Questions tagged [intonation]
Marks questions discussing the precise control over pitch that musicians exhibit as part of their technique; also used to describe the tuning of one's instrument or one's system of tuning.
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Why Is Just Intonation Impractical?
I've read about the debate of "just intonation" vs 12-tone equal temperament. And nowhere it was clearly stated why just intonation is impractical. Here are my assumptions. Please let me know if I am ...
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Why do E♯ and F♮ not sound the same (according to Wikipedia)?
I was just reading the Wikipedia page on the note F (as I do every evening) and was confused by this part where it says that even though F♮ and E♯ are enharmonic they “do not sound the same”:
E♯ is ...
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Is there a sound theoretical reason why a capella choirs "drift off" of the starting pitches in a piece?
Is the "comma pump" an empirical problem, or merely theoretical?
It's a standard music theory exercise to show that certain chord progressions don't actually quite work. For example, in the I-IV-ii-V-...
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B -> C and E -> F, No Sharp?
The keyboard has these notes:
A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#
Why do B and C and E and F not have a sharp note between them? If they did, the keyboard would look like this:
A A# B B# C ...
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Do people with perfect pitch distinguish between equal temperament and just temperament?
Do people with perfect pitch distinguish between equal temperament and just temperament?
Suppose someone with perfect pitch is singing a duet and wants to harmonise in thirds above the main melody. ...
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Should the dominant-seventh chord in just intonation use 9:5 for its seventh, or rather 16:9?
It may be just out of habit, what with the 12-edo temperament all around us, but anyway: I find the dominant-seventh rendition 20:25:30:36 sounds extremely harsh. In particular, the tritone from the ...
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How does string gauge affect intonation?
I have a problem with intonation adjustment on my g-string on my Epiphone Les Paul. It's correct now but the bridge saddle cannot be adjusted any farther in range.
I need to change strings but I don'...
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Slightly tone-deaf?
I'm incredibly depressed. I have always wanted to be a musician and for the last 5 years I have learned various scales, chords in each key in various positions up and down the neck of the guitar and ...
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Bridge intonation patterns on stringed instruments
On stringed instruments, the scale length needs to be slightly adjusted (at the bridge) for each string so that the first octave happens at the 12th fret/position, the 2nd at the 24th, etc. My ...
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Is my mandolin broken?
I read here that playing a string on the 12th fret will produce a note that is an octave above the note produced by playing the same string open (with no frets held down). For instance, if the bottom ...
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How can I improve my note accuracy and intonation?
Over time my pitch has improved simply through singing more, but I still have some problems with being a bit off sometimes (or way off on very high or very low notes). It helps if I focus on a ...
user28
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Was equal temperament caused by the invention of the piano, or was it inevitable?
Historically, which key a piece of music was written in made a big difference. Toccata and Fugue in D minor for instance had to be played in that key or it wouldn't sound right.
But over the last ...
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What frequencies should the violin and viola be tuned to?
I'm using this app to tune my violin, it supports many temperament options.
What I want to do is tune the A string to 440Hz first, then comparing the other strings sympathetically to the adjacent ...
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Why is Stratocaster Low E-String Intonation at Limit?
I recently got an American Standard Stratocaster and I've been working on setting it up.
I have tightened the intonation adjustment screw for the low E string to its limit and now the tension spring ...
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How does string age affect intonation?
I had a recent issue with my high e string where the saddle was adjusted as short as possible but the twelfth fret was still very flat. I read online that a new set of strings may fix this, and that ...
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What is the difference between temperament and intonation?
We talk of equal temperament but just intonation.
From wikipedia, tempering is described as
"the process of altering the size of an interval by making it narrower
or wider than pure."
where ...
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Why was Le Concert Spirituel playing out of tune at Proms 2012?
I know it sounds like an odd question, but I was listening to a recording of Handel's music for the Royal Fireworks (available here on Youtube), and there are sections where the horn players are ...
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How do instruments with discrete tuning play chords alongside those with continuous tuning?
I was taught that when playing a triad, the third should be played sharper and the fifth flatter than the notes would sound on an instrument tuned to equal temperament, such as the piano. However this ...
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Does string length affect intonation?
Does string length affect intonation? Like on a Les Paul Jr. that has a wraparound bridge but intonation is still flat. If I use a Bigsby type tailpiece to correct the intonation would that correct ...
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"∞-TET": Is there music that doesn't use discretely pitched notes?
Is there music that doesn't use notes with discrete* pitches, but rather has instruments playing continuously changing frequencies?
I know there are microtonal tunings as high as 72-TET, but is there ...
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Why choirs consistently go flat or sharp in certain keys
As a long-time chorister, I've always wondered what drives choirs to flat or sharp out of certain keys. For instance, the choir I sing with consistently fails to remain in the key of F, whereas ...
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Natural vs tempered semi-tones
I am reading "Fundamentals of Musical Composition" by Arnold Schoenberg. Chapter XI, page 99, states:
Chromaticism is difficult partly because the natural semi-tones differ in size from the ...
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How can I improve my violin intonation for enharmonic notes?
I know that while, for many instruments, enharmonic notes are a single pitch and their differences are more of an interpretation, helping music to remain consistent (it would make more sense for a ...
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How to learn to carry a tune, i.e. stay in some key or other
Motivated by Singing in key/on pitch
Suppose you have a close friend or relative who has a tin ear, i.e. can't carry a tune. You try to sing Happy Birthday together. You wait to start singing until ...
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Guitar string not in tune with itself
I have a knock-off telecaster made by Stadium. The strings on it refuse to be in tune with themselves (the G and B strings especially). I hooked it up to a tuner and tested the intonation. The G ...
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What is the savart unit in Persian music theory?
I was heard about Savart unit in Persian music that divides a chromatic interval into smaller units.
Persian musicians using an interval smaller than the chromatic intervals, called: Kron. they ...
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What are other intonations that exist in music?
I was wondering about the different intonations that have been used in the history of music. I have heard about Pythagorean Intonation, but are there any other types that exist ?
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Are these indentations on the frets of my Acoustic for intonation? Can I apply this to the frets of my Electric?
The questions are in the title, picture is below, but here are the (TL/DR) details.
About 9 months ago, I bought an electric guitar "kit" and assembled it (fun, highly recommended). This ...
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Why does the bridge saddle on a steel-string guitar sit at an angle?
I have been playing a classical guitar for some years now and I recently purchased a steel-string acoustic guitar.
I am puzzled by the placement of the bridge saddle on my steel-string.
On my ...
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Intonation problem: My 12th fret harmonic is on my 13th fret
So I've been trying to fix my guitar intonation recently because my B string is awful. However, when guides say that the 12th fret should be the same as the harmonic on that fret, it gets a bit more ...
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Guitar intonation issue - still flat but screw as far as it'll go
I am having a serious issue with my guitar and looking for some help. I recently had the guitar set up in a shop and in order to get the intonation right the guitar tech had to adjust some of the ...
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My clarinet is playing flat - how can I fix it?
First of all I understand that most people's first (and very reasonable) place to look to improve intonation is at the technique of the player: embouchure quality and technique, air support, maybe ...
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Intonation problems with a low b string
I just got a Warwick Thumb NT 6 and my b string is still sharp on the 12 and 24th fret but I cant tighten the screw anymore. What should i do? is it normal for the top few frets to be really out?
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What file format does timidity's -Z (or --freq-table) option require?
I'm trying to figure out how to use the "-Z" (or "--freq_table") option of timidity to assign specific frequencies to midi note numbers, but there is no clear documentation online.]
How do I specify ...
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Over/under pitch note
I know there is a quarter tone notation, but is there a symbol for music score that will simply say over/under pitch? I think quarter tone notation might be too strict/rigid in music arrangement that ...
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Can I use a Mustang bridge on a Fender Jaguar? Are there issues?
I've recently purchased a Fender Squier Jaguar from an online dealer, and was aware beforehand, that the stock bridge was unreliable and subject to many complaints. The issue with the Stock Jaguar ...
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In Pythagorean tuning, what's the frequency of the tonic of each key?
When playing a fretless instrument (like violin), what frequency should be used to tune beginning of each key?
I believe that for A major and A minor, 440Hz is the tonic. What will be the frequency ...
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How can i improve my intonation on violin?
I'm sure the right answer is "practice more" but there's a limit to the amount of time I get to do that. Are there any obvious techniques or quick exercises I can use to improve my intonation? Even if ...
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Electric guitar doesn't keep tuning on the first frets. Anything I can do about it?
I can tune the open strings properly to any note I want and they keep the tuning for days, but as I press my fingers on the first 2 frets the tuner shows the notes slighly flat, as I go up the scale ...
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Fixing Low Brass Intonation Outside
I'm a part of a marching band in mid-Michigan, where the weather varies widely from day to day and often hour to hour. The band I'm a part of is currently wrapping up our competition season over the ...
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Just intonation with Finale Human Playback?
Is it possible to hear a piece in Finale in just intonation using the "human playback" mode and the built-in Garritan orchestra? If not, what is the best way of doing this, other than live performance?...
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Cello pressed at half length higher than harmonic?
I was playing around with harmonics on my e-cello, and noticed that when pressing at the first one (half-length), the pitch was higher than when merely touching for the harmonics itself. I thought it ...
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If the resolution of human hearing is approximately five cents, how can musicians play works with intonation changes of less than five cents?
Sources1 suggest that the frequency resolution of humans—our ability to discriminate differences in pitch—is limited to around five cents.
If this is the case, how can musicians play an excerpt like ...
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Can we tell by ear if a piece is in sharp or in flat without relative or perfect pitch?
I remember a masterclass where the piano teacher commented a piece from Chopin with something like "and after this modulation we enter the world of sharps".
This left me wondering if it was a poetic ...
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Does an adjustable bridge need to be parallel to the frets?
The other day I was working on my guitar (Line 6 Variax JTV-89) that had some intonation issues.
I noticed that I couldn't move the saddles in a position that would be satisfying (I was at the minimum ...
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Guitar intonation issue - still sharp but screw as far as it'll go
Recently I got a brand new Ibanez AM93 Lefty. It's an hollow body so I am using jazz guitar strings. I think I did a correct setup:
Action is approx 1.8 mm in high E, and approx 1.9-2.0 at low E
Neck ...
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Problem with violin finger placement changes with each string?
I have a violin student who recently purchased a violin from a music shop. It's not a professional grade violin, but it is still a nice student model. My student's intonation seemed to get worse after ...
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Theory confusion [closed]
In every book and website I look at it says for guitar that sharps and flats are on the same fret for example C sharp and D flat are both on the forth fret of the a string and I've seen that it is ...
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How to teach a young child the correct intonation on the violin?
I'm a parent who is teaching my child how to play the violin.
Unfortunately, my child is not consistent
about the placement of his left-hand fingers on the fingerboard.
For example, when my child ...
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Fretted notes consistantly ~10cents sharp across the fretboard compared to open
I have a baritone ukulele, which is basically a classical nylon-string guitar except missing the 2 bass strings.
I've noticed when I tune I can either have fretted notes in tune or open notes in tune ...
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