Hi, it's Geoff Chalmers here from discoverdoublebass.com.
Welcome to another one of my video lessons.
If you're interested in more of these, you can go and check out the website.
Well, today I wanted to answer a really important question and one that I've been asked quite
a few times now and that's, how can I tell if I'm out of tune?
Because in my lessons I'm always saying to you, "You should be carefully monitoring your
intonation."
I'm sure that if you're playing out of tune that you have an awareness that things aren't
right.
But, how can we actually tell?
How can we work it out so we can make corrections?
So I'm going to cover that and I'm going to show you some great little exercises and ideas
that will help improve your intonation.
So let's look at the details and get you playing in tune.
The first thing we need to think about is intervals.
An interval is simply a measurement of distance between two pitches and we usually think in
terms of semi-tones and tones when we're building scales.
Now I don't want to get into too much detail for you here, but if you don't understand
the way that scales are built, I would recommend doing some research on that.
But if we think about an interval as a measurement of distance, that interval, that measurement
needs to be correct.
It doesn't matter what the starting pitch is.
If the next note is going to be in tuned with the starting pitch, the distance has to be
right.
Well with that in mind, it makes sense to start with a reference note that you know
is accurate and is actually tuned up to A440, which is the standard tuning for an "A" string.
Then the other strings are in tuned with it.
So if you have an electronic tuner, the best thing is of course make sure you're in tune
first of all.
Now, if we use one of these open strings, we want to hear if the next note is out of
tune.
So let's have a listen.
Now that sounds okay to me.
I'm playing a perfect fifth which is the open "D" to an "A".
When the note is in tune, it doesn't have much tension.
There is no kind of dissonance there.
Let's play it with the bow and the reason why I choose to use the bow particularly for
this is that you'll hear the intonation, you'll hear the notes more accurately, so you'll
be able to make adjustments easier.
Let's hear them together.
That sounds okay.
Now what if I play slightly flat, how does it sound?
Now you can hear there is a sort of uglier noise to it and I think about it in terms
of tension.
I can feel that, that sound wants to raise up.
Okay.
What if it's higher than the actual target pitch?
Again, sounds whole, but it's only a tiny amount out.
So I think about tuning in terms of tension or dissonance.
The more dissonant the note is or the sound is, it just doesn't sound right.
Then it means that you'll be playing out of tune.
So those notes all sound okay.
A bit sharp, I'll make the correction.
It can just be as small as your finger is on the right angle.
I've actually over shot it slightly and then I went back.
I'm really carefully listening.
Now, what I'd like you to do is when you're playing something, maybe with the bow or what
have you, is to just make sure that when you do correct a note that's out of tune that
you think in practice term when you're practicing, whether it's sharp or flat before you make
the correction, and then test yourself.
So say I play out of tune and I'm playing a fifth.
Doesn't sound quite right.
I think to myself, does it need to go down?
Then test it.
No, maybe it'll be a bit lower.
I can hear that.
I'm back in tune.
So by carefully monitoring whether you're in tune or not and then making those corrections
in the practice room, it'll soon become second nature, because a double bass obviously is
a [inaudible 00:04:37] instrument and it's very challenging to play in tune.
It's not like you'll reach a stage where you'll suddenly be always playing in tune.
What you'll be doing is, you'll be playing in tune much more often and when you do get
a note slightly out, you'll be making these small corrections, which just become habit.
You just do them without even thinking about it.
But I think to get there, you should really be thinking is it out of tune first and which
way is it sharp or is it flat.
Now remember to reference against an open string and also you can use harmonics as well.
So maybe you're playing "G" and "G".
If I want to check if I am in tune, okay, the hands are above the right notes.
So that "D" is okay.
Now I can reference the "G".
It's a bit sharp, but it's okay.
You can see though, I was a little flat on the octave and now I'll just round that off.
Let's see what it sounds like if I was a bit sharp.
Well, I hope that has given you an idea about what you should be looking for.
What I'd like to do now is to give you some quick ideas about how you can improve your
tuning whilst you're in the practice room.
Okay.
Well, I've already mentioned that using the bow is fantastic because it really highlights
the sound, so you could hear more clearly.
But if you're playing pizzicato, there is also something you can do which will help
you hear the notes more accurately.
That's to play nearer the end of the fingerboard.
Really let those notes pop out.
Play them assertively.
Then when you make corrections, just think about whether it's sharp or flat.
There is a big difference between playing that way than playing with this kind of thing,
particularly if you've got the bow in your hand and you're playing pizzicato at the same
time.
It's just not as clear, so you won't be able to make an accurate decision about whether
it's out of tune or not.
Well, the next thing is that when you are playing in tune, the bass seems to really
open up and resonate very clearly.
When you're not playing in tune, it doesn't seem to work quite as well.
Let me give you an example.
For instance, if I play the note "G" here, so I've got the "A" harmonic and then down
to the note "G".
So there's "A", "A flat", and "G".
You can see, when I hit the "G" this string starts resonating in sympathy and I'll check
is the pitch right because this "G" is in tune because it's the open one.
Yeah, it's there.
That's okay.
But when you're out of tune, it doesn't actually set the other strings resonating as well.
When you're playing in tune, everything starts to work a little clearer.
So that's something that you should be thinking about and of course, it's another reason to
make sure that you're in tune, is that you'll be projecting the sound much better.
Another thing that you can do is we've mentioned about the open strings as being reference
points.
I think it's really important that at some stage you start practicing with backing tracks,
or with drone notes, or recordings, or of course other musicians, something that you
know is already in tune.
So you can go into the Discover Double Bass tool box if you're an email subscriber and
there is a whole collection of one, two-octave scales and arpeggios in major, and minor,
and dominant seventh forms.
If you're playing along with them and it doesn't sound right, then of course you're out of
tune and you need to slow right down and work out what you're doing.
But I always find that playing with another instrument or along with some kind of backing
track could be really useful.
Now, what about using an electronic tuner?
This is a question I get asked quite a lot as well.
I think tuners can be okay at the very start just to help you with the very basics maybe
of dividing the hand shape, but I'm not a huge fan of using them as you develop.
I really wouldn't recommend it anymore than just the very basic to help you get your hand
shape together at the start.
But if you start to come to rely on it, you'll spend all your practice time looking down,
maybe it's a clip-on one at the bridge looking at the notes, and you're looking for the answer,
you're not listening for the answer.
So I think that's a really important thing that maybe they do have their place just when
you start out, but I think as you develop, you shouldn't be coming to rely on it as a
crutch.
Well another great tip and you'll have heard me talk about this before in previous lessons
is that it really helps to sing the intervals that you're playing, sing the notes, try and
hear them because if you have a target note that you're aiming for, then you're likely
to hit it.
If you're just guessing and you don't really know what it's supposed to sound like, then
you're going to struggle.
So always try and sing when you play particularly when you're working on your intonation and
your scales, and your arpeggios, and that's very useful.
Just make sure that you can hear that interval before you get there.
Okay.
I think that's all I'd like to talk about really today, but I just wanted to finish
off by pointing something out.
The ideas and suggestions I've just given you are really for use in the practice room.
Now, when you're on a gig, if you're constantly thinking about intonation, then all of your
playing will suffer because your right hand technique will suffer, you won't be able to
get involved in the music.
Really, you need to reach the point where you're following your intuition and I think
if you start thinking about tuning all the time, then it can become a bit of a negative
thing.
So spend some time practicing, learn the corrections, and then when you get out there on the gig
just have fun, and don't worry about whether your tuning is absolutely perfect.
When you get back in the practice room, that's the time that you should be working on it.
Well I hope you've enjoyed the video lesson today.
If you have, maybe you'd like to let me know by pressing like.
It's really great for me and it helps me reach more people with these video lessons.
Of course, if you've got any ideas about tuning, about the way that you hear it and describe
it, and maybe about the way that you correct your tuning, any ideas that I haven't covered
in this lesson, you could leave a comment below the video and it'll be great to hear
from you.
So keep practicing and I'll see you in the next Discover Double Bass video lesson.