Klarinet Archive - Posting 000106.txt from 2005/02

From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Tuning, pitch, violinists, and so on...
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2005 20:06:23 -0500

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Daniel Fairhead [mailto:madprof@-----.net]
> Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 5:56 PM
> ...we now are rehearsing in a new violinist.
> She is extremely good, competent player, conservatory trained,
> soloist, and all. But I continually hear her sounding sharp.
> No-one else seems to, and all are entranced by her playing.
> So I expect it is my problem. I find myself lipping all over the
> place trying to play in tune with her, and jumping registers
> is often painfully out.
>
Do you mean to say you're the one who is having trouble tuning to her or
that you're the only one who hears it?

I find playing in tune with solo string players to be especially difficult -
partly because their vibrato is based partly on pitch fluctuation, so
deciding exactly where to center the pitch can with some players be
problematic. If you're in tune with everyone else, it should be easier for
her to adjust to you - string players have to adjust constantly to account
not only for non-equal melodic intervals but also for strings that slip
slightly out of tune during a performance and other string players who
aren't as accommodating as most of us wind players are. If you're reasonably
sure your pitch is OK when you aren't trying to play with the violin, your
best bet would be to figure out where the most glaring problems are and ask
her to rehearse them with you for a minute or two before a performance.>

>
> About playing "in tune" in general... I know that a lot of
> "in tune"-ness is mostly a myth, and that there is no real
> "one in tune pitch" for a note (ie, A=440). (pitches needing
> moving because of intervals, chords, tone-color and so on),
> so, if practicing, what is the best way to learn to play the
> clarinet with good intonation? Playing scales, arpeggios,
> intervals, etc, using a tuner? If so, aren't tuners normally
> even-tempered? And wouldn't that train one to play even-tempered,
> and hard to play in other temperaments? Or is this not really
> an issue? What temperament/scale are clarinets manufactured to
> anyway?
>

All you can do with a tuner is find out if you are in tune with *some*thing.
Once you are fairly confident that your tuning is accurate according to
equal temperament, you can make adjustments up or down in performance to
accommodate different ensemble or contextual needs. Playing in "other
temperaments" isn't so much the issue as playing pitches appropriate to the
musical surroundings of the notes. Trying to get an instrument in tune with
a tuner, if you spend time trying to do it, isn't (or shouldn't be) for
learning to play a particular "temperament" so much as for developing a
reliable starting point.

> Sorry for asking so many questions, and for being so naive
> about all this. My teacher doesn't really tell me anything,
> and I cannot find anyone to really talk about such things here.
>
Maybe this is because the answers are so situational that they really can't
be answered very well in general discussions. Ask your teacher (or the list)
about specific situations. You may get some answers based on your teacher's
or list members' experiences with the same situation.

FWIW,
Karl Krelove

+------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fri Feb 4 09:21:11 EST 2005 - 127 dononrs, 113 to go |
| The 2005 Woodwind.Org Donation Drive is Underway. |
| Please visit http://secure.donax-us.com/donation for more |
| information. Help Keep the List Going! |
+------------------------------------------------------------+
Klarinet is a service of Woodwind.Org, Inc. http://www.woodwind.org
Sat Jan 29 11:56:46 EST 2005

   
     Copyright © Woodwind.Org, Inc. All Rights Reserved    Privacy Policy    Contact charette@woodwind.org