For band directors›The Tuning Room

The Whole Horn · what it means

The Tuning Room

A needle tells a student they are four cents flat. It does not teach them to hear it — and a student who learns to watch a needle has learned to watch a needle.

What it means in practice

• Sustained dronesA reference pitch that holds, so the student is tuning to something musical rather than to a graphic.
• The harmonic series, audiblyThey hear the beats slow and stop as a note locks in, which is the physical sensation intonation is actually made of.
• Every keyThe drone follows the work, so intonation is practised in the keys the student is actually playing in.
• Ears, not eyesThe screen is not the point. The point is the moment a player stops looking and starts listening.
• It pairs with the scale workIntonation stops being a separate exercise and becomes part of how a scale is practised.

Why it matters

Electronic tuners made intonation visible, and in doing so quietly made a generation of players dependent on seeing it.

A player who can only tune with a screen in front of them cannot tune in an ensemble, which is the only place tuning matters.

Frequently asked