The dummies guide to tuning your violin

    
The dummies guide to tuning your violin    11:34 on Sunday, April 23, 2006          

scribbles
(8 points)
Posted by scribbles

Im a dummy or the violin isnt in proper shape...
What is the KEY symbol on ones chromatic tuner supposed to mean... this is real funny cos after tuning my strings perfectly one by one from E to G when i go back to see if they are the still finely tuned...all of them have changed... I am sure the green light was on when i rubbed the fiddle against all my strings but now its all red again...
What should i do people


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    16:34 on Sunday, April 23, 2006          

Sotumariku
(59 points)
Posted by Sotumariku

Is your violin new? Some new violins fall out of tune very often. If the strings on the violin are new, then it may take a while until they can stay in tune for a while.


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    08:01 on Monday, April 24, 2006          

scribbles
(8 points)
Posted by scribbles

Well it was new ...but barely used...
So i guess i dont have a problem here...
BUT WHAT IS THE TUNE thingy under the NOTE menu funcion on the chromatic tuner supposed to mean...
There is a lot of options to chose in the TUNE section for example C and when i change it into another tune lets say E with the music symbol then my tuned violin suddenly is shown as ridiculosly untuned....


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    16:01 on Tuesday, April 25, 2006          

Sotumariku
(59 points)
Posted by Sotumariku

I'm not sure what you mean. Do you mean the key? I so, then it should be set to 'C' for the violin is in the key of C.

And if there's a number there [441, 440, whatever] make sure it's set to 440. If not it'll be out of tune.


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    15:00 on Wednesday, April 26, 2006          

violasurvey
(34 points)
Posted by violasurvey

You cannot tune a violing properly by using a tuner.

No, I am not being flippant. The "tuner" attempts to put the fundamental of each string into "equal temperament". Your violin should normally be tuned in perfect 5ths. Furthermore, ow you bow it will affect the pitch, and a plucked pitch will decay after it is plucked, whereas a bowed pitch is "model locked" with the hair of the bow.

Do not attach your chromatic tuner. If it has an "a" reference, you can use that to tell your ear where to tune the a string--but do no more than that with the tuner. Also, you don't have to be "a-440" to be in tune. You can be a-409, a-426, a-427, a-454 or whatever. It only matters which specifically when you play with others.

To figure out what a "perfect 5th" is, just sing "do a deer" up to "so". "So" is the *fifth* note in a diatonic scale...do re mi fa so. Make each higher string on your violin fit that. Once you have become accustomed to the scale, you will be able to hear the sweetness of the combination of the two strings when they are a perfect 5th apart, but to start, you should match the singing intonation.



Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    19:14 on Wednesday, April 26, 2006          

Sotumariku
(59 points)
Posted by Sotumariku

Viola, it's hard for a beginner to tune by ear, especially if they have not played an instrument before. I know there's know way I coulda gotten anywhere near tuning my violin properly without a tuner, when I began. Tuners will never be exactly right, but they're close enough if they're no other way that you'll be able to tune your instrument.


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    03:51 on Thursday, April 27, 2006          

scribbles
(8 points)
Posted by scribbles

My bad
It was key that i was talking about.
Fortunately the default setting was at C,so i am happy i was right..
I guess i shouldnt be a smart person and change the key...
well about the 440,420hertz etc.
the man i bought the violin tuner from told me to keep at 444 Hertz...
the tuner is really useful..now that i finally understood how to use it...
Thankyou people


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    12:38 on Thursday, April 27, 2006          

violasurvey
(34 points)
Posted by violasurvey

Hi Sotumariku,

I agree that tuning by ear may be difficult at first, but I disagree with your philosophy that learning to tune should be postponed and a "tuner" be used instead. Tuning the violin with a tuner is the "piano approach" to violin, as are fingerboard tapes, frets etc. It is the erroneous assumption that all you have to do is "show where the notes are" and then eveything will follow from there.

In fact, the "notes" (the pitch) have for come from within the player--they have to be sung--either with the voice at 1st, but always in the mind. The violin is a singing instrument, capable of carrying a melody in the same way as the voice. This aspect should be taught at the earliest lessons--not "later."

The idea of using a tuner, of putting fingerboard tapes on etc, is to attempt to turn the violin into a bowed guitar, which is doing the new learner a great disservice. If you look at the Viol family, which is bowed but uses frets, the fres are adjustable. They have to be, in order to be able to get the pitches just right, to put the instrument into a sweeter harmony. The changes in weather, in new strigns versus old, wound vs not wound, all conspire to require adjustability. In contrast, guitars, with their fixed frets, are always out of tune, and I suppose if that suits you fine, then why not make the violin (or the violinist) permanently out of tune as well.

For little children that cannot turn the pegs, tuning can be problematical, but the fine tuners, with steel strings, even enable a 6 year old to self-tune his instrument.

If the beginner cannot sing "do a deer a female deer, re, a drop of golden sun, mi a name I call myself..." then I suggest that beginner start working on *that* first--before attempting to play the violin. It will pay huge dividends in that person's future success and happiness with the instrument.


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    20:47 on Sunday, April 30, 2006          

Sotumariku
(59 points)
Posted by Sotumariku

I'm not saying that developing a good ear should be postponed, but for some people [like me] trying to tune on your own will just develope a bad ear. When I began my teacher told me basically the exact thing that you told this person, I tried, ended up tuning my violin horribly, and developed a bad ear which was hard to break. I agree that tuners won't tune your violin perfectly, but your method of tuning may not work for all students.


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    10:51 on Monday, May 1, 2006          

violasurvey
(34 points)
Posted by violasurvey

That's interesting, about developing a bad ear...

So, how are you learning intonation then?


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    03:18 on Wednesday, May 3, 2006          

scribbles
(8 points)
Posted by scribbles

whats an intonation supposed to be...

i just learnt to play the tie .... yesterday...so am i really far away in knowing what its supposed to be


Re: The dummies guide to tuning your violin    16:56 on Wednesday, May 3, 2006          

Sotumariku
(59 points)
Posted by Sotumariku

Viola, I learned my intonation very well by playing and listening. And also with the help of a good teacher. I now have a very good ear, as with intonation.
Your method of developing a good ear and intonation may work for some people, but every person is different, and every person learns differently.
And to the other person [sorry, I can't be bothered to go back and look at what your username is :p] intonation, put simply, is basically how well in tune you are.

<Added>

And by how well in tune you are, I mean when you're actually playing.


   




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