The University of Miami Frost School of Music The Troublesome T s of Tuning Wind Instruments by Brian C. Wuttke A PAPER submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for MED647 Coral Gables, Florida 26 th of November, 2007
For many instrumental music teachers, tuning the winds in the ensemble, and keeping them in tune may be the most daunting musical task their job requires. This is supported by the large number of articles that have appeared in music education publications. Comments received from judges and critics at festivals citing intonation as the most common concern is a likely reason for sustained interest in this subject (Pottle, 1962; Price, 2006). A recent study found that students who received first-division ratings at solo and ensemble performances were among the most accurate tuners in the sample population (Yarbrough, Morrison & Karrick, 1997). Although there seems to be high interest in improving intonation performance of wind instrumentalists, few researchers have scientifically examined methods of improving tuning skills, and fewer still on dealing with improving tuning skills in a group setting. A logical assumption as to the reason this problem exists may lie in the fact that the subject of intonation requires specific details associated with extra-musical subject areas such as physics, psychoacoustics, mathematics, and a keen understanding of the technology needed to extrapolate results from raw data. Therefore, this brief survey of research categorizes the troublesome T s of tuning in relation to: (1) Timbre, (2) Technique and Training, (3) Temperature and Tendencies, (4) Tradition of Temperament and (5) Technology. Timbre The general assumption that good tone production and characteristic tone quality are required of individual players before good intonation can occur (Kohut, 1996) seems to be supported by research. Timbre has been found to significantly affect woodwind students abilities to detect intonational deviations in listening tasks, and these students are significantly better at detecting intonation deviations involving unlike timbral 1
combinations than they are in duets involving like timbral combinations (Ely, 1992). Results from studies measuring the effect of tone color indicate that musicians associate bright tone with sharp and dark with flat intonation. As a strobe tuner will reveal, this may not always be true in practice. Ultimately, tone quality is a factor affecting both the perception and performance of pitch. Teachers desiring to increase student ability to discriminate differences in pitch should be aware of the apparent influence of tone quality on pitch perception (Worthy, 2000). Technique and Training The idea that intonation can be improved through training seems logical. Common practice suggests techniques such as teaching students beat elimination, vocalization techniques and working with tuners can improve musician tuning skills. Again, research seems to support this notion. Aural, visual and conventional tuning methods produce significant improvement in intonation discrimination with no one method producing significantly superior results to any other. In an early study measuring this concept, the aural method consisted of: (1) practicing while using an electronic pitch reference, (2) comparing played tones with reference tones, and (3) perception and performance using the beat elimination method. The visual method used a strobe tuner to detect intonation tendencies indicating needed correction to student performers. The conventional method presented concepts related to good intonation which allowed for student and instructor to identify pitch deficiencies in performance. All three methods were conducted through private, not group instruction (Graves, 1963). Of the three methods, teaching tuning skills through the process of beat elimination is an important area of focus. Beginning students can then be trained how to eliminate beats from 2
mismatched pitches. Furthermore, most beginning wind students can use this strategy to match unison and harmonized pitches on their instruments to achieve correct intonation (Miles, 1972). An important component of teaching students tuning skills is that, until the time a student is ready for college, the ability to perform in tune does not correlate with the ability to detect intonation deficiencies in performance. In other words, students can perceive intonation deficiencies independent of their ability to recreate good intonation in performance. This likely has to do with the performer being able to conceptualize, perceive, and understand what needs to be done to improve intonation prior to having the physical ability to improve intonation (Ely, 1992). One way to jump-start the process of manipulating pitch may be through vocalization, or the practice of singing exercises before playing them on an instrument. In a survey of research by Jon Nichols (1987) pertaining to vocalization, he found that singing can significantly improve tuning skills for elementary (Elliott, 1974) and secondary students (Harris, 1977), but that it had little effect among university (Smith, 1984) wind players. This seems to corroborate Ely s findings (1992) that the training effect may plateau at the college level. While the trainability may plateau, the propensity for certain errors in pitch may not. Findings from a recent study indicate that students can match isolated pitches more accurately than pitches within a melodic context. Although this skill seems to improve with experience, wind players tend to err towards the sharp direction (Morrison, 2000). The error towards sharpness supports a landmark study that found private instruction significantly affected high school wind players perception of mismatched pitches as well as their ability to tune accurately. High school wind players tend to err towards the sharp 3
direction regardless of years of experience, participation in private instruction, or the direction of mistuning (Yarbrough, Morrison & Karrick, 1997). Temperature and Tendencies While most instrumental music teachers realize that tuning to a predetermined pitch, either B b or A, is important in establishing uniformity of pitch in the ensemble, it is often taken for granted how much these tuning pitches have fluctuated over time. Instrument manufacturers and musicians have long realized that the first step in establishing pitch uniformity in the ensemble was recognizing a set tuning standard. Throughout history the pitch A has often been used as the tuning standard and it has fluctuated considerably. Some pipe organs manufactured in 1500 A.D. are centered at A =505.8 Hz. From the late 16 th through 17 th centuries, this tuning standard gradually decreased to A =393.2 Hz in order to accommodate instruments representative of that time. However, from the early 18 th century, A tended to increase, varying from 415-429 Hz. In the 19 th century, as the orchestra assumed greater importance, wind instruments were improved through a variety of technological advances. One method for producing exciting effects was raising the pitch of the sounds. By the end of the century, some wind bands were performing at a tuning frequency of A =457 Hz. Although a preliminary attempt to fix A =440 Hz was proposed by a Congress of Physicists held at Stuttgart in 1834, A =440 Hz at 72 was not recognized internationally until 1939. A standard of tuning is essential in order to circumvent tuning complications that would occur in the ensemble if instruments manufactured to different standards were used. For example, a clarinet manufactured to A =440 Hz at 72 will have its barrel pushed in considerably at 72 whereas a clarinet manufactured to A =442 Hz at 72 will have its 4
barrel pulled. Even greater discrepancies, especially for throat tones, will arise as tradition dictates that clarinets are often tuned completely closed to concert Bb or A (Kent, 1959). In spite of recognizing a set tuning standard, other factors such as temperature extremes can cause diametrically opposed pitch discrepancies in even the best wind instruments. The next logical step for the instrumental music teacher in establishing pitch uniformity in wind instruments is perceiving how extreme temperatures affect pitch. As a general rule, pitch tends to rise incrementally in wind instruments as room temperature increases. This increase is not the same among different wind instruments (Table 1). To compound this problem, pitch tends to fall incrementally in keyboard percussion instruments as room temperature increases. To compensate for discrepancies of pitch at extreme high temperatures, the director could raise the tuning standard A =442 Hz at higher temperatures (+80 ), but then must accept the discrepancies between wind and non-wind instruments (Kent, 1959; Pottle, 1962). Therefore it is advisable to maintain the tuning standard of A =440 Hz whenever possible (Garofalo, 1996). Perhaps the most perplexing problem facing wind instrumentalists is maintaining pitch uniformity at extreme dynamic levels. Not understanding these tendencies can confound an instrumental music teacher trying to solve tuning problems in varying degrees of loudness. Therefore, the third step in dealing with pitch uniformity is for the director to understand how varying degrees of loudness affects wind instruments. In general, tones from single reed instruments fall flat as loudness increases whereas brass instruments and flutes sound increasingly sharp when played louder, with flute pitch 5
deviations being most noticeable (Table 2). In some cases, deviations due to dynamic change can be as much as 25 cents (Pottle, 1961). Tradition of Temperament The assumption that the modern tuning system of equal temperament is the best because of its widespread acceptance is misleading. Intonation practices, like style and dynamic interpretation, is based upon periodic trends. The present system of equaltemperament has gained wide acceptance as a musical pitch standard only recently. Although piano tuners knew of the concept of equal temperament as early as the late Renaissance period, J.S. Bach preferred an extended meantone system for tuning keyboards. This system still allowed for some pure thirds and fifths in certain keys. Therefore, contrary to popular belief, Bach s music for The Well-Tempered Clavier is not synonymous with equal temperament (Duffin, 2007). Understanding that performing some period music using equal temperament as the only approach to tuning defies the intent of certain composers who may have embraced other temperaments prevalent to their time. For example, on some manuscripts to composition pupil Thomas Attwood, we know W. A. Mozart was aware of the system of meantone temperament by the descriptions he wrote regarding the difference between the mezzi tuoni grande (large half tones) and mezzi tuoini piccolo (small half tones). Duffin provides a vivid example realizing the relevancy of this knowledge in a passage from Mozart G minor Quintet (K. 516) where the first violin has an identical passage in measure 92 and 93 differentiated only by the use of an enharmonic F # in measure 93 instead of the G b used in measure 92 (Figure 1). Modern pedagogue Arnold Steinhardt suggests the F # in bar 93 should be played ever so slightly higher than the G b in the 6
previous measure, contrary to what Mozart might expect (Duffin, 2007). A harmonic analysis supports Mozart in that the G b is part of a fully diminished seventh chord in which the diminished 7 th should be raised to balance the tri-tone from the minor third, whereas the F # is the major 3 rd of a Dominant 7 th chord in which the major third should be lowered for a pure third. A recent study found that advanced wind instrumentalists tend to deviate less from equal temperament than Pythagorean and just-diatonic systems when performing with a recorded excerpt containing equal tempered melodic and harmonic content. The greatest deviation in pitch occurs with the intervals of thirds and sixths rather than fourths, fifths and octaves (Karrick, 1998). This supports how perplexing it can be for contemporary musicians when making decisions about tuning. In modern wind performance, a flexible approach incorporating a variety of intonation systems should be realized. For music containing beats longer in duration than one second and in the absence of keyboard percussion instruments, just intonation should be used. In other words, tuning all of the pitches and intervals until the combined sound is beatless. When keyboard instruments are present, it is advisable for the performers to listen and adjust to the equal-tempered system of tuning present in the fixed pitch instruments (Colnott, 2002). Technology With the acceptance of digital technology, testing for pitch deviation of tuning practices and preferences is increasingly measurable. Computer-based training programs are significantly effective in helping undergraduate college music education majors make judgments about equal tempered and just-diatonic systems of harmonic intonation 7
(Dalby, 1992). Improvements in instrument manufacturing may be less noticed but are important nonetheless. Electronic tuners can assist the director by providing a stable pitch reference regardless of adverse environmental factors. Petersen tuners, once relegated solely to the spinning dials much like the strobo-conn have made several noteworthy developments in digital tuner technology. The StroboFlip is geared towards individual players, can fit in an instrument case, and features a digital display that emulates the spinning dials. This obviously has several advantages over traditional electronic tuners in that emulating the strobe tuner can also assist the student in reinforcing good tone production. Another innovative technology that makes use of the compact disc player is the Tuning Partner Intonation CD. Thirty-seven chromatic reference pitches in 4 octaves with enhanced overtones provide a solid stimulus for students who need to practice long tones. The tracks on the CD may also be used as a drone for tuning wind instruments in group settings. Another relatively new device manufactured by the Yamaha Corporation, the Harmony Director 200, provides immediate aural feedback of harmonic content in a variety of programmable temperaments for directors and students to use in private and group settings. Assuming that each student has a quality instrument, or at the very least, a quality mouthpiece and/or reed and ligature combination, much can be done to improve ensemble intonation. Based upon the findings presented in this survey, instrumental music teachers should: 1. Provide opportunities for students to practice tuning skills in heterogeneous as well as homogenous instrumental ensembles. 8
2. Demonstrate the relationship between good tone quality and pitch. For example, performing on a wind instrument with a Strobe tuner can visually demonstrate how timbral considerations affect pitch. 3. Use a variety of approaches such as Aural (beat awareness and elimination), Visual (identifying instrument pitch tendencies with a tuner) and Conceptual (practicing conventional wisdom) designs to introduce and reinforce tuning concepts with students. 4. Organize daily singing sessions of melodic and harmonic studies since they can have a significant impact on improving pitch discrimination skills for elementary and secondary wind instrumentalists. 5. Provide numerous opportunities for teaching tuning skills in young wind instrumentalists as learning tends to plateau by college. 6. Encourage private instruction as it significantly affects high school wind players perception of mismatched pitches as well as their ability to tune accurately. 7. Constantly encourage good tuning practices in all students because student perceptions of pitch deviation may precede their ability to accurately match pitch on their instrument. 8. Provide an environment with a stable temperature (72 ), warm-up adequately, and be able to respond with adequate instructions for students as to how to adjust their instruments in adverse temperatures (+80 ). 9. Adequately prepare the conducting score by indicating where extreme dynamics affect pitch. Complete a harmonic analysis on the score to identify pitch tendencies of notes relevant to temperament and style period. 9
10. Investigate new technologies that can assist in providing accurate models of temperament and/or training of wind instrumentalists in regards to pitch. Research dealing with wind instrument intonation is essential for improving the quality of instruction in regards to pitch. With the widespread acceptance of equal temperament in popular music, it might be interesting to measure preferences of different temperaments in musicians and non-musicians. Of course, this might only be relevant in terms of ensemble makeup and musical style. To assist wind instrument teachers, it would be of great benefit to identify successful instrumental teachers and record the frequency of their best practices in regards to teaching intonation skills in group settings. An area of great concern would be mandating the reporting of room temperature in all studies involving pitch discrimination or tuning whenever performance on wind instruments is required. Since wind instrument pitch has been shown to deviate in extreme temperatures, this would help alleviate falsely skewed results. Finally, a continued effort to measure methods of teaching harmonic intonation skills to wind instrumentalists in group settings is important in that (1) many students are unable to obtain private lessons and (2) there is a surprising deficit of research in this domain. 10
TABLE 1 (Pottle, 1962)
TABLE 2 (Pottle, 1962)
FIGURE 1 (Duffin, 2007)
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Nichols, J. P. (1987). Methods of teaching intonation discrimination skills to wind instrumentalists. Dialogue in Instrumental Music Education, 11, 62-70. Pottle, R. R. (1961). Tuning the School Band and Orchestra. Hammond, LA: Publisher unknown. Price, H. E. (2006). Relationships among conductor quality, ensemble performance quality, and state festival ratings. Journal of Research in Music Education, 54, 203-214. Worthy, M.D. (2000). Effects of tone-quality conditions on perception and performance of pitch among selected wind instrumentalists. Journal of Research in Music Education, 48, 222-236. Yarbrough, C., Morrison, S.J., & Karrick, B. (1997). The effect of experience, private instruction, and knowledge of directional mistunings on the tuning performance and perception of high school wind players. Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, no. 134, 31-42.