Learn how to tune your instrument

[Wewus432]

This is a #1 Priority. I'm sorry you weren't taught this in music school, or when you started playing music, but it is very important. Can you say........ DUH?

 

You are not a real musician until you can tune your instrument..... perfectly.

 

I don't care what you can play, if your instrument is out of tune..........you SUCK!

[coyote]

I agree for the most part.

 

I generally don't get along with folks who need electronic gizmos to tune their axe. While I understand using them on jobs (so you may tune silently), the ability to tune quickly by ear is mandatory.

 

Why? Because it shows that, first and foremost, the musician in question listens. Listening is a far more fundamental skill than playing; a musician who doesn't listen won't last long in my band. If you ain't listening you're just playing mechanically... and if you're doing that you're certainly not feeling the music.

[linwood]

I learned a lot of the basics through the public schools music programs. I'm a keyboard guy now, but went through elem - high school band playing alto sax. I had the same teacher from fifth grade til I graduated. Mr.Their. One of the things he had us do from jump was to play individually into a huge conn strobe so that we could use our eyes and ears to help us learn to play in tune. This strobe had a different dial for every note. It was the size of a microwave oven. Maybe bigger. Very cool thing to teach young kids. Latter on we went through the Walter Piston Harmony book. Not the hippest book, but nice to have someone make you go through it in the 10th grade as an elective class. Too bad you can't take that in public school now. What happened?? I agree. If someone isn't it tune it ruins everything.

[Wewus432]

Linwood that's very cool, the way you learned tuning.

[hard truth]

When I first started playing guitar I had a hard time tuning because I no reference for exactly what "in tune" was. Using electronic tuners helped me learn what it should sound like. I also learned/quantified how much my tuning would drift over time. I think they help more than hurt.

 

I think no audience should be subjected to the sound of musicians tuning audibly anymore. Players really should turn down and tune silently.

[Ouizel]

This, coming from a piano tuner...

 

I can tune any instrument I play, to a point. I'm about to start teaching myself piano tuning. Pianos are tough. Guitars & basses are easy.

[jackpine]

I have an amazing amout of players that come into my studio and can't get a guitar or bass into tune quickly. It's a sad statement when I have to tune some ones axe.

[Wewus432]

A thing I like to do is take everyone's instrument, who is playing, and tune them together, by myself, because I'm better at it than most people, because I tune pianos for a living.

 

This can be a really good thing, and you should try it. Let the person who is the best at tuning, tune ALL the instruments. That way you don't have five different people using five different ways of tuning, or five different electronic tuners, which all might have different frequencies, and inputs they work at.

[Guitar Geezer]

Originally posted by hard truth:

When I first started playing guitar I had a hard time tuning because I no reference for exactly what "in tune" was. Using electronic tuners helped me learn what it should sound like. I also learned/quantified how much my tuning would drift over time. I think they help more than hurt.

 

I think no audience should be subjected to the sound of musicians tuning audibly anymore. Players really should turn down and tune silently.

Good Points! I have gotten used to the speed and convenience of a guitar tuner...but I don't HAVE to have one. Now BASS is another thing...my old ears don't recognize those lower freqs as well (but then, I rarely pick up a bass)

[Mats Olsson.]

...and don't forget to tune the drums!

[The Bear Jew]

Tune, schmune.

 

It's how you look that matters, not how you sound.

 

And you look MAHHvelous, dahling.

[Franknputer]

ERIK - where you been hiding, mo-fo??

 

Tune it or die...

[timrocker]

Wewus is right! CMDN is right! Everybody is right! Yay! Wait what is it I wanna say here? Oh, yeah. There is sometimes variance from one electronic tuner to the next. I find the Boss TU-8 to be right on. I checked mine against a church piano that gets regular super spendy tuning and it was straight up. If I didn't have my TU-8 I'd have to ear tune my guitars to my synth. If I didn't have that I'd have to tune to my CD Player which is actually pitched a little bit sharp. I hate that.

[sign]

Steve, tuning a piano is difficult, but tune it so that it stays in tune for a longer time is even more difficult.

 

Tell some secrets please.

[Wewus432]

My basic tuning reference is a Tuning Fork tuned an octave above Middle C, which turns out to be 523.3 Hz.

 

So, there ARE minor discrepencies between different devices, and tuning forks, and whatever, BUT......if you get one person, with good ability, using the same device, or their ear, the results are much better.

 

Different people reading the same device, can often get different results.

[philbo_Tangent]

Originally posted by Ouizel:

This, coming from a piano tuner...

 

I can tune any instrument I play, to a point. I'm about to start teaching myself piano tuning. Pianos are tough. Guitars & basses are easy.

This might be disingenuous for those who tune pianos by ear alone, but:

 

If you use a PC, may I suggest TuneLab97? It is a shareware piano tuner program that is excellent.

[coyote]

Obviously you've not been to an orchestral performance recently.

Originally posted by hard truth:

I think no audience should be subjected to the sound of musicians tuning audibly anymore. Players really should turn down and tune silently.

As others have noted, electronic tuners can occasionally have discrepancies. My band had this exact issue last night; the bassist tuned his Chapman Stick using the tuner but was out of tune with the rest of the band. The tuner itself turned out to be the problem. The ONLY way to get a band in-tune with itself is to listen! It's far more professional to tune audibly every twenty minutes or so than to subject your audience to an out-of-tune instrument called a band. Any player who cannot get in-tune very quickly by ear ain't worthy of serious professional respect.

[61Pbass]

Another problem I encounter on a regular basis (which just kills me) are people who neglect the setups on their instruments. They tune their open strings, then assume that the damned axe is gonna play in tune. Unfortunately for everyone else's ears, their intonation is so far off that by the time they're an octave up the fingerboard they're a quarter tone flat or sharp.

 

You should check the intonation on a guitar or bass every single time you re-string. There are minor variances between sets, even same gauge/type/manufacturer that can cause gawd awful intonation problems. It's quick, easy to do and saves a lot of onstage headaches.

[boosh]

Originally posted by CMDN:

Tune, schmune.

 

It's how you look that matters, not how you sound.

 

And you look MAHHvelous, dahling.

He's back I see,...and still didn't save up to buy a comb,......

[_Sweet Willie_]

Tuning my theremin is a true bee-yatch, but nuthing compared to my didgeridoo.

 

However, my wife is still telling me that I look MAHHHvelous, so all's right with the world.

 

Peace.

--SW

[Tedly Nightshade]

Originally posted by hard truth:

I think no audience should be subjected to the sound of musicians tuning audibly anymore.

I agree! Acoustic instruments should be banned. Symphony orchestras in particular should be replaced with electronic equivalents.

 

I also wholeheartedly agree that any pianist who can not tune their piano should be relegated to playing synthesizers. It's a disgrace that so many ostensibly "fine" concert pianists waste their lives practicing and playing instead of learning to tune.

 

And piano tuners are clearly the only people remotely qualified to perform on the piano. As long as they can do so inaudibly.

 

Seriously though, tuning is part of playing an instrument in most cases, pianos and pipe organs excepted. In the case of drums, playing is almost completely different depending on the tuning. I can't separate the two- keeping the instrument in good tuning is part of performance and practice on drums, guitar, bass, vocals, or any of the other instruments I play.

[Ouizel]

Originally posted by philbo_Tangent:

This might be disingenuous for those who tune pianos by ear alone, but:

 

If you use a PC, may I suggest TuneLab97? It is a shareware piano tuner program that is excellent.

I will check it out. I have 2 pianos, so it'd be to my economical advantage to learn how to tune.

 

Thanks!!

[hard truth]

coyote wrote:

"As others have noted, electronic tuners can occasionally have discrepancies. My band had this exact issue last night; the bassist tuned his Chapman Stick using the tuner but was out of tune with the rest of the band. The tuner itself turned out to be the problem. The ONLY way to get a band in-tune with itself is to listen! "

 

I have encountered tuners that were not set correctly. I checked the one I knew best against a tuning fork and synthesizer to verify that it seemed right. Then I calibrated the other band members tuners to mine. Seemed to work OK. Nothing wrong with a band listening, but on stage I think silent tuning is best.

[Prague]

If your instrument is constantly needing tuning onstage, get it fixed so you aren't constantly tuning on stage. That's what rehearsals are for.

 

The guitarist for Gentle Giant (their 1st and only) was the 1st and only auditioning guitarist that asked to tune up before playing! Unbelievable, but he was at least their 20th auditioned player.

 

He obviously had the skills, but it made a big impression.

[fantasticsound]

Originally posted by TheWewus:

...You are not a real musician until you can tune your instrument..... perfectly...

You, of all posters, should know there's no such thing as perfect tune! Go temper yourself!

 

I love watching people's faces when I tune a guitar to standard pitch in a matter of seconds. I still like to get a reference tone when possible, though.

 

And you always tune to the piano when available. Guitars, horns, woodwinds... these can be tuned relatively fast. Even with the Wewus on site a piano is going to take some time to tune, and you ain't gonna do it in the middle of a gig.

[Blue Strat]

I don't know how to tune my harmonica. Does that mean I suck?

[linwood]

If you ever need you harmonica tuned, there's a guy here in Vegas that's really good. His name is Bill Romel. He works on mine from time to time. He also builds custom harmonicas that are killer. Go To http://home.earthlink.net/~romel/

[Bbach1]

Originally posted by TheWewus:

This is a #1 Priority. I'm sorry you weren't taught this in music school, or when you started playing music, but it is very important. Can you say........ DUH?

 

You are not a real musician until you can tune your instrument..... perfectly.

 

I don't care what you can play, if your instrument is out of tune..........you SUCK!

And why do you feel that none of us knows how to tune our instruments?

[Wewus432]

You guys are smart, and also funnier than hell, but take my advice, whenever you get a group of musicians together, let the person who has the best ear, or who has the best tuning device, tune.....all the instruments.

 

It does sound better.

[Bbach1]

Originally posted by coyote:

I agree for the most part.

 

I generally don't get along with folks who need electronic gizmos to tune their axe. While I understand using them on jobs (so you may tune silently), the ability to tune quickly by ear is mandatory.

 

Why? Because it shows that, first and foremost, the musician in question listens. Listening is a far more fundamental skill than playing; a musician who doesn't listen won't last long in my band. If you ain't listening you're just playing mechanically... and if you're doing that you're certainly not feeling the music.

I guess we won't get along. I always use an electronic tuner. I'm half deaf. I can't hear a thing. If I'm in a noisy room, all I hear is a cloudy mess. I'm not ready for hearing aids yet, so I use my eyes. It doesn't bother me though. I might enjoy getting kicked out of someones band.