What is intonation? The Intonation category blogs talk all about tuning: retuning guitars and micro tuning synths.
The guitar posts explore music played with open tunings. Moreover, we will look at styles such as rock, blues, folk, country, and Hawaiian.
Tuning with harmonics allows the guitar open tunings to have better sounding chords than the same open tunings tuned using frets or a standard electronic tuner. Nevertheless, the pattern of harmonics for the open tunings looks different than the pattern of harmonics for standard tuning.
The synth posts focus on micro tuning the synth using Supplemented Equal Temperament (SET). I created SET to have better sounding chords that equal temperament (the piano’s tuning). However, it still works with normal, unmodified instruments reading standard sheet music and regular tab.
In other words, pop and other music groups can tune synths and guitars to SET. When tuned to SET, flexible pitch instruments can play with the SET tuned guitar and synth. Specifically, the flexible pitch instruments include the violin, brass, woodwinds, and voice.
Equal tempered instruments can play at least some notes with the SET tuned guitar and synth. Specifically, the fixed pitch equal tempered instruments include the piano, organ, and xylophone. However, most percussion instruments do not need special tunings. Taken together, this makes the SET ensemble.
The cornerstone category article:
The cornerstone category article is a longer article and more technical. The post defines intonation, and discusses microtonality verses tuning theory. Also, it talks about on how SET was formed, and some of the science that went into its creation.
The posts can be further broken into guitar, keyboard, ensemble, and music theory articles. It does not matter so much whether you read the guitar or synth posts first. However, I suggest that you follow the order of posts shown for each instrument type.
Guitar, etc.:
Online Guitar and Ukulele Tuners:
Synth:
Ensemble:
Music Theory:
World Music:
See the posts below for full descriptions.
– Geoffrey Keith
© 2021 Geoffrey Keith
Back to the Successful Music Student Blogs page
Do you want to capture the sound of 70s rock guitar? Amp settings, effects, pickups, and strings all play a role in crafting your guitar sound. Nevertheless, the tuning you choose remains an important factor in your guitar sound that you might have overlooked. You will also learn the song “Brown Sugar.” Read more to learn how to sound like a rock star with open G tuning. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Have you had a hard time getting the sound of your favorite rock guitarist? Have you ever felt frustrated that the guitar sounds out of tune? In the post, “Tune Like a Rock Star,” we talked about how Keith Richards tunes his guitar without holding down any frets. Today, you will play an 80s rock guitar style that works well with this special open tuning. Read more to learn how to play like a rock star with open G tuning. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Tired of having your guitar or synth sound out of tune? “Intonation and Supplemented Equal Temperament” shows how to make them sound amazing! Estimated reading time 12 minutes.
Do you want your band to sound better? Have you ever been frustrated that your guitar or keyboard sounds out of tune when you play chords? Learn how to get a killer sound for your band by retuning your keyboards and guitars using Supplemented Equal Temperament. Supplemented Equal Temperament works with equal tempered instruments. It also works with variable pitch instruments such as voices, violins, and winds. Estimated reading time 5 minutes.
Are you frustrated that your synth chords sound out of tune? Supplemented Equal Temperament is designed to play chords that sound more in tune than the regular piano tuning: equal temperament. Learn how to better tune your chords in Supplemented Equal Temperament tuning. Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Does it ever bother you that the piano chords sound out of tune? The guitar is not the only instrument that can be retuned. Retuning the keys to Supplemented Equal Temperament (SET) yields chords that sound better than equal temperament – the standard piano tuning. In SET, the triads sound incredible. Learn how to micro tune the keyboard using SET for awesome chords! Estimated reading time 4 minutes.
Frustrated that the guitar’s chords don’t sound in tune? Learn to tune the blues rock open D tuning using harmonics so you can play chords in tune. You will also learn the song “Jumping Jack Flash.” Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
Frustrated that the guitar sounds out of tune? Learn to tune the classic rock open G tuning using harmonics to be able to play chords in tune. You will also learn the song “Honky Tonk Women.” Estimated reading time 3 minutes.
How you tune affects how you sound. We look at how Keith Richards tunes his special open G tuning. The post includes video interviews with Keith Richards. Learn how to tune like a rock star! Estimated reading time 3 minutes.