Instrument Tuning ... By Ear or Not by Ear

[n2ize]

To tune by ear or not by ear, that is the question..

Since I was a kid I learned to tune my violin the traditional method, by ear. Basically I use a 440 Hz (A) tuning fork. I tune the A string to the fork (or oboe if I'm sitting in the orchestra) and then tune all the other strings from there.

A couple days ago I decided to give in and order a chromatic electronic tuner. It's made by a brand called "Snark", For ten bucks on Amazon I couldn't resist the temptation. The particular one I ordered is good for bass, guitar and violin and it will basically display any note you play. The nice feature is that it is designed to pick up vibration, so you simply clip it on to the scroll of the violin (or headstock of the guitar), play the open string and displays the note you are playing and tells you if you are sharp or flat and, if so by how much. What makes this type of tuner nice is that you can use it in noisy environments, like in the recital hall when others are tuning horns, trumpets, and other stings. Since it is chromatic you can also use it while you're playing to get an idea of your fingering and intonation.

So far I tried the tuner and it works. I also discovered that I am pretty good tuning the traditional (by ear) way as my strings were pretty much spot on, or slightly sharp which is really no problem.

Now here's the catch. Despite the ease and seeming accuracy and low cost of modern electronic tuners I think it is still invaluable, especially beginners and intermediate players, to learn to tune by ear and not become entirely dependent on electronics. IMHO Tuning by ear helps to develop a critical ear which is of critical importance in developing good intonation. In that way I do feel a bit guilty using the electronics. However, on the other side of the coin if used properly the electronic tuner (and particularly chromatic electronique tuners) can be an asset to helping develop a good ear. So I see pluses and minuses to both. Since there are other musicians who frequent this forum I wonder what your thoughts might be on this.

Incidentally this is the tuner I purchased, for the price I figured what the heck.

http://www.amazon.com/Snark-Guitar-V.../dp/B0073XCYO2

and for more into SNARK has it's own website..

http://www.snarktuners.com/

[WX7P]

I've never used an electronic tuner or tuning fork. I've always done it by ear.

You are correct. Tuning by ear develops a person's critical ear and helps with overall intonation.

Learning the A string is hard at first, but one gets it over time. Tuning the other strings was always easy for me because the "wobble" was always present if the string being tuned was off.

With the exception of the e string, I never use tuners on the tailpiece. Remove them, if you have them. Always use the pegs for the g, d and a string. The violin sounds much better without them.

[n2ize]

I've never used an electronic tuner or tuning fork. I've always done it by ear.

You are correct. Tuning by ear develops a person's critical ear and helps with overall intonation.

Learning the A string is hard at first, but one gets it over time. Tuning the other strings was always easy for me because the "wobble" was always present if the string being tuned was off.

With the exception of the e string, I never use tuners on the tailpiece. Remove them, if you have them. Always use the pegs for the g, d and a string. The violin sounds much better without them.

Yeah, the violin shop that set up my violin when I purchased it put on a composite tailpiece with 4 fine tuners. I've been planning to change that setup for a while now. I preferably want to replace it with a wooden tailpiece and a fine tuner only for the E. On my old violin (the one I played through my childhood into my young adult years) only the E was set up with a fine tuner. All the other strings were tuned only via the pegs.

Great if you can go 100% by ear. I always used a reference source, i.e. tuning fork, single note pitch pipe, piano key, etc. for the A and then tuned the others strings in reference to the A. But that is great if you have been doing it all by ear.

I plan to continue tuning the traditional way that I always have. However, electronic tuner could come in handy if I have to check my tuning on the fly, for example at a rehearsal, etc.

[N8OBM]

You can make good arguments for both. I can tell you from the perspective of someone who performs with mostly amplified instruments, Electronic tuners are an absolute god send and I wouldn't think about working with out them. With a fretted instrument I can not compensate if my instrument goes flat or sharp the way a violin player can. My tuner does two things, It mutes the instrument when engaged and shows me the pitch. If I hear my guitar going out of tune I can retune on the fly. As I said I wouldn't work without one.

It's worth noting that we do use the equal tempered system of tuning. We can think of an octave as being divided up as a series of ratios from 1:1 for a unison to a 2:1 for and octave. Early tuning systems were based around whole number fractions. For example a perfect fifth would have been the ratio of 3/2 or 1.5:1. When you tune be ear that is the ratio your ear wants to tune to. How ever with equal tempered tuning a perfect fifth is actually 1.498307:1 which is slightly flat compared to early tuning. I would be willing to bet that you find yourself tuning slightly sharp for this reason. Electronic tuners give us a way to check.

I happen to be of the belief that hearing is much more of a learned thing that most people think. Some people are just born with so called Perfect Pitch but my experience working with them is they don't have any better understanding what the pitch is, they just have an amazing memory for pitch they same way some people are very aware of color. Frankly working with people with perfect pitch is often a pain in the rear. I worked with a singer that would learn a song in exactly the pitch she heard it in. There was one song where the recording was 1/4 step flat so she sang it 1/4 step flat regardless of what i did. Major pain in the rear. She had no sense of relative pitch at all.

Relative pitch is of course the ability to hear the sound of an interval. that is more correctly put, the ability to hear the distance between to notes rather than the notes themselves. When someone can sing harmonies well and in tune what there are doing is using relative pitch. Tuning the interval to what ever the pitch the person singing the lead is using. If they go slightly out of tune but, the harmony is holding the correct interval to the pitch being sung, it will usually sound in tune. Personally I find relative pitch quite a bit more useful in my day to day activities then perfect pitch.

As to the electronic tuner thing. It's only a tool. You can use the tool to help you develop you hearing by checking how close you are or you can use it to avoid having to learn to hear. It's all in how you choose to use it. Personally, I am of the school that believes that it doesn't make to much of a difference for most string players as they have to tune the note as they finger the note or it's going to sound ugly. I don't thing that the practice you get tuning the instrument is going to make that much of a difference. I feel a little different for a fretting instrument as they get much less practice having to correct pitch. If you really want to learn the hear pitch, I would recommend doing ensemble singing. Nothing I've done has done as much to teach my to hear as that has.

I would offer this thought, It learning to tune your instrument by ear is a critical part of learning to become a musician than most piano players should be awful musicians as the number of them that have tuned their instrument is an extremely small number compared to those that haven't.

Hear I am.... Rambling on again....

Some things never change

Archie N8OBM

[KC2UGV]

I tune violins by ear. Guitars, however, I use a tuner.

[NQ6U]

I tune my harmonica by ear.

[WØTKX]

I used to play violin as a kid, the instrument was "decided" for me because the music teacher checked me out to see if I could tune it with a little direction, and playing me notes on a well tuned piano. I could hera the "beat notes" clearly, and soon learned where to tune the other strings after getting one correct via the piano. I also learned to do it with a pitchfork, which I preferred.

As somebody who sat in front of the board in days gone by, the acceptance and understanding of relative pitch is right on. Not only does it work out better at the time the tunes are being played, it avoids the "narcissism of small differences".

Band fights are way WAY worse than forum fights. ;)

[n2ize]

Learning the A string is hard at first, but one gets it over time. Tuning the other strings was always easy for me because the "wobble" was always present if the string being tuned was off.

You zero beat the string being tuned to the stirng that is in tune. ;)

[WØTKX]

And a CW or AM enthusiast should be able to do that, easily. ;)

[K7SGJ]

And a CW or AM enthusiast should be able to do that, easily. ;)

Problem is, my guitar always ends up on .313.