All about Intonation

Well, maybe not everything, but some useful stuff!

To most players playing in tune means playing the least out of tune. If your note sounds pretty much OK you must be in tune. If the conductor is yelling ‘you are out of tune’ then you must be out of tune. Sadly that is the most help you get from most conductors.

Being in tune is a physical phenomenon. It is a real thing and while there are differences that come from taste and tradition, a lot of it is simple to understand science. You also have to understand your position in the section to know whether you are setting the intonation or matching it.

If a player plays an A-440 and the player next to him plays an A-442 what A can you play that will be in tune? None! You could be in unison with the first player at 440 or in tune with the other player at 442 but you can’t be in tune with both.

Let’ say you choose to play the A-440. Your playing will reinforce the A you are matching and will interfere with the A playing at 442.

When your note hits the A442 in the air they create a new note, one that is 2 beats per second. It’s called a Difference Tone. That is what being out of tune is. Not matching the perfect intervals and creating a Difference Tone.

As you get closer to being in tune the Difference Tone slows down. An A442 interfering with an A 441 will produce a different tune will produce a 1 beat per second Difference Tone.

In addition to the 2 beats per second Difference Tone you will get an Additive tone. An A 440 played with an A 442 will produce a tone at 882 but it will be very weak. It's the Difference Tone you want to worry about.


4 (General) Rules for Playing in Tune Left Coast Style

Because horns are a natural thing and our major-minor system isn’t we have to make some adjustments.

1. When playing the bottom of a perfect 5th you have to enlarge the interval slightly. The upper pitch stays where it is and the lower player must lower their pitch.
2. When playing the bottom of a perfect 4th you have to raise your pitch slightly
3. When playing the 3rd of a major chord lower the pitch slightly
4. When playing a melody we may raise the 8th degree to sound more like a leading tone

This is different than is what is done in other parts of the world but this is the prevailing system on the Left Coast.

We could add a fifth rule that unisons and octaves have to be in tune or that non-perfect intervals have to be reasonably in tune but we feel these are self evident.

How to Tune for an Ensemble

1. Listen intently to the tuning note
2. Play a note for no more than two seconds. Any longer than that you will use your body to match the tuning note and that is not the idea. The ideas is to tune your instrument so you don’t have to make (many) adjustments to play in tune.
3. Make a slight adjustment to your horn and play another short note. If the intonation is better you have gone the right direction. If it is worse you have gone the wrong direction.
4. Make another slight correction and retest if you need to.

Try not to correct it with your body. If you do then to play in tune you have to constantly be moving, chewing, twisting, etc. and we don't want that.

Other Tips

It’s important to adjust slowly. If you don’t you run the risk of just going back and forth rather than matching. 

If you are playing an A 440 and someone else is playing A 438 you'll get a Difference Tone of 2 beats per second. If you play an A 440 and someone else plays an A 442 you'll also get a Difference Tone of 2 beats per second. This is why it's hard to tell if you are flat or sharp when you are close.

It's also why it's important to tune slowly and not make big jumps.

When there are two horns playing in tune there is one setting the pitch and one matching the pitch. In an orchestral section the 2nd player matches the principal and the 4th player matches the third. It changes depending on what is going on in the piece and who has the top or most important line but most of the time you would tune this way.

Perhaps the best way to learn to play in tune is to play duets. Make sure one player adjusts to the other and that you know who it is before you play.