Blog - occasional, random thoughts on music - April 2016
Guitars can't be perfectly tuned
21.4.2016
Believe it or not, you can't put a fretted instrument into perfect tuning. This thought was prompted by seeing one of the many YouTube videos produced by a guitar player and techie called Scott Grove. I can't remember the title of the video, but I know it was concerned with tuning a guitar using harmonics. If you can't remember what this method is, it consists of:
Playing the 7th fret harmonic on a middle string (say) and matching it with the 5th fret harmonic on the string below, e.g. the harmonic at the 7th fret on the D string should be the same as the 5th fret on the A string. And so on - but not the 2nd and 3rd strings!
Scott G was dismissive of this technique and demonstrated on a couple of guitars that it didn't work - though it DID work on a 3rd guitar - preferring to use a tuner. The problem with this harmonic-not-working theory - as demonstrated by the guitar on which it did work - is that the tuning issue is more complex than he makes out. For example, I use a clip-on Fender digital tuner to get my guitars quickly in tune - then fine tune by ear. Similarly, if I use harmonics for tuning, I still fine tune by ear. "Fine tune", in this instance, means checking octave notes and playing chords to see how it sounds. Let me elaborate.
Part of the tuning process is to make sure that notes an octave apart are in tune.
Why all these different methods? Well, one reason is that all my guitars are slightly different, and one method is sometimes more exact, to me, than another. But the main reason - and the reason for this blog page - is to emphasise that it's simply not possible to get a guitar perfectly in tune, because frets divide all six strings equally, and combinations of musical notes, in different keys and with different chords, will always create an imbalance. Piano tuners put pianos into "equal temperament", which actually means that each note is minutely out of tune with its neighbour. This, in turn, means that every combination of notes - across the whole instrument - when played, sounds in harmony. I once tried tuning an old piano and, in my ignorance, tuned it so that every string sounded great in the key of C major. But the moment I played in another key, it sounded terrible! I'd tuned in the wrong temperament!
A violin player can always adjust his or her tuning so that it sounds perfectly in tune when played, because a violin has no frets and the player can use minute adjustments to finger placing. But a mandolin player, playing an instrument with the same tuning and range as a violin, cannot guarantee perfect tuning. The out-of-tuneness on fretted instruments, in most cases, is so slight as to be almost unnoticeable, but it exists. So, don't wrestle with trying to get everything in absolute tuning - it's always a slight compromise.
One final note of advice: I've seen some amateur players spending ages getting their guitar in tune - and then putting on a capo - just to find it's not in tune. Sometimes they take the capo off and try again! When using a capo, put the thing on the fretboard first - then tune up. The pressure of the capo on the strings alters the tuning because each string has a different thickness.
21.4.2016
Believe it or not, you can't put a fretted instrument into perfect tuning. This thought was prompted by seeing one of the many YouTube videos produced by a guitar player and techie called Scott Grove. I can't remember the title of the video, but I know it was concerned with tuning a guitar using harmonics. If you can't remember what this method is, it consists of:
Playing the 7th fret harmonic on a middle string (say) and matching it with the 5th fret harmonic on the string below, e.g. the harmonic at the 7th fret on the D string should be the same as the 5th fret on the A string. And so on - but not the 2nd and 3rd strings!
Scott G was dismissive of this technique and demonstrated on a couple of guitars that it didn't work - though it DID work on a 3rd guitar - preferring to use a tuner. The problem with this harmonic-not-working theory - as demonstrated by the guitar on which it did work - is that the tuning issue is more complex than he makes out. For example, I use a clip-on Fender digital tuner to get my guitars quickly in tune - then fine tune by ear. Similarly, if I use harmonics for tuning, I still fine tune by ear. "Fine tune", in this instance, means checking octave notes and playing chords to see how it sounds. Let me elaborate.
Part of the tuning process is to make sure that notes an octave apart are in tune.
- I check the open E string against the E note played at the 2nd fret on the 4th string
- I check the open A string against the A note played at the 2nd fret on the 3rd string
- I check the open D string against the D note played at the 3rd fret on the 2nd string
- I check the open G string against the G note played at the 3rd fret on the 1st string
Why all these different methods? Well, one reason is that all my guitars are slightly different, and one method is sometimes more exact, to me, than another. But the main reason - and the reason for this blog page - is to emphasise that it's simply not possible to get a guitar perfectly in tune, because frets divide all six strings equally, and combinations of musical notes, in different keys and with different chords, will always create an imbalance. Piano tuners put pianos into "equal temperament", which actually means that each note is minutely out of tune with its neighbour. This, in turn, means that every combination of notes - across the whole instrument - when played, sounds in harmony. I once tried tuning an old piano and, in my ignorance, tuned it so that every string sounded great in the key of C major. But the moment I played in another key, it sounded terrible! I'd tuned in the wrong temperament!
A violin player can always adjust his or her tuning so that it sounds perfectly in tune when played, because a violin has no frets and the player can use minute adjustments to finger placing. But a mandolin player, playing an instrument with the same tuning and range as a violin, cannot guarantee perfect tuning. The out-of-tuneness on fretted instruments, in most cases, is so slight as to be almost unnoticeable, but it exists. So, don't wrestle with trying to get everything in absolute tuning - it's always a slight compromise.
One final note of advice: I've seen some amateur players spending ages getting their guitar in tune - and then putting on a capo - just to find it's not in tune. Sometimes they take the capo off and try again! When using a capo, put the thing on the fretboard first - then tune up. The pressure of the capo on the strings alters the tuning because each string has a different thickness.