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 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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2
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Pacific State - Is this out of tune, or is it a sophisticated performance playing with temperament?
I heard the song "Pacific State" by the band "808 State" on the radio last night.
It sounded to me like the sax was badly out of tune.
But it then struck me that the performer might be playing that ...
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Guitar Intonation Problem, Always Sharp
I've been playing guitar for 7 years already. Throughout the years my ear developed and I started to notice intonation issues. I've been trying to fix it, but I never could.
I adjusted the truss rod,...
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2
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Why frequency difference between notes is not constant? [closed]
I found that the difference is sometimes ~3, sometimes ~2 or ~4 Hz. Why isn't it constant? Would it be better if it was constant?
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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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2
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Deafness and intonation in music
I have a question I'm hoping someone may be able to help with.
I'm 52 years old and have been a professional musician all my life. I play violin, viola and cello and these days do mostly remote ...
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4
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Is there a simplified version of music theory / notation for Western music?
So far as I understand it, Western music uses a 12-note chromatic scale from octave to octave, and modern instruments use even temperament.
Other cultures have smaller intervals, meaning a different ...
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Am I hearing things in these two Michael Jackson songs?
My dad and I noticed something: On Michael Jackson's "Burn this Disco Out",
there's a certain chord that occurs before the track fades out. That one chord sounds ...
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Why do I only sing in tune while playing acoustically myself?
I have this weird problem where I can consistently hear the note and sing extremely in tune in a group setting, with the artist also singing in the background of a track, or even while I'm playing the ...
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Is my soprano saxophone poor or am I doing something wrong?
I have just aquired a soprano saxophone for the first time. Previously I have only played alto and baritone, never a soprano before.
Something I am encountering which I have never before - and it is ...
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New strings to fix acoustic intonation issue?
I have just purchased a second hand acoustic guitar: a Sigma 000MC-15E. The strings it came with tune fine but the high e string sounds noticeably out of tune even when played just at the third fret! ...
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Piano Tuning: How accurate is ±0.5 cents?
A tuner accuracy is ±0.5 cent. Does that mean that it is highly sensitive or just decently sensitive for pitch accuracy?
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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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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 I set my Ibanez guitar intonation?
I'm trying to intonate an Ibanez GIO GRG120EX to drop A#, but when I get the 12 fret in tune the open string it's out of tune and vice-versa. So far I've moved my pickups so they are not too close to ...
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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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2
answers
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Telecaster saddles not moving forward
I've a little bit of incomprehension about the intonation of my 3-saddles Telecaster.
It seems that none of the saddles are moving forward. If I turn the screw counterclockwise, I just get the screw ...
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2
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Ibanez S7420 ZR2-bridge not flush with body anymore, I can't fix it
I have a Ibanez S7420 7-string with the ZR2 bridge and I think I just majorly screwed it up.
The guitar was set up for standard 7-string tuning (BEADGBE) and I set it to A# F A# D# G C D# (tuning up ...
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One string sharp when fretted
I'm having trouble with my Epiphone SG G400 Pro. The 3rd string is sharp whenever I fret from the 1st - 12th frets. It's a tune-o-matic bridge and the saddle is as far from the nut as it can go. It's ...
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Key of song sung a cappella
If someone starts singing a song a cappella, then is it necessary for this person to sing in one of the 12 Western keys (A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#)? For example, would it be ...
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Intonation when playing with a click track on one ear
Recently I participated in a project where we played film music live with the film playing. We got an earbud that played the click track for one ear so we stayed in time.
Now this was an amateur ...
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1
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Is this music (flow my tears) here being played in 31 TET or a form of renaissance unequal temperament such as quarter comma meantone?
While looking for 31TET music I stumbled across this recording of "flow my tears" my John Dowland
The video description and the album artwork indicate that it's ...
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1
answer
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Equal temperament nearest possible to the just intonation
It is ever possible to have an equal temperament without using the pure octave. In this case we can produce equal temperament where an universal half tone is used. It will permit to stay nearest ...
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How accurately can a good musician judge an interval to be out of tune? [closed]
This is for a music/physics crossover experiment. Almost everyone will be familiar with the Doppler Effect, even if they don't know the name. Imagine that a vehicle is blaring its a siren or ...
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New guitar intonation, is it impossible to achieve perfect intonation?
I have a new cordoba c3m i have problems with g string intonaton mostly, it doesnt match up the 12th fret, always a frequency difference here is results:
e open 329.5 e 12th 659.1
b open 246.8 b 12 ...
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4
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keys with just intonation on guitar with standard tuning
I know that guitar is an imperfect music instrument as in standard tuning the intonation is slightly off. When playing a given chord, one or more notes will be slightly out of tune.
I wanted to know ...
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Suggestions for practising playing in tune
I play soprano cornet in a UK brass band. Although I think I play in tune, it's often pointed out to me that I don't. Soprano cornet is notorious in this respect - some notes are in tune, others aren'...
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Bassoon intonation problems on low notes
A professional bassoonist told me that I shouldn't write below a bassoon's low F because those low notes are too difficult to play in tune. However, the piece I'm writing is very much dependent on a ...
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Intonation exercises for string players
I am looking for intonation exercises for bowed strings.
I use techniques mentioned by Simon Fischer in his books and those have served me well I think. However I am now able to match pitches well but ...
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Guitar - Do you have to intonate based on your tuning?
Do I have to re-intonate the guitar when I change the tuning?
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High End Guitars - Open string in tune - Fretted string not
I have 3 high end guitars.
2 Gibson's, SG and 335
1 Taylor 528-e
Each of these guitars cost thousands.
The SG and the Taylor - I have had for a few years - and have been professionally set up ...
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1
answer
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ibanez edge III tremolo intonation out of adjustment
i have an ibanez edge III trem and all my strings are 3 cents sharp for intonation. the adjusters are as far as they can go toward the neck..
is there any way to correct this?
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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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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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"∞-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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Guitar intonation problem
I just felt a serious need for lowering my guitar action as I think I was unable to play faster because of higher action... Thus I lowered the string saddle a bit..and then tightened the truss rod ...
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Adjusting a string saddle back, making the string longer, reduce sharpness or increase it?
When adjusting a string saddle and moving it back, making the string effectively longer, does that decrease the sharpness or increase it??
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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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Fret Buzz on specific areas
I have a Jackson Ke5Fr Kelly, I mainly used it on .09 string gauge with standadd tuning but last couple of months it was .10's in Whole-Step Down tuning. Now, I turned back to .09's and standard ...
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Playing Brass in Classical music: Intonation of thirds of a chord is often crucial
When playing classical music with for example a trombone, the player who plays the third of a chord must consciously adjust intonation depending on major / minor chords.
On a piano this is not ...
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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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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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answer
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Guitar intonations sounds a bit off?
So I've got this Les Paul Custom a couple of weeks ago and it feels and plays great. I intonated it perfectly when I first got it too. So today I wanted to test how is intonation holding up and did ...
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What is the safest way to raise and lower action and adjust intonation?
I'm worried that taking my strings of every time to check whether the action or intonation is right will make them snap. So what's the safest way to remove new strings so I can change the intonation ...
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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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What do I do if the saddles on my bridge are already touching the bridge but I want to raise my action?
I want to raise the action a tad of my Schecter Omen Extreme 6, because there is a bit of fret buzz on the 5th fret 1st string, and a bit around the higher frets as well (same string). But I know 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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answer
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Term & abbreviation for number of tones or notes per octave - independent of temperament or intonation
In the context of characterizing a completely arbitrary instrument or piece of world music, when trying to describe the number of notes or tones per octave we tend quickly to get grounded in notions ...
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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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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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