practicing with a tuner

[Megan]

Does anyone else practice with an electronic tuner? I don’t have tape on my fingerboard, so I use the tuner while I’m playing scales. Lately I’ve tried leaving it on the whole time, as I’m playing tunes and it’s been very frustrating. What sounds good to me is off according to the tuner. I know the tuner is very sensitive, so I’m not sure how much attention I should be paying to it, but I also don’t want to ignore it and play out of tune!

[jason kleinberg]

Megan, learn to trust your ears. Can you sing the scale? Do you trust your singing of the scale? Play Parrot. You can start with a few notes then repeat them on the violin. Do the same sequence over and over, staying on the same string. You can try taping what you are doing. Do it several times and then listen to it. Can you hear problems? You can try playing your scales with the drone, too. Maybe that will help you play in tune. The electronic tuners can be problematic. Notice how they waver. If this doesn’t help, get a cheap, child’s keyboard. Some toys aren’t too bad. Not expensive and just big enough to get a basic scale on them. Also, there are apps that create tones. They sound like pianos. Play Parrot using them. Remember, you will also be developing your ears, not just your finger placement. I, personally, would not use the electric tuner especially if you are being frustrated by it.

[Megan]

Thank you. I turned the tuner off today after just one set of scales and I really think I played better. I especially like how when I play g on the d string i get a little resonance i guess from the open g? Not sure what’s happening but it sounds pretty! I only hum to match notes if nobody is around bc I don’t sing well, but one son has multiple guitars and another has a keyboard so I’ve got some other sources for matching tones and stuff. I’m going to try to get my metal head guitarist to play with me on his acoustic sometime.

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Hello, Megan When I was first given a fiddle I took some lessons in the Suzuki method. Ultimately I was bored and not having fun. Thank you Jason for developing Fiddlehed! Suzuki calls the resonance you discovered a ‘Ring’ tone. There are several ring tones. A note played by stopping on one string will cause an open string to vibrate. This is one way that you can tell that you have good intonation. Try it with A on the G string; G on the D string, D on the A string, and Both G and D on the E string. There may be others but this is what I remember.

[Megan]

Thanks ‘molitor! I’ve been playing around with ring tones. So pleasing!

[mack]

HI Megan,thanks so much for posting this,I was a reasonably sane maths teacher,really quite harmless until I got the electronic tuner,now, after a week,I’m a crazy mad loony,thing is smashing for tuning the strings,I have taken Jason’s advice and used an online piona tuner,sanity looks like returning, happy days,or should that be daze, love to you fellow fiddlefreaks

[Megan]

Mack, my electronic tuner has an auto-off after 5 minutes. It’s perfect for me; I use it to tune the strings and then play a few scales very slowly to get my fingering and hearing coordinated. When the tuner auto-offs, I start fiddling by ear. Music requires so much more focus from me than anything else I’ve ever tried but it’s also given me so much joy!

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