Lessons are fun! ---- Tuning your violin is no fun!

December 19, 2005 at 1:48 PM

Wow, I'm having so much more fun having lessons rather than the orchestra class. I'm finding I'm progressing much more rapidly too, which is great!

I'm up to the 12th song Suzuki 1, yes, I know, most of you will say, so, those aren't hard, but hey, I'm a late bloomer;)

One thing that I have difficulty with though is tuning. I've been using a guitar tuner, but it hardly picks up any noise from the violin, making a tuning session take about 20 minutes, yuck. Can anyone recommend a good tuner for violin and describe their method for tuning? I've seen a few that clip onto the violin bridge, and that makes sense, but which do you like? I'm leaning toward either Korg or Seiko only because I own a few Korg and Seiko things they have worked flawlessly. Anyway, let me know which you prefer.

Barry

From Bill _
Posted on December 19, 2005 at 2:13 PM

The best tuner is....no tuner!

A violing should be tuned to itself--not an outside source . (In fact I would say that this is true for *all* instruments, including the guitar).

You can tune the A string to a reference tone--but it is much better--and faster-- to tune the other strings to the A, rather than trying to tune all four to a separate pitch source.

If you can play in tune, hear a scale in your head, play notes in tune, then you use the same skill and pitch sense to tune the insturment. Tuneing the violin is merely a part of playing the violin--and cannot/should not requre special tools.

Unfortunately there are a lot of tuners out there--and a huge mass of "guitarists" who cannot hear a pitch to save their lives---and so there is this collective "intelligence" saying that "you need a tuner" but it is just not so at all.

Give it a try.

From Eric Stanfield
Posted on December 19, 2005 at 2:34 PM

I used to tune A 440 off my guitar tuner. Turned out to be more hassle than it was worth trying to get the little tuner mic to pick up the A off the violin while I held it precariously up by the tuner and tried to pluck or bow the A. Hell with that, just go buy a cheap tuning fork. Hold it up to ear, tune A to same pitch you're all set. A lot easier.

From Eric Stanfield
Posted on December 19, 2005 at 2:45 PM

...and then obviously tune D to A, G to D, E to A. It's very easy to hear when you've got perfect fifths between the open strings. Sounds like a 'power chord' heh ;). If your tuners fight you, buy some peg dope and just put a couple dots on each tuner where wood meets wood.

From Barry Berman
Posted on December 19, 2005 at 3:33 PM

Thanks, I'll get the tuning fork, funny there was concensus on it;)

From Eric Stanfield
Posted on December 19, 2005 at 3:36 PM

It happens about once every 45,000 posts on this site.

From Jim W. Miller
Posted on December 19, 2005 at 10:06 PM

The usual way to tune with a tuning fork is hold it on the bridge and tune by plucking the string with a free finger.

From Emily Grossman
Posted on December 20, 2005 at 12:15 AM

I like to whack my knee and stick the round end on my teeth. The A goes right to your head.

From Barry Berman
Posted on December 20, 2005 at 12:46 AM

I did it, broke down and ordered a tuning fork, along with a couple other things to make my violin happy. Thanks for your input.

Barry

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on December 20, 2005 at 6:42 AM

I agree emphatically with everyone else who commented. You should learn to tune by ear, not by eye. If you can't hear whether a note is in tune, why are you playing an instrument? If you're tone deaf, play a fretted instrument or a piano, but don't call yourself a musician. This diatribe is not directed at you, but at others I've played with or am trying to teach.

From Eric Stanfield
Posted on December 20, 2005 at 3:39 PM

Personally I see little gained in putting the tuning fork on the bridge. I guess it makes the 'third note pulse' more obvious but it requires more gymnastics with holding the violin than I care for. I haven't met a single guitarist who can't at least tell if two notes are of the same pitch, so held up to the ear would probably cut it unless the person is simply tone deaf.

From Eric Stanfield
Posted on December 20, 2005 at 3:41 PM

... and I'm a Knee Whacker too!

From Pauline Lerner
Posted on December 21, 2005 at 3:48 AM

If you strike the tuning fork on your knee and then hold it with its tip touching the bridge, the sound is louder and lasts longer. The bridge acts as a transducer (or some other word from physics that I don't remember.)

Eric, I wish I knew more guitarists like the ones you know. I used to play with a bunch of them who all, with one exception, tuned using anelectronic tuner. None of them could tell by listening whether their strings were in tune or not, let alone whether they were too high or too low or how high or low. One guitarist would tune each of his six strings sequentially using the tuner, then the second guitarist would do the same, then the third...It took forever. There was only one guitarist in the group who could tune by ear, and we would play a whole Vivaldi concerto together while waiting for the other guitarists to tune up. Of course, our playing did not interfere with their tuning because they tuned by eye. I've often wondered why people play music or whether they can tell anything about their own sound if they need to tune by eye. Someone who is completely deaf could play a fretted instrument after tuning by eye with one of those damn tuners.

From Jonathan Law
Posted on December 23, 2005 at 8:36 PM

Hey totally not the main issue in this particular blog, but what is the 12th piece in suzuki 1, I loved doing that book, so many happy memories because they were such nice ditties and I loved learning them - is it the happy farmer, or the gossec gavotte or something similar?

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Lessons are fun! ---- Tuning your violin is no fun!

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