[Trombone-l] Tuning notes

[clayton murphy]

I find the whole tuning thing rather interesting.  Tuning the horn is just 
one of the things that needs to happen in order to play with others.  Just 
as important as tuning the horn is waking up the ears.  I have found that to 
play, either alone or with others, requires constant listening and adjusting 
of the handslide for each and every note.  And, just when you get that note 
"in tune" its position in the chord changes and more adjustments need to be 
made.

I remember getting a method book many years ago (I don't recall the author) 
that had a very detailed position chart.  At the time, I was somewhat 
skeptical of all of the positions shown - it seemed like there was a 
different position for each note.  As I began to listen more closely to my 
playing, I found that, indeed, this slide chart had quite a bit of validity 
to it.  I also found that each time I played a different horn that the 
adjustments that I needed to make for each note changed - albeit slightly.

As I play and teach now, there are two basics of intonation that need 
consideration - 1) the intonation problems with the various partials, 2) the 
intonation adjustments based on your note's position in the chord.  I spend 
a great deal of time with my students having them listen to themselves and 
self analyzing their playing.  We talk about the basic intonation 
considerations.  And, hopefully, we get to the point that it becomes part of 
what they automatically do and - to borrow Sam's word - they can 
Fuggedaboudit.

I have a  pretty good idea where each note is on the horns I play regularly. 
  Because of this, it doesn't matter, really, which note is given for a 
tuning reference - although there are partials I would prefer not to use to 
tune the open horn.  If, when tuning, the slide lands too far from that 
spot, it's time to move the tuning slide.

Murph

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