#Piano tuners guild of america how to#
#Piano tuners guild of america pdf#

When these two strings have been properly tuned with each other, continue as follows. Tuning the 1st and 6th strings: The E, open 1st string, must be in pure unison with the harmonic of the E, 6th string at the fifth fret. Train your ear to accept tempered intervals and you will be much happier with your guitar. Learn to expect and accept the slight sharpness of the major third in each chord (and oppositely, the flatness of the minor third in each minor chord). Take the open B, second string back up to equal temperament so that it will be equally acceptable on all forms. Now play the C chord and with that lowered second string, and you are going to dislike the rough C and E a lot more than before. Why not try it? Slack off the second string a couple of vibrations and notice what beautiful G chord results. Yes, it would sound a little better if lowered ever so slightly. These tones are slightly higher than your ear would like.

Play a first position C chord and listen to the E on the first string and fourth string at 2. Listen to the C# on the second string and you may want to lower it slightly. That troublesome second string: Play an open position A major chord. Enjoy the overall beauty and resonance of chord just as does the pianist. Listen to G# on the third string and you most likely will want to lower it very slightly. If you are one of those persons who is sensitive to pure intervals, here is what you are going to notice on an absolutely perfectly tuned guitar in equal temperament: Play an open E major chord.

#Piano tuners guild of america how to#

How to help your ear accept equal temperament: It is easier to face a problem if we are prepared in advance and expect it. Tune the guitar as instructed below and let it stand. If you start adjusting a particular string on a certain chord form, you only compound the problem because then the next chord form will be completely objectionable. Nevertheless, when you have finished, your sensitive ear may notice that on each major chord form there is always one tone slightly high. When the steps have been followed correctly the guitar will be as perfectly tuned as it could be in the hands of a professional. Therefore, you may use harmonics at 12th and 5th as reference tones in the following tuning instructions.ДЄctually this discussion and the following suggestions are for those players who have been tuning to pure intervals. All octaves and unisons are pure on all instruments of fixed pitch. On the other hand, all harmonics at the 12th and 5th frets, being one and two octaves above the open strings, are immediately useful as explained below. To tune by harmonics at the 7th fret (as occasionally ill-advised) will make the guitar sound entirely unacceptable on some chord forms. Harmonic tones at the 7th fret are pure 5ths, while in equal temperament each 5th must be lowered slightly. Here is what all of this means to the guitarist: You must not, at any time, use harmonic tones at the 7th fret as a point of reference (skilled piano tuners could use them because they know how many beats to introduce between 4th and 5th). (They might be interested to know that to approximate pure chords on all forms would require about three dozen frets within the octave.) The system of equal temperament reduces the number to twelve, thereby making manageable all instruments of fixed pitch. Guitarists who have been trying to tune to one or another pure chord form must learn to understand and accept equal temperament. Equal temperament is the name given to a system of dividing the chromatic scale into 12 equal half steps. You must accept this compromise because the guitar is an instrument of fixed pitch and the strings must be tuned to tempered intervals, not pure. It is one of pure tuning verses equal temperament. Their problem is not in the construction of the guitar. In too many instances they assume that there must be a flaw in the workmanship on the fingerboard. They tune their guitar beautifully pure on one chord only to discover that the next chord form is unacceptable. These particular players have very sensitive ears that prefer pure intervals and reject the mandatory equal temperament. Many guitarists are frustrated because of their attempts to tune the guitar to pure chords (free of beats).

I promise you that accepting the information presenting here will make your guitar and your music sound better and your life much easier. To anyone who ever gets frustrated when tuning their guitar, this article explains why and I strongly advise you to read it.

#Piano tuners guild of america pdf#

But itвЂ™s so incredibly useful that itвЂ™s one of their most requested articles (you can download a PDF version from them here). They donвЂ™t know who wrote it and it never made it into publication. The following is a reprint of data sheet #45 from the Guild of American Luthiers. вЂњAmerican LutherieвЂќ, the journal of the Guild of American Luthiers