Thomas J. West Music

There are many elementary level instrumental music teachers who never address intonation with their students, dismissing the topic as "too advanced" for a beginner. While is is true that a beginning student is not capable of successfully tuning, beginners should be introduced to the concept and practice of intonation as soon as possible.

When Is The Right Time To Introduce Intonation?

The short answer: as soon as they can produce a steady long tone on their instrument with a characteristic tone quality. Attempting to tune before being able to produce a steady pitch is an exercise in futility.

For string players, intonation detection and adjustment is actually already in progress before they reach this point. While many beginners start the process of memorizing left-hand position by placing the fingers "on the tapes", teachers should already be encouraging them to "use their ear" to determine if the pitches they are playing are in the major scale they are performing and in tune relative to one another.

String players should begin by matching their A string to a reliable source pitch after receiving a demonstration of the aural phenomenon of acoustical beats like this one. This acoustical concept is not beyond them. In fact, most students find the knowledge of basic acoustics to be quite fascinating, especially when they hear the beats for themselves. After tuning the A, most beginners will need to tune each of the other strings to a source pitch as well. This process takes time, but teaching proper intonation is critical to their development. Stuedents need as many opportunities to hear what "in tune" sounds like as possible.

For wind players, their preparation period for intonation understanding takes a longer time. Many wind instruments, such as the flute and the brass instruments, need several weeks of development to learn the fine motor skills and build the musculature necessary to produce a reliable steady tone. Even the single reeds, who comparatively are able to produce a steady tone much earlier, need to continue to refine the embouchure in the early stages to gain enough control over the embouchure to make adjustments.

When the winds are ready to begin tuning, a concert F is a better choice for a starting pitch than the traditional Bb. It is a better note on most wind instruments (in a comfortable range and mid-tube for the flute, oboe, tenor sax, and bassoon, and good on all brass). Alto and bari saxes are on a long D, which may require adjustment beyond the norm, and clarinets are on the throat tone G, which is traditionally sharp for beginners. These exceptions, however are far less than the series of exceptions on concert Bb.

Secondary Goals After Intonation Is Introduced

Once strings players can successfully tune individual strings (it takes practice just like any other skill), their next goal is to tune all four strings relative to the source A. To do this, they must internalize the sound of an in-tune perfect fifth (or fourth for basses). For winds, tuning pitches relative to the concert F and learning the pitch tendencies of their instrument is the next step. Clarinetists should be learning to tune their G, low C, and middle C and adjusting the instrument at the appropriate tenon for each. All wind players should become even more aware of embouchure and breath support.

Teaching the basics of intonation a early as possible introduces students to an aspect of instrumental performing that is an integral part of controlling the instrument for even the most esperienced performers. These families of musical instruments, along with the human voice, are capable of "variable pitch" and therefore must be calibrated and monitored constantly to ensure accurate intonation. Giving beginning students the basic skills to become aware of and make adjustments to intonation is as important to their development as which fingerings to use and what rhythm patterns look and sound like. Early introduction to intonation gives them the opportunity to play and hear "in-tune" sounds more frequently, which makes their overall technique and skill that much stronger.

This article (c) 2011 Thomas J. West. All content on ThomasJWestMusic dot com is licensed under a Creative Contributions Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License. Please contact the author before publishing on or off-line.

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