do you tune by ear?

ukuleG

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just curious, as ive never tried to tune my ukulele by ear before until today and my ear likes to think a ukuleles standard tuning is G# C# F b flat. its something i should really learn to do though.
 
If you mean get one string from a reference point such as a tuning fork or another instrument and then tuning the other strings by ear, then I can do it fine when it's quiet. Not at a noisy gig though, so I really depend on my clip on tuners.

If you mean take a totally detuned uke and tune it to pitch without reference? No way. That would require developing some degree of perfect pitch. It can be done, but I don't have the time or the will.

That said, an interesting thing cropped up a couple of weeks ago. I work in the same office as my band's lead guitarist and we discovered that with songs where we are very familiar with the recording - but not with playing the song - we can both hear it well enough in our heads to pick up an instrument and identify the key that the recording is in, just using our mental soundtrack as a reference. Our hit rate was really good on tracks that we really know well.

I guess that's a bit like an element of perfect pitch...
 
If you don't have a tuner handy and you're not playing with others, you can always get the instrument in tune with itself:

The 5th fret on the G string matches the C string (one octave higher).

The 4th fret on the C string is an E.

The 5th fret on the E string is an A.

--Mark
 
If you mean get one string from a reference point such as a tuning fork or another instrument and then tuning the other strings by ear, then I can do it fine when it's quiet. Not at a noisy gig though, so I really depend on my clip on tuners.

Top tip. If you don't have a clip on tuner and there is a lot of background noise, rest your teeth on the uke (seriously!) to tune it and you can feel the sound trhough your head rather than trying to hear it.

It may be that I am just a bit bonkers, but it works for me!

However, clip on tuners rule!
 
I have a electric tuner but tune all my high g 'ukuleles by ear, I'm used to it after 40 years. My ears are new to low g so cheat and use the tuner for my one low g tenor.
 
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Hey Tony, you know, I think I'm just mental enough to try it! :D

Let me know how you get on - I've been doing it for years - originally with guitar and I swear it works. Even if it is not noisy and you do harmonic tuning you can really feel that doppler thing through your teeth. It is, apparently, the method Beethoven used when his hearing was failing - it may have been Beethoven the St.Bernard rather than the composer but - hey!
 
Electronic tuners were such a great invention. When I was learning guitar, back in the dark ages, all I had was a pitch pipe in E. What a pain that is, trying to tune a string while listening to a harmonica note. I found that pitch pipe recently, and it's not in tune anymore.

Some people have perfect pitch. My brother has always had it. Some say you can develop it. I am hoping to develop perfect pitch (that is being able to identify the note name by recognizing the characteristic of its sound). It has been described as the sound equivalent to recognizing color with our eyes. Sort of like being able to tell an A from a B, like you would the color red and orange.

Until I get that skill, I am grateful for the electronic tuner. My ear always alerts me when I fall out of tune, but the tuner is my best friend to get me back where I need to be quickly.

–Lori
 
With my first ukulele, I got a pitch pipe, so that counts as tuning by ear, I believe. I had a hard time with the pitch pipe, so I ended up at Pineapple Pete's website, where you can play the notes repeatedly with a pause in between, allowing one to tune by ear. I've since found one that works just as well, but the recorded notes have less background noise (and there are more options, if you need them). That's at get-tuned.com. Using that method, I found that I could take anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes to get my uke in tune. Sometimes I'd have to walk away and then come back and try again. I also found it was easier if my uke was way out of tune, rather than just a little. I eventually bought a clip on. Recently I tried it again and found that I could get two out of four right on, but the other two would be off by just a little. I think it probably is good practice, but it's a p.i.t.a..
 
just had another go got the g and c but the e was way off and the A was a b flat again. i might have to make this a regular thing until my brain figures it out.
 
It's more fun to play, than it is to tune. Life is short. Just think of all that practice time wasted while fussing over tuning! It's not easy to tune by ear so don't stress over it.

–Lori
 
im just thinking ahead i.e a situation when i need to tune but for some reason don't have anything but my ears to help me, though it would be difficult to turn the pegs with my ears.
 
I do it more often now... I can get prety acturate on the tonals... but not on the note exactly... But yeah when I don't have a tuner its nice to be able to get close...
 
When I am out of tune, a lot of times I try to tune up by ear, of course I am only a little out of tune and I know that my strings are usually a bit flat.....however, I try to tweak it and then check with the clip on. My accuracy is no better today then ever before....which means not very good but somtimes, by luck, I get it.

I just do that for fun, hoping that some day I will start to get it right.
 
I'm trying. Sometimes I'll do this:


If you don't have a tuner handy and you're not playing with others, you can always get the instrument in tune with itself:

The 5th fret on the G string matches the C string (one octave higher).

The 4th fret on the C string is an E.

The 5th fret on the E string is an A.

--Mark
 
That's pretty good, being off by only a step.

If I tune a totally unwound uke I can be off by twice that. It doesn't matter if you're high or low if you're playing alone, so long as the relative tuning's correct.

And being able to tune strings by each other is a good thing to know, as sometimes a tuner's not handy, or, if you're in a car, the tuner won't work well because of all the background vibrations.
 
If you have no pitch reference by which to tune, then it doesn't really matter much if you're a half-step (or more) off, does it? As long as the uke is in tune with itself, I'm good to go.

And if you're playing with other people, then just use them as the pitch reference and tune from that. Again, it doesn't matter a heckuva lot if the entire group isn't exactly A = 440, as long as everyone is in tune with each other.

JJ
 
Just think of all that practice time wasted while fussing over tuning! It's not easy to tune by ear so don't stress over it.

I actually think of tuning by ear as practicing, too. It really helps you hone your musical ear, which in turn can help you improve you intonation when singing.
 
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