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>, why are guitar tuners needed? Other stringed instruments seem to not need them, I love how that innocent question reveals how a popular phrase for objects (

by jasode 5y ago

>, why are guitar tuners needed? Other stringed instruments seem to not need them, I love how that innocent question reveals how a popular phrase for objects (i.e. "guitar tuner" instead of "violin tuner") alters public perception. It hides that fact that other stringed instruments like harps/violins do use outside aids (electronics, smartphone apps, or websites[1].) Some observations: - guitars are more common than violins, so the tuning object that's more common is ... the "guitar tuner" - other stringed instrument musicians like harp and violin players also use so-called "guitar tuners" or metronomes that generates a reference pitch A440. Plenty of Youtube tutorials showing harpists/violinists how to use guitar tuners. - formal vs informal cultural background of the instrument: the "orchestral" instruments like violin have a more formal structure (school ensembles) so you often end up in a situation where a student violinist has no idea how to tune their instrument because "my music teacher always did it for me". Likewise, piano players pay "piano tuners" to tune their instruments. On the other hand, guitars are more of a "folk" instrument (home playing, campfires, self-taught, etc) so guitar players have more a DIY attitude for tuning from the start. [1] https://violinspiration.com/free-online-violin-tuner-with-microphone-violin-tuning-notes/ https://violinspiration.com/free-online-violin-tuner-with-mi...

Cthulhu_ 5y ago
I also heard that professional musicians - guitarists as well - can tune their instrument by ear. Pianos need regular tuning too, done by experts - they change tone depending on weather, temperature and humidity as well, so they have to be in a stable environment if at all possible. But these people can mostly tune them by ear, or they will have a tune fork for the base tone (A I believe) and work from there.
- jm547ster 5y ago
  Yeah 95% or more will need a tuning fork at a minimum to give a frame of reference. It is fairly common for strings accompanied by a piano to ask for a note from the piano to start from (G for violin say)
  - ridaj 5y ago
    In the case of ensembles with a piano, I've heard it's because you can't retune the piano in the minutes before the performance. So it makes no sense for musicians to tune to a fork (or using an electric tuner) and leave the piano out of tune, so they all take the key tone from the piano
- Joeboy 5y ago
  Tuning a guitar (or other stringed instrument) so that the strings are more or less in tune with each other is a really basic skill that even very amateur players can mostly do. Being able to tune to an absolute pitch without any kind of reference is kind of freakishly rare.
  - TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
    This. Use harmonics after getting the A from an external source.

by jasode 5y ago

Cthulhu_ 5y ago

I also heard that professional musicians - guitarists as well - can tune their instrument by ear. Pianos need regular tuning too, done by experts - they change tone depending on weather, temperature and humidity as well, so they have to be in a stable environment if at all possible. But these people can mostly tune them by ear, or they will have a tune fork for the base tone (A I believe) and work from there.

jm547ster 5y ago
Yeah 95% or more will need a tuning fork at a minimum to give a frame of reference. It is fairly common for strings accompanied by a piano to ask for a note from the piano to start from (G for violin say)
- ridaj 5y ago
  In the case of ensembles with a piano, I've heard it's because you can't retune the piano in the minutes before the performance. So it makes no sense for musicians to tune to a fork (or using an electric tuner) and leave the piano out of tune, so they all take the key tone from the piano
Joeboy 5y ago
Tuning a guitar (or other stringed instrument) so that the strings are more or less in tune with each other is a really basic skill that even very amateur players can mostly do. Being able to tune to an absolute pitch without any kind of reference is kind of freakishly rare.
- TedDoesntTalk 5y ago
  This. Use harmonics after getting the A from an external source.