worn out. Nylon strings slowly lose their sparkle — the thin treble strings start sounding papery, and the thick wound bass strings go dull and buzzy even when they're perfectly in tune. Signs it's time for a fresh set:
- The strings look grubby or discoloured, or you can see fraying near the frets or the bridge.
- Notes that used to ring out now sound thin or slightly off, especially higher up the neck.
- It's been more than three to six months since the last change — nylon ages even if the guitar mostly sits in its case.
- One has already snapped, which is as good a reason as any to just replace all six.
It's usually best to change the whole set at once. A single new string next to five tired ones sticks out — it's brighter and takes longer to settle, which throws the balance off.
What you'll need
- A fresh set of classical (nylon) guitar strings
- Wire cutters or sharp scissors, to trim the loose ends afterwards
- A soft cloth for wiping down the fretboard while it's bare
- A tuner
- Optional: a string winder to save your fingers, and a little lemon oil if you have a dry, unfinished fretboard
Change one string at a time. That way you always have five strings still tuned up as a reference — no need to reach for a tuner at every step.
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Tying the string at the bridge
The bridge is the little wooden block on the body of the guitar, behind the round soundhole. On a classical guitar there are no pins or hardware — each string is simply tied on, threaded through a hole in a raised part of the bridge called the tie block. Here's how to tie that knot, one photo at a time.
Start with the right end
Begin with the thickest (bottom) string — it settles into tune the fastest, so by the time you reach the thin top string you'll have a nicely settled one to tune against. Some wound strings have a "good" end and a slightly ragged end where the winding is thinner. Use the neat end for the bridge, so the ragged part ends up well out of the way and doesn't sit on the part of the string that actually rings.
Through the hole and back under
Rest the guitar on your lap, and sit away from tables or furniture — the first few times, the guitar can slide around like a freshly caught fish. Push the good end through the hole in the bridge, then bring it around and tuck it back underneath the string on the far side, as shown in the photo. Leave yourself enough loose end to work with, but don't pull loads through — the string is only so long, and you'll trim the extra off later.
Wrap the loose end around
Now take that same loose end and wrap it back over and around the main string, ready to tuck it under again. In the photo the loop is made bigger than it needs to be, just so you can see clearly what's going on — yours can be smaller and neater.
Left-handed? Just do the mirror image — the not-yet-changed strings above show the knot the other way round.
Pull it snug — one tuck is often enough
Draw the loose end through so the tuck sits tidily against the tie block. On many guitars, including mine, a single tuck like the one in the photo is all you need. Sometimes two tucks work better — it really depends on your tie block and how neatly the string wants to sit. The two things to aim for either way: the string should sit nice and flat and tidy against the block, and the loose end should end up at the back of the tie block, not poking up over the top.
Trap the end at the back and gently tighten
Make sure the loose end is trapped at the back edge of the bridge — it holds far more securely there. Then pull gently on the long part of the string to snug the knot down. Let it tighten under tension on its own; don't crank it hard.
A slight kink where the string leaves the bridge is fine — it means the knot is gripping. A sharp, hard kink is not: it can weaken the string and lead to a break later.
Tuck the end under its neighbour
Here's a little finishing touch I like to do. As you can see in the photo, I trap the loose end of this string under the loop of the string next to it on the tie block. It pins the end down flat and stops it from ever working loose — a neat, tidy way to lock everything in place. It's optional, but once you've done it a few times it's second nature.
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Tying the string at the tuning peg
Now the other end, up at the head of the guitar. Each tuning peg has a small roller with a hole through it that the string feeds into. Some guides show a fancy locking wind here, but on a lot of guitars — mine included — the hole in the roller is simply too small to thread the string back through twice. So I keep it simple: a plain little knot that holds perfectly well and is easy to undo next time.
Feed the string through the roller
Turn the peg so the hole in its roller lines up, then pass the string through it. Pull most of the slack through, settling the string into its groove in the nut (the slotted strip at the top of the fretboard) as you go. Getting the string fairly taut now means fewer turns to wind on later — and fewer turns means it holds its tune better.
Tie a simple knot
Now just take the loose end and tie a simple knot around the main string — loop it over and back through itself once, the same way you'd start tying a shoelace. That's all it needs. It stops the string slipping as you wind it up, and it comes undone easily when it's time to change strings again.
No need to feed the end back through the roller hole — on many guitars it's far too small for that, and this little knot does the same job.
Wind it on neatly
Now wind the string on, keeping each turn tidily next to the last, on the side of the roller nearer the nut. Neat, tight turns matter: if the winds sprawl across the roller they can jam against the sides, and forcing the peg from there can actually crack it. Because you pulled the string tight before knotting it, you'll only need a couple of turns.
Trim the ends and tune up
Last job: snip off the loose ends at both the bridge and the pegs. Don't leave a long tail at the bridge — it can flop onto the face of the guitar and cause annoying buzzes that are a nightmare to track down. Then bring the string up to pitch.
New strings stretch a lot at first, so they'll keep going flat for a few days. The more often you retune in those first days, the quicker they settle.
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Settling the new strings in
Fresh nylon strings won't hold their tune straight away — that's completely normal, not a sign anything's wrong. To speed things along, gently pull each string up away from the fretboard by a centimetre or so along its length, then retune, and repeat a few times. This does in minutes what would otherwise take days of playing, and it's the single biggest thing you can do to get a new set staying in tune quickly.
Work around the guitar in laps rather than tuning one string all the way up and moving on. Bring each string roughly up to pitch, then go round again, and again — because as each new string stretches it pulls the others slightly out, so a few gentle passes gets everything into balance without over-stressing any single string or the neck.
And that's it. Take it slowly the first time, check each knot is sitting snugly before moving on, and give the new strings a day or two of frequent retuning to settle. After that, it's just playing.
A plain-English, step-by-step guide to changing the nylon strings on a classical guitar, with a photo for every step.