AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |
Back to Blog
Best tuning fork for cello11/25/2023 ![]() The twelfth fret harmonic is an octave above the open string the fifth fret harmonic is two octaves above the open string. So to get the fifth fret harmonic, touch the string lightly exactly over the metal of the fifth fret. To get the harmonic, touch the string lightly exactly over the fret with your fretting hand and pluck the string soundly with your picking hand. Use the tuning peg to tune first a bit lower than the note, then “tune up” until the note is the same. It is logistically easier to pluck the harmonic of the A string at the fifth fret before sounding the fork. The fifth fret should be the exact note the twelfth is the low octave. I like to hold it against the bridge of my guitar and let the guitar’s soundboard project the note take care not to scratch your guitar. ![]() The base of most tuning forks has a ball on the end if you hold that ball end against a wooden box, the note will ring out. Hold your tuning fork by the base and whack it firmly against something hard I like to use a piece of wood like the table leg, or, often, my head - something that won’t scratch the fork (though they are quite durable). If you know what the sound of the open strum sounds like, you can pull the guitar close to in-tune, and once you get it close, you can fine tune it using string harmonics as reference notes. If your guitar is really out of tune when you pick it up, you can give it a quick rough tuning by ear as long as you have a reference note, as from a tuning fork. It’s helpful to practice listening to what a guitar in standard tuning (EADGBE) sounds like when strummed open across the strings from lowest to highest, and also from highest to lowest. The reason for this is that some instruments that are more difficult to tune quickly-a piano or organ for example-may be pitched at, say, 435 Hz (which, for example, was the recommended tuning pitch for the countries of Austria and France in the late 1800s) it’s much easier to tune your guitar to the pitch of the 435 piano than it would be to tune the entire piano to 440. Most digital tuners allow you to change the Hertz setting down as low as 415 Hz and up as high as 465 Hz, those being the outer boundaries of a full half-step down or up. ![]() Esoteric note: Most forks you buy will ring an A note at 440 Hz (Hertz, cycles per second). Mine is made in Germany by Wittner and cost less than six bucks. The miracle of digital tuners and their evolution toward clip-on and app-based tuners has made life better for many a guitarist, but it’s still great to be able to tune your guitar by ear using a tuning fork or some other reference note, like from your friend’s guitar, or a harmonica or piano or some other instrument-anything that doesn’t need a battery! Tuning forks are cool because they are very small and cheap, easily fit in your guitar case or gig bag, and never run out of power.
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |