Klarinet Archive - Posting 000647.txt from 2002/03

From: "David B. Niethamer" <dnietham@-----.edu>
Subj: Re: [kl] So you wanna play in tune?
Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 12:13:27 -0500

on 3/21/2002 9:25 AM, David Hattner wrote:

>It is called INTONATION TRAINER. I demoed a predecessor of it once. It is
>quite ingenious. I don't own it, but it shows the user where notes need to
>be BASED ON WHERE THE NOTE IS IN THE UNDERLYING HARMONY. Plus, everything is
>tuned to just intonation so you can hear the 'beats' of your own
>shortcomings. It also has a microphone for your computer so you can both
>'see the meter' AND hear the pitches, something most tuners can't do.
>
>Now I DO own a predecessor of this program. It is a cd and book called
>TUNEUP. I recommend this highly. I loaned it to a colleague recently (a
>superb clarinet player) and she called a few days later and said "this thing
>is kicking my ass!" Which is exactly what it is supposed to do. Tuneup is,
>as far as I know, still available and it is not very expensive.
>

I own this book, and I've used it, and used it with students. But there
are cheaper solutions that are just as good, in some ways better. At
least they're cheaper if you already have a good tuner that emits a
strong pitch.

The first exercises I used post TUNEUP were given to me by Tom Labadorf,
who is on this list. I think those exercises might still be on Sneezy
somewhere - search on Tom's name to find them. They involve playing
intervals against a sounding pitch. The exercises start with open
intervals, (unison, octave, 5ths, 4ths) and get more complex (see David
H's comments about tuning 6ths below!). Very useful, and I printed mine
on two sheets of 8.5X11 paper. I start students with these pages.

Also, Larry Guy's "Intonation Training for Clarinetists" is an excellent
guide to working on intonation, with practical and useful exercises. You
can get it from Gay Van Cott.

In looking around my hard drive to check some stuff for this reply, I ran
across an article of Stan Geidel's about Tuning in the Practice room.
Interesting outlook, and right on the money as far as I'm concerned.
Check it out on Sneezy (Online Clarinet Resource).

>Now the problem with this is some of the pitch bends that are required in
>either of these programs (especially for 6ths) are so extreme that they are
>about impossible to accomplish on the clarinet. That's ok, because at least
>you'll know where it is supposed to be and get as close as possible.
>
Larry Guy has an interesting take on this, which is (paraphrased by me)
"Don't try to make it perfect - try to make it better." This way,
gradually you learn to place notes where they need to go in various
contexts.

on 3/21/2002 10:23 AM, Robert wrote:
>
>I perceive the issue to be that the piano A decays immediately and
>this "vibration" in the skull while we tune plays a role in our perception
>of the intonation we hear/heard with the hammered A of the piano. Ever
>notice how even some wonderful players, who play in tune for the most part,
>seem to miss that tuning note with the piano before they start but then play
>in tune during the piece?

In tuning with the piano, there is a double barreled problem. If the
pianist strikes the tuning note too hard, there is a definite spike on
the pitch. If you tune to that, you're dead. Also, there's a bit of a
spike on the clarinet attack. So you have to hold the pitch out to hear
where it "settles" which is where you want to tune.

I like to hear a chord to get some context when tuning with piano. The D
minor chord many string players favor works well for me. If I'm playing
just with piano on Bb clarinet, I prefer a Bb major chord to tune the Bb
and F concerts, which for me give a more accurate idea of where my Bb
clarinets play, all the A concerts being somewhat sharp to varying
degrees. Still, if you've done your homework and know the tendencies of
your Bb instrument, you should be able to tune using A concert to avoid
the tacky instance where the cello (or flute, or violin) tunes to A and
you request a Bb!

on 3/21/2002 12:00 AM, Bill Edinger wrote:

>This thread reminds me of the anecdote about, I believe it was, Bruno
>Walter, who, after allowing the orchestra to tune, pronounced, "Thank you,
>gentlemen. We will now procede to play out of tune...together."

paraphrase of a quote from George Szell, to an orchestra he guest
conducted:

Gentlemen, I want to thank you for your generosity during this week. At
each rehearsal I have asked you for the A, and you have regularly given
me two or three!

David

David Niethamer
Principal Clarinet, Richmond Symphony
dnietham@-----.edu
http://members.aol.com/dbnclar1/

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