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Klarinet Archive - Posting 000057.txt from 1995/08

From: Mark Gustavson <FilbertCat@-----.COM>
Subj: Re: Tuning
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 20:57:31 -0400

If you do not know whether you are flat or sharp, you may need to learn your
intervals better.

Tuning requires the experience of playing with good musicians who you can
count on being in tune.
Experience will teach what to automatically listen for. (Heifitz said he
never played in-tune but he adusted quickly.)
Working with a tuner is an excellent exercise.
I have found, however, that working with an audible tone rather than
looking at a read out is more helpful. I have a digital keyboard and I will
set it to sustain a pitch. I will use the William Stubbins dexterity
exercies and at times I will set a sustained pitch to the tonic of each
exercise. This allows me to tune the intervals in the studies which I find
to be more demanding and beneficial than simply matching a pitch. If you
want to hear how beautiful in -tune interval are, listen to the recordings of
great string quartets such as the Budapest,

Italian, Emerson, Vermeer. There intervals are impeccably tuned. That
takes work and time.
Of course in an orchestral setting where the brass are blasting then you
don't need to tune since no one will hear you. But the brass shouldn't be
blasting in the first place
. The beauty of an in-tune ensemble is that one creates a much fuller and
warmer sound without so much wasted energy. The tuning will make the sound
bigger.
There are other factors too. A good clarinetist can make almost any set-up
play in tune but with how much effort? Perhaps the mouthpiece isn't in tune
or the bore of the instrument has become too large. The reed is too soft
, too hard, or your'e pinching.

Talk to your teacher.

Mark Gustavson