What pitch do you use?

[LeDave]

440 as with everyone else

[Italuke]

Originally Posted by 1neeto

Glad I haven’t ran into such woke musician. I cant imagine the conversation while he drinks water off a wine glass with the pinky raised. “Well you do understand that at 432hz the music resonates in harmony with the universe, you filthy peasant!”

Exactly. Bet these coniosseuers couldn't tell the difference between 440 and 432 in a blind test. Too much internet...

[jklotz]

I played electric on a recording session at 432. It was fine, but I didn't notice any different "vibe" that would give me cause to go back and explore it.

Just out of curiosity though, I think I'll tune to 432 for tomorrows practice session just to see. Solo stuff, of course. If it yields anything of interest, I'll report back.

[Duck916]

I use 420.


Wait, wut?

[jspe]

I bet the bible told you to

[mercy]

440 Ive tried others and it doesnt seem to make any difference so since others are in standard it just makes sense

[1neeto]

This is a good video. Paul Davids is awesome.

https://youtu.be/Rt3EAPDn-Ug

[tonyo]

when they start talking about other pitches and tie it to conspiracy theories, I tune out (in 440 of course)

[Mike McLenison]

I used to use something other than 440 (432?). Just complicated my life when figuring out stuff. Back to 440. (and NO I don't feel any upheaval, lol)

[Wade Hampton]

Yeah, it can get kind of silly at times. The setting where I think using a different pitch for A makes the most sense is when playing Early Music and baroque music, because the lower concert pitches these performers use were the standard back when that music was composed and performed. It does affect the tonality of both the instruments and the music that’s played on them.

As for tuning to other nonstandard pitches, there can be a number of valid reasons for it.

In my years as a performer playing with other musicians, the pragmatic, basic rule has always been that if you have an instrument that’s not tunable by its player, like a piano, accordion or pipe organ, then all the musicians who can tune their instruments tune to THAT guy. If it’s not exactly A440, then so be it.

Same thing here: if they’re all playing in A432, then you should, too, while you’re around them, anyway.

As for some of the more ethereal theories of how this concert pitch is more “aligned with the planets” and that concert pitch helps with world peace and grows hair on bald heads, well, I guess it’s a free country and people can believe whatever they want.

But, honestly, those theories strike me as the musicians’ version of the Flat Earth theories that, strange but true, increasing numbers of allegedly educated people are gullible enough to believe in.

Again, returning to the idea of pragmatism and practicality, if you find yourself playing music with a bunch of folks who are using one of these different concert pitches as their reference pitch, no point in getting either testy or sarcastic about it - ridicule isn’t any more helpful at changing minds about these theories than is explaining the scientific evidence for global climate change to a climate change denier. There’s no point in wasting your breath - in this case, what it really comes down to is whether or not you want to play music with this particular group of people.

If you do, then keep your trap shut, tune to them and just play music.

When dealing with ideas as profoundly unimportant as the alleged benefits and importance of different concert pitches, accommodating them if you want to play music with them is the most pragmatic and practical approach by far.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Big-E]

You lost me after the first post.....

[JayBee1404]

440. Always.

[RodB]

Originally Posted by bufflehead

A = 440 because that is where my tuning fork vibrates.

+1. I also might drift off a bit with time as I am only interested in the guitar being in tune with itself. I would be pointless retuning all 6 to achieve what is actually an arbitrary standard.

[Tico]

Which pitch?
The pitch I'm most successful with is the curveball.

[Parlorman]

If you are performing solo, you can tune to whatever floats your boat (or sounds good to you). However, if you are playing with others and are playing a tunable instrument like a guitar, you need to tune to a fixed pitch instrument if the group includes one or to an agreed upon standard if it doesn’t.

Concert pitch has varied considerably over the years, generally in the 400 to 450 Hz range for A Over middle C.

If you want to have even more fun, let’s get into tuning temperments.