Re: Re: Re: Intonation Help


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Posted by Steve Oberheu on April 08, 2003 at 17:13:03:

In Reply to: Re: Re: Intonation Help posted by Matt on April 08, 2003 at 16:24:33:

Playing in tune with people is different than playing in tune with a tuner or pitch generator. Even as good as the TuneUp system is, it does not duplicate playing with a live person. There's a lot of microfactors that go into playing in tune....sound quality of other players (and your own), balance, comfort level with other people (it's difficult to play in tune with difficult people), etc.

My suggestion is....go find the book "Intonation Exercises for 2 Horns" by Verne Reynolds. It's out of print, so it's hard to find.....but it's so worth it! Maybe see if you can get copies made by someone near you (ask a horn professor). It's a series of intervals that you play with another player (essential element: find someone who you know plays well in tune! Make sure you get along with them, too!). Get either another tuba player or a trombone (bass trombone is great, since we have to play in tune with them in orchestra) for your other person. Maybe you could even get a horn. You hold long tones, listen and adjust until it's in tune, then you go on. *Don't go on until everything just rings from being in tune!!!* It can be tiring over long periods, just holding those notes until they're in, but once you get the feel of locking pitches in tune and the whole room resonates.....you'll start to get used to being in tune and you will be able to know by feel whether you're in tune, rather than by a light on a tuner or some conductor telling you if you're high or low. And being able to do this with another living person is so much better for you than playing with a machine. I guess it's like some other things in that way.....

Well, that's my suggestion, at least! Good luck!


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