[Dixielandjazz] Re: Tuning guitar players

[Russ Guarino]

I perform with so many guitar players with varying skill levels, I like to see
them tuning with an electronic tuner.  At least I know they will be close to in
tune.

Those who just sit down and start in make me very nervous.  Chances are they
will really be out of tune.  And if you say anything, they get in a stew.

How many players do you know who really have good ears?  A lot think they have
good ears, but how many really have it?

Encourage them to use tuners.  Don't intimidate them.  You'll do better in the
long run.

Russ Guarino

Larry Walton Entertainment wrote:

> Having been an oboe player I would tune my reeds sharp and then pull
> them to 440. The reason for this is that bands tend to play sharp in
> this country and if they didn't start that way they end up playing that
> way and that's the same with orchestras. Have you ever watched them
> fooling with the tuning screws on the tail pieces. They are pulling the
> instrument sharp so they tend to slide up.
>
> Personally I hear sharp and 440 sounds a bit flat to me. I think that
> that's true with most people. My band director in college also liked the
> band tuned a little sharp because he said it sounded brighter. Tuning is
> like voting within a band, the majority wins.
>
> I understand, and could be wrong, that Russia tunes flat to A440 because
> the cold weather prevents the pianos from being pulled to A440. The
> result would be like a skin drum head splitting when warmed up.
> Obviously that would not be the case now with good heating but may have
> been true 100 years ago. Anyone know the true story? Myth?
>
> Pet peeve: Guitar players that use tuning meters to tune their
> instruments. This will automatically produce an out of tune guitar
> because it isn't tempered. The human ear is the most accurate if it's
> used but it does require training. Everyone wants to take shortcuts
> without taking the background work. The only place using a meter seems
> to work is with Bass guitar but they aren't playing chords either.
>
> Larry Walton
> St. Louis
>
> Queetonians Constellations wrote:
> > Yes, I remember reading a few years ago that A=440Hz wasn't actually
> > standardized until the 20th century. I wish I could cite the source.
> > The normal middle A before that was usually somewhere around 442 or
> > 443 point something-or-other Hz. I think 440Hz was standardized in the
> > U.S. in order to make it easier to quantify musical frequencies. So it
> > makes sense that older world symphonic organizations in Europe would
> > still be tuning traditionally a little bit higher than 440Hz.
> >
> > Jara
> >
> >
> > On Nov 6, 2005, at 8:20 AM, Mike C. wrote:
> >
> >> Most European Orchestras tune to a higher frequency I believe. I think
> >> it's something like A=441 or 442 but I could be wrong.
> >>
> >> MIke
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>> "Bob Romans" <cellblk7 at comcast.net>
> >>>
> >>>> I think A 440 is the A above middle C, isn't it? 440 VPS...tuning note
> >>>> for
> >>>> MOST symphonies around the world?
> >>>
> >>> Yes, A above middle C on the piano is 440, or at least it should be
> >>> in the
> >>> USA. Whether or not MOST symphonies around the world tune to it is
> >>> questionable. Perhaps the oboe players could let us know?
> >>>
> >>> Cheers,
> >>> Steve
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
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> >>
> >>
> >> --"A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into
> >> superstition,
> >> and art into pedantry. Hence University education."
> >>
> >> "If you can't get rid of the skeleton in your closet, you'd best
> >> teach it
> >> to dance."
> >>
> >> "You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were;
> >> and I say 'Why not?'"
> >>
> >> - George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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