The Days Before Electronic Tuners

[Howard Cash]

It took us all a while to learn how to get our ears to
zero in on standard tuning. We got it after a while of
miles of broken strings. I was wondering how did they
do all those different tunings alternate Eflat and so on
before the Electronic Tuner days? How would they know
if they were anywhere near where they were supposed
to be? I know some of the old timers have no problem
but i was studying alternate tunings and there are tons!
Like just an example we ll say(Example only)
Say D flat tuning dFlat Bflat, C sharp, Bflat, C, and F sharp. I know thats not actual tuning, but if it was how
in the world would you do all that by ear, with no tuner?
John Lennon Real love i read is eflat tuning but while
i know its tuning down a half step, how will i get an
accurate tuning with ears only? I think Buddy Guy?
maybe would only use FMinor tuning thats how he
was taught.. but how do we tune into infinity without
a tuner??

[dugger]

in 1966 I had 2 tuning forks that I used. One was a D and I believe the other was a F or G don't rememmber

[mc1]

Originally Posted by Howard Cash

It took us all a while to learn how to get our ears to
zero in on standard tuning. We got it after a while of
miles of broken strings. I was wondering how did they
do all those different tunings alternate Eflat and so on
before the Electronic Tuner days? How would they know
if they were anywhere near where they were supposed
to be? I know some of the old timers have no problem
but i was studying alternate tunings and there are tons!
Like just an example we ll say(Example only)
Say D flat tuning dFlat Bflat, C sharp, Bflat, C, and F sharp. I know thats not actual tuning, but if it was how
in the world would you do all that by ear, with no tuner?
John Lennon Real love i read is eflat tuning but while
i know its tuning down a half step, how will i get an
accurate tuning with ears only? I think Buddy Guy?
maybe would only use FMinor tuning thats how he
was taught.. but how do we tune into infinity without
a tuner??

i think albert collins used fm tuning. you could use a tuning fork, tune to the keys, put on a record, or just be in relative tuning. i think most of those old blues guys, even hendrix, were only approximate, and just were in relative tune with themselves and each other.

i used to tune to our fridge because it was loud and the difference between 60 cycle hum and A was annoying.

[chistoso]

Pitch pipe, relative tuning, zero beat

[Wade Hampton]

You can train yourself to tune by ear easily enough. When I was playing in Irish bars back the late 70's and early 80's my musical partner and I each had an A 440 tuning fork we brought with us. We'd strike that on a knee, then let it vibrate as we pressed the end of the fork against a tooth.

No matter how loud the din the drinkers were making, you can hear that! Then we'd tune our A strings to that and the rest of the instrument to the intervals. In especially loud bars we would tune by feeling the intervals as the instruments vibrated against our chests.

When you've got a perfect fourth interval (for guitar) or a perfect fifth (for mandolin) the instruments vibrate in such a way that feels harmonious. When two strings are not in an interval together, there's a discordant feeling - it's really quite jarring when you feel it against your chest.

So we'd tune one string to the tuning fork, then all the other strings in succession to the first one, tuning them by how the vibrations felt against our chests when need be.

It works. Obviously there's a bit of a learning curve involved, but we did just fine with those methods.


whm

[rlouie]

Pick up your telephone and listen to the dial tone. The dial tone is in the key of "F", Put your finger on the first fret, sixth string, ("E" or top string) this the note "F" You can also use the 1st string ("E" or bottom string) but it is two octaves higher than the low "E" and may fool you a bit. Tune the 6th string with your finger on the 1st fret until it is in the same pitch as the dial tone on your telephone. Tune the rest of your strings to the 6th string and you'll be in concert (440) pitch.

http://www.wikihow.com/Tune-a-Guitar-Without-a-Tuner

[grampa]

Piano?
They say Ella had perfect pitch and orchestras would "tune to Ella".

[Misty44]

During a recent performance, Jim Kweskin and Geoff Muldaur were using their electronic tuners to fine tune their guitars in between songs. These old folkies have been around since the days when Kweskin started the Jug Band in 1962. (They're excellent players, by the way.)



Anyway, it took them less than 10 seconds to check everything with their little green-eyed clip on gizmos. Having finished first, Muldaur turned to the audience and said, "You know, if we'd had these things during the '60's, they'd have been over in half the time."



This got Geoff a big laugh from the audience, a mutual recognition of just how much time the artist and the audience spent together in the pre-tuner era to keep things sounding right.

[Kerbie]

I had a whole set of tuning forks when I was a kid before I had a pitch pipe. Worked just fine. I like the idea of tuning to Ella though. Great idea!

[Gypsyblue]

I used harmonicas or a pitch pipe until digital tuners became available. Or I'd tune to the keyboard in the band if one was available.

You know, most often when I'm playing around the house I'll just tune my guitar to our piano. It's close enough.

I do have a few digital tuners but I tend to use them more on gigs or recording sessions. And I always end up strumming a few chords and retuning the guitar to itself after using a digital tuner anyway.

[Opa John]

Originally Posted by Gypsyblue

I used harmonicas or a pitch pipe until digital tuners became available.

Same here. I bought a cheap pitch pipe when I got my first guitar over 50 years ago. And, would you believe it......I've still got it...and it still works. These days I use a Tune Tech TT-500. Good enough until something better comes along.

I spend a lot of free time at a local mom & pop guitar shop. It's amazing how many times I've seen someone bring a guitar in to have it tuned because they have no idea how to do it themselves. It gets tuned, no charge of course, but the guy sure sells a lot of electronic tuners this way.

[L20A]

I used a pitch pipe, tuning fork and piano to tune my guitars in the 70's and 80's.
I also sold my 12 string because I could never get it in tune! [Guild D-212]

An apple in the guitar case, was my humidifier in those days.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by Opa John

I spend a lot of free time at a local mom & pop guitar shop. It's amazing how many times I've seen someone bring a guitar in to have it tuned because they have no idea how to do it themselves. It gets tuned, no charge of course, but the guy sure sells a lot of electronic tuners this way.

Well, tuning an instrument is a skill that has be learned. It took me quite a while before I could tune my instruments by myself.

That's one reason why the first lesson I teach anyone includes learning to tune the instrument by ear. They need to know that.

You can say: "Why bother when there are cheap, accurate electronic tuners these days?"

Well, because batteries can and do die sometimes, and being able to get in tune is one of the basic, essential skills that any real musician needs to know.


whm

[jayhawk]

I saw Eric Johnson in concert playing his acoustic (Martin (H)D-28, I believe). He was tuning it, by ear. Getting it dialed in perfect. While he was doing this he started laughing about imagine if he were this 'anal' with a piano (he is a quite good piano player). He said, 'Can't you imagine in the middle of a concert the pianist just stopping, getting out his bag of tools and going to work on the piano'.

We all laughed, but somewhere in the back of my mind I have to imagine it has actually happened.

Jack

[zabdart]

Tuning forks and having people hit keys on the piano (or organ). Simple as that.
What's really amazing is that Antonio Stradivari and the Guaneri family tuned the top and back plates of their violins to produce a specific frequency when tapped, and these notes were different from the taptones created when the instrument was assembled... and this was done back in the 16th century! Lloyd Loar documented all this in one of his Master's theses.