How often should we tune our instruments?
Sometimes in the rush of setting up, organizing music, and practicing pieces this can go unnoticed and be forgotten even with the best of intentions. How are we to “make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise”? Psalm 95:2
For us as church musicians, we might not see our instruments but once or twice a week. For me I strive to tune my instruments every time I pick them up. As we know a variety of factors can cause instruments to ‘drift’ from tune: temperature, humidity, string stretching, reed age and moisture. Several of these factors can and will change from Sunday to Sunday resulting in pitch changes in our instruments.
The key for me, and I think many instrumentalists is to tune after warming up the instrument. For my guitar, for example, I have a quick pattern I play that is, shall we say, note intensive and is excellent for warming the strings. I have played with brass and woodwind players that also have a warm up and tune routine.
But what are we to tune to? This is perhaps not as easy.
There are three ways that I know to tune an instrument:
- Tuned to itself. Of course, this doesn’t apply to woodwinds and brass, but mainly the stringed instruments. Set one string as the pitch foundation, and tune the rest against it. This only works for single instrument arrangements.
- Tuned to another instrument. This applies to every instrument. All instruments are tuned according to one that is selected as the tune foundation. This instrument is the one most trusted, or the one most difficult to tune. Usually, this is the piano unless there happens to be a piano mechanic in the music group! :)
- Tuned to a tuner. All instruments tune to a calibrated instrument. In the past this meant tuning forks, but nowadays there are a variety of electronic tuners available. These electronic gadgets are costing less and less. Here is one of my favorite.
For most groups, I think the best tuning method readily presents itself from the list above.
However, I've seen significant tuning issues in music groups with a piano. I'll elaborate on the dilemma and posit a possible approach in my next post Wednesday.
What routine seems to work best for your group? Please contribute your valuable experience to the music ministry community and add a comment.
Note: Image courtesy Crystal Tones.
3 comments Labels: Instruments, Music Ministry, Tuning
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3 comments to "All Tuned Up? Tuning Frequency"
April 27, 2010 at 5:45 AM
Thanks for your insights Paul. We truly appreciate your energies to help us improve our music ministries.
April 27, 2010 at 5:40 PM
It is fully my pleasure! Thanks for the feedback!
Please do let us know what topics are perhaps most pressing in your church. Lisa and I are working on articles all the time.
There is so much to write about and share!
May 10, 2010 at 11:24 PM
My church has an interesting blend of rhythm section, strings, woodwinds and brass – and it works quite well.
My belief is that any musician who plays a wind or string instrument with "fixed pitch" instruments (synthesizers, piano/organ) should be reviewing their pitch continually throughout worship as they play. Using a tuner clipped onto their instrument, or placed on the music stand, is the best way to do this.
Wind instruments are very subject to temperature changes and pitch can go sharp or flat within only a few measures. I see quite a bit of variation on my instrument as worship progresses and the temperature of the room changes (I play trumpet). Another factor that that can skew pitch is embouchure fatigue.
I use the Korg AW-2 Chromatic String/Wind Tuner, even though I have a monitor behind me, because I have found that most of our wind players tune to me as we go along – I'm loud and they know I'm watching that tuner!
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