All Tuned Up? Tuning Tips

As I mentioned in a previous article, "All Tuned Up?  Tuning Frequency" there are three ways that I know to tune an instrument.

1. Tuned to itself.  Set one string as the pitch foundation, and tune the rest against it. 
2. Tuned to another 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. 
3. Tuned to a tuner.  All instruments tune to a calibrated instrument. 

These are simple enough, but how does a multi-instument music group, tune when the piano is off-pitch?



Over time my poor piano drifts in pitch.  This is natural and is periodically resolved by a professional piano tuner.  However, it is in the few weeks before the piano tuner arrives (per the tuning schedule) to perform his trade where matters get sticky.



Now we return to the multi-instrument music group attempting to tune.  Although electronic tuners may be present, my professional piano tuner isn't due for another few weeks, so all instruments must tune to the out-of-tune piano.  In doing so, all instruments are now equivalently out of pitch.  Is this the best solution?  In my experience although all instruments are "tuned" together, the dissonance seems to be more audibly apparent in the other stringed and brass instruments and less so in the piano.  In other words, the piano sounds "OK", while the other instruments sound like death warmed over!  Why?  I can't say.  Perhaps it is just me?

My best suggestion for these scenarios is to segregate the piano and other instruments by song.  That is, categorize the playlist by piano-only and non-piano instruments.  In this way the other instruments can be tuned to a tuner.  Of course, this may not work for many groups where the piano is the music focal point, but may help many other groups who may also have a guitarist or keyboard on hand.
  
What routine seems to work best for your group?  Please contribute your valuable experience to the church musician community and add a comment.

Related Posts:
Great Blog on Care and Feeding of Pianos
All Tuned Up: Tuning Frequency

Note: Image courtesy Crystal Tones.

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