maninashed
Cheerfully Optimistic
Mad Farmer Liberation Front
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Tuning
Nov 19, 2013 12:10:59 GMT
Post by maninashed on Nov 19, 2013 12:10:59 GMT
I used to think I'd never be able to actually tune a guitar. I could tell if was out of tune but getting all 6 strings in tune seemed impossible, so I've always used a tuner. My Snark is great but the more I play and fiddle around with tunings, I find I'm using it less to get in tune and more to check and reference my ear which I'm getting to trust a lot more.
I'd be interested to hear how you tune, by ear or tuner? Do you use tempered tunings? Any hints, tips or observations that would be useful?
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ocarolan
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Tuning
Nov 19, 2013 12:59:31 GMT
Post by ocarolan on Nov 19, 2013 12:59:31 GMT
Ears. Train them and then trust them, which sounds like what you're doing too maninashed. I've been used to playing with fixed pitch instruments for many years since long before clip on tuner thingies became easily available and so got used to having to tune to them and then sweeten the guitar tuning to sound good with itself. I'll use a clip on tuner occasionally for a reference pitch but still tune the other strings to that. Also I sometimes use them in noisy situations but still finish off by ear if poss, even if that means having to put my ear against the side of the instrument to hear it. Using a tuner for all the open strings still results in the need to sweeten the overall tuning a little to sound OK in all fingerings, esp the B and low E strings to a greater or lesser extent depending on the particular guitar. Keith
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Nov 19, 2013 13:41:40 GMT
I mostly use a tuner such as a Snark. Sometimes a bit of finetuning over and above what the tuner can tell me is required, but I'm too lazy to dispense with the tuner entirely.
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Tuning
Nov 19, 2013 15:04:08 GMT
Post by fatfingerjohn on Nov 19, 2013 15:04:08 GMT
I have some students in my oldies group who are totally at a loss when it comes to tuning (even with t tuner)! We all have strengths and weaknesses. My strengths include a very good sense of tuning (and, off subject, also a fairly natural ability to pretty automatically recognise when a chord change is needed and 95% of the time what that next chord is, unless its something a bit way-out). My main weakness is being a pretty ordinary player! So I find tuning relatively easy and for 30 years did it by ear, with a tuning fork (what are they say the younger people) to get the pitch of E right. Like Keith, I do keep a clip on tuner at the ready, particularly if I'm going to be playing with other people and also if I'm changing in and out of another tuning where its helps to get close quickly. Now the 12 stringer is a bit more of a challenge at times where the built in tuner is a useful addition. FFJ
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Post by jonnymosco on Nov 19, 2013 16:01:42 GMT
I tune to all the As, then maybe check with all the Es - sort of an adaptation of Eric Roche's system in The Guitar Bible. This avoids intonation problems... the ones when you'd tune the guitar as accurately as possible (perhaps on the fifth fret), but a D chord still sounds 'off'.
I start with an A from a phone dialling tone.
Jonny
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Martin
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Tuning
Nov 19, 2013 16:03:49 GMT
Post by Martin on Nov 19, 2013 16:03:49 GMT
I start with an A from a phone dialling tone.
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Tuning
Nov 20, 2013 21:41:33 GMT
via mobile
Post by sigmadel on Nov 20, 2013 21:41:33 GMT
I usually use a snark just to check occasionally but normally fine tweaks and do it by ear but TBH the sigma holds tuning very well and its always stored in her case in the same place ,so is the 12 but I usually always check it before I play although I'm lucky with it too . When she was out a couple of weeks ago in the cold at the other end I took it out put it on the stand and left it 20 mins to warm up and I hardly had to touch it at all . I'm out tomorrow for a rehearsal and with the freezing temps and damp atmosphere it'll probably be well out but the built in tuner is superb I'll only tune the E pair and check the rest by ear then check the tuner for reference to see if I'm right .
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Tuning
Nov 22, 2013 0:01:38 GMT
Post by jonnymosco on Nov 22, 2013 0:01:38 GMT
How about this then?
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Tuning
Nov 22, 2013 5:12:08 GMT
Post by scripsit on Nov 22, 2013 5:12:08 GMT
The potential for much amusement with some minor hacking or bluetooth interference. Kym
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ocarolan
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Tuning
Nov 22, 2013 8:50:13 GMT
Post by ocarolan on Nov 22, 2013 8:50:13 GMT
Haha! All that technology to get his guitar in tune and then the bloke on the video has a Kyser capo on! Keith
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Post by Mike Floorstand on Nov 22, 2013 8:54:51 GMT
I'm strangely attracted to it as a gadget, and yet repulsed by the idea of using it...
It has got me thinking about a possible iPlectrumStand model though...
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Post by arturo on Nov 25, 2013 13:07:44 GMT
Huge amounts of electronic wizzardry, research and development. I wonder what 15th century Lute players would have done without it?
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brianr2
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My main instrument is: Brook Lyn guitar
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Tuning
Nov 25, 2013 14:50:28 GMT
Post by brianr2 on Nov 25, 2013 14:50:28 GMT
How disappointing. From the name I had hopes of some musically adept minion being available to remove the tedium of having to tune the guitar yourself, as no doubt employed by the many boy and girl bands manufactured by Cowell et al, who are not quite up to the job themsleves. Brian
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missclarktree
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Tuning
Nov 25, 2013 20:14:27 GMT
Post by missclarktree on Nov 25, 2013 20:14:27 GMT
I use pitch pipes to get the D, then tune the rest to that. I use harmonics, and also the vibration that goes through the thumb. I'm new to steel string guitars and find them harder to tune. I've also noticed that the pitch varies, depending on how hard you press on the string. It's the same with my gentleman friend's ukulele.
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ocarolan
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Tuning
Nov 26, 2013 9:32:19 GMT
Post by ocarolan on Nov 26, 2013 9:32:19 GMT
I use pitch pipes to get the D, then tune the rest to that. I use harmonics, and also the vibration that goes through the thumb. I'm new to steel string guitars and find them harder to tune. I've also noticed that the pitch varies, depending on how hard you press on the string. It's the same with my gentleman friend's ukulele. 12th and 7th fret harmonics can certainly be very useful, ( but not 5th fret harmonics though - the result will not be too good.) Octaves, as Jonny said, are pretty safe intervals to use in tuning by ear and in checking the results. You're right about excessive pressure when fretting too - I can't get on with electric guitar/v light gauge strings for exactly that reason - I played heavily strung guitars with huge actions for too many years when I started, and find it hard to lighten up my grip so I tend to play sharp if I'm not careful. Mind you, pressing a little bit harder, plus or minus slight bending when playing is a good way of sharping any v slightly flat notes whilst playing, unless it's an open string note that is! Pitch varies throughout note duration too - at the initial strike on the string, the increased tension thus caused raises the pitch slightly, after which the pitch drops slightly - for some players/styles/instruments this can be significant. If an accurate electronic tuner with a needle display is used, this shows up well - some players may tune to the initial pitch, others to the pitch of the sustain. Weird things guitars, well, all fretted instruments really. Amazing they work at all really! Keith
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