Intonation playingintune

Playingintuneistheviolinist'smostobviouslyessentialskill onethattheymustlearnfromthe
beginningandcontinuallyrefinealloftheirmusicallives.Beginnershavefingerboardtapestoshow
wheretoplacefingers,butthesecanonlyeverbeapproximations.Thesenseofbeingintunecomes
primarilyfrom listening includinglisteningregularlytoaccurateperformancesandrecordings;and
matchingthese"auralimages"whenplaying.Here's5basicstepsforyoungplayerstolearntoplay
securelyintune:
Step1. Makesuretheviolinispreciselytuned.Fingerslearndistancesbetweennoteswithsurprising
accuracy.Iftheviolinisoutoftune,thesecarefullylearnednotestepsproduceoffpitches.Checkthe
tuningconstantly,especiallyinhotandhumidweather withanelectronictuner,tuningfork,recorded
pitchetc.
Step2. Carefullycheckthekeyandnotesofthepiece.E.g.C#orC,BorB?Clarifyingthecorrectnote
youintendtoplayhelpsavoidobviouserrors.
Step3. Beforestartingtoplay,getfingersinplaceoverthefingerboard.Thenaccurately(andsoftly)
tunethefirststoppednoteinapiecebeforeyoubegin.Forexample,ifitisaDonAstring,checkitwith
openD,listeningforsympatheticresonances(seematchingopenstringsbelow).
Step4. Practisethesectionslowly,listeningcarefully.Ifnecessary,makesmalladjustmentsuntilit
soundsjustright.Thentrytoplayperfectlyintunewithoutneedingtoadjustpitchesofnotes,i.e.with
fingersplacedinexactlytherightplace firsttime.Don'tbesatisfiedwithnotesthatsoundalmost
correct:it'seithernicelyintuneornot.Makeprecisionahabit.
Step5.Whereappropriate,leavelowerfingersdowninascendingpassagestostepfromonenotetothe
next.Yourfingerslearnaccuratedistancesbetweennotes(e.g.toneandsemitonesteps)fromeach
other.Lowerfingersactasanchorpointsforhigherfingers evenonotherstrings.
e.g.PerpetualMotion,SSuzuki

1keepdown
2keepdown
3keepdowntoplay4thfinger

Intonationformoreadvancedplayers
So,anoteorpassageisintuneorit'snot,right?Thetruthis,well,yesand no...anditdependsonthe
context.Smalladjustmentsandrefinementsinpitchbecomemoresignificantasyourplayingdevelops.
Musiciansgenerallyagreetherearetwoorthreefundamentalsystemsofintonation(Isometimescallit
intune ation) andwe'lucky'stringplayerscan ormust usethemall.JustIntonation isbasedon
naturalharmonics;inEqualTemperament theoctaveisdividedequallyinto12semitones(pianosare
tunedthisway)andmusiciansmayuseexpressiveor melodicintonation,makingsmalladjustmentsto
thepitchaccordingtotheflowandshapeofthemelodyandthebroaderdemandsofthemusicitself.
StringplayersmayuseJustIntonationfornotesplayedsimultaneouslyinachord,tocreatethepure
soundofnaturalharmony.Howeverusingonlynaturalharmonyandharmonicscanmakeitmore
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difficulttomoveseamlesslybetweenkeys.Smalldifferencesinnaturalharmonicsaremagnifiedaswe
gouptheharmonicseries.Thismeansanotecansound'intune'inonekeybutnotinanother.Itwas
thisdilemmathatresultedinthegradualdevelopmentofequaltemperamenttuning,enablingfreer
movementbetweenkeys.Itcameatacost theharmoniesarenolongeraspureandmelodiescanbea
littlecolourless.Nonethelesswe'vebecomeaccustomedtothesoundofthetemperedscale,especially
onkeyboardandfretted instruments.
Lookingonthebrightside,stringplayers,singersandtrombonistsarespeciallyblessed.We'vegotthe
bestofallworlds.Wecanchooseintonationtosuitthemusic.Butwhataretheimplicationforstudy
andperformance?Howdowelearntoconsistentlyplayintune?Let'sconsidersomegeneralprinciples.

Matchthepitchofopenstrings.
Thestringsaretunedtoeachotherwithpureintervalsoffifths.Theopenstringshelpusfixthepitchof
fingeredGs,Ds,AsandEs,causingsympatheticresonancesthatareanimportantpartoftheviolin's
toneandprojection.Forexample,playingAontheEstring(3rdfinger)exactlyintunewillcausethe
openAstringtovibrate youcanhearitandseeit.
SimilarlyDonAstringandGontheDstringwillproduceresonancesintheDandGstrings.

Notesthatmatchopenstringswillproduceclearsympatheticringingtones,e.g.4thfingeronGin1st
position thenoteDcausesDstringtovibrate.

Alotofmusicwrittenforviolinsuitsopenstringresonances,buttakecareinkeyswherethesenotesare
leadingtones(e.g.inFmajor,EisaleadingtoneandmaybesharperthanEstringinsomecontexts);or
inchordswiththirdsorsixths.

Usepureperfectoctaves,fifthsandfourths.
Theseeasilyrecognisableintervalsprovideareliableguidetoplayinganoteintuneinmost
circumstances.Theyformthebasicstructureofgoodintonation.

Sharpenleadingtones.
Sharpeningleadingtoneshelpstocreatetension,relievedbythearrival(orsometimesthenonarrival)
oftheanticipatedtonicorkeynote.Intheexamplebelowtheleadingtone,G#,irresistiblymovesto
resolvetothefinalA.SlightlysharpeningtheG#heightensthetension.
ConcertoinAminor,Op.3No.6,1stMvt,AVivaldi

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 Adjustmelodicmajorthirdsupandmelodicminorthirdsdown.
Thirdscangivethemelodyitsmajororminorquality.Theslightlysharpermajorthirdcanbrightenan
ascendingintervalorpassage.
ConcertoinAmajorK219,1stMvt,WAMozart

major3rd
ConcertoinGminor,AVivaldi

minor3rd
Here'saconundrumthatillustratestheproblemsofworkingwithtwosystems:Intheascendingscaleof
Amajor,Bisthesupertonic amajor2ndupfromthetonic;butinthekeyofGmajoritisthemediant
amajor3rd andalittlesharper.ExperimentbyplayingBwithopenDstring,adjustingtoapure6th.
NowplaythissameBagainstEstring.Surprise itistooflatforacleanperfect4th!

Usenaturalharmonicsasguides.
Naturalharmonicsareclearlyidentifiableguidestogoodintonation.Theirclearringingsoundof
harmonicsisanattractivefeatureofmanycompositionsforstringedinstruments.Inmanysituations
theycansubstituteforastoppednote.

ConcertoinDmajorK218,1stMvt,WAMozart

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 Adjustintonationtosuitthemusic.
Musicwrittenforsoloviolin,suchasJSBach'sSoloSonatasandPartitas,obviouslyallowsgreater
freedomforbalancingharmonicandmelodicintonation.Howeverwhenplayingtogetherwiththe
piano anequaltemperamentinstrument acompromisecanproducemoresatisfyingresults.Ifthe
keyisinDorG,forexample,itisbettertotuneyourviolintothepianocentredononeoftheseopen
strings,ratherthantheA.Astringshouldthenbetunedtoa'tight'fifth thatstillrings butmaintaining
thefocusonthekeyofthemusic.
Playinginaquartetisthemostdemandingofallcontexts,requiringunderstandingandmutual
agreementofeachplayer'sharmonicroleinchords.
Copyright J Berger 2011

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