1/16/2023 0 Comments Playing by ear practice![]() ![]() Teach yourself to play the scale – slowly at first – while at the same time humming each note as you pick it ( see this article for more about playing the major scale). With the tones of the four open strings now familiar sounds to your ears, you’re already more than halfway to internalizing all the notes of the major scale. Once you have tuned your A string to the tuning fork, find and fret the other A notes on the other three strings and tune those A notes to the A in-tune A string. Now pick the A string on your ukulele and bring it into tune with the A tone you are humming. Hum the A tone and put it in your ears and mind. The vibration of the tuning fork will transfer to the ukulele and an A tone will be emitted. Holding the tuning fork by its base, strike the tines of the fork sharply on your knee and immediately place the base of the tuning fork on the body of the ukulele. In C tuning (g, c, e, a) you tune the first string A with the tuning fork (in D tuning tune the fourth string A first). How cool is that?! Tuning With A Tuning Fork All you’ll have to do is think “A” and you’ll hear the tone in your head thus allowing you to tune to yourself. After a while, you won’t even need the tuning fork. So, buy yourself a tuning fork and practice tuning by ear each time you pick up your uke and before long you'll intimately know the sound of each in-tune string and be able to recognize them on command. None of the other three strings will be vibrating because they are not tuned to A. Touch the A string and you’ll feel it vibrating. If your A string is in tune with the tuning fork, it will magically begin to vibrate in sympathetic response to the vibrations emitted by the tuning fork when the fork is placed on the body of the ukulele. It’s called “sympathetic vibration.” Try this: strike the tuning fork on your knee and place it against your ukulele. Never fear, there is a little trick you can use to make sure your A string is in perfect tune. When you first attempt to tune with a tuning fork you may experience doubt as to whether your A string is indeed in tune with the tone of the fork. To do this you’ll need an A-440 tuning fork (see video below for step-by-step instructions). ![]() ![]() But once that task is completed it’s time to start weaning yourself off “tuning by eye” and start tuning by ear. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad idea to use an electronic tuner at first (especially if you are just starting out) to familiarize your ears with the correct sound of each in-tune string. You stare at the tuner, while your ears hang idle on each side of your head. ![]() While you are looking at your tuner and turning the pegs, bringing the strings up to pitch, your eyes are taking in the bulk of the tuning information. In the rush to play songs on the ukulele, however, we often overlook the most important aspect of playing music: listening.Įlectronic tuners tune the eyes, not the ears. Two seemingly harmless words that, when put together, conjure up thoughts of other equally undesirable tortures like playing scales and studying music theory. But at the same time, you are wasting a wonderful ear training opportunity. Do you tune your instrument with the aid of an electronic tuner? One of the benefits of using an electronic tuner is you can tune your ukulele to correct pitch in seconds. ![]()
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