Preferred Tuning?

[dirocyn]

Kind of a surprise, nobody mentioned playing in A:432, there's a whole thing about that. Tuned Eb (down 1/2 step) is effectively A:415.3, sometimes called Baroque tuning.

A440 has been more or less universally accepted since 1975. We regularly listen to music that predates the standard.

The following is an incomplete list of pitch standards from various sources.

1640	Vienna Franciscan Organ A457.6
1663	Bernards Schmidt's Orgain in Duham, England A474
1699	Paris Opera A404
1711	John Shore's tuning fork, a pitch of A423.5 He invented the tuning fork, one of which still exists today.
1780	Stines, for Mozart, A421
1780	Organ builder Schulz A421.3
1714	Strasbourg Cathedral organ A391
1722	Dresden's chief Roman Catholic church organ A415
1759	Trinity College Cambridge organ A309
1762	Stringed instruments at Hamburg A405
1772	Gottfried Silbermann built the organ in the main Roman Catholic church in Dresden, and it had a pitch of A 415 at the time.
1780	Organ builder Schulz A421.3
1780	Stein's tuning fork A422.6
1751	Handel's own fork A422.5
1800	Broadwood's C fork, 505.7, which is about half a semitone lower than that of today
1811	Paris Grand Opera A 427
1812	Paris Conservatoire A440, as modern pitch
1813	George Smart adopted for the Philharmonic Society the pitch of A423.3.
1820	Westminster Abbey organ and possibly Paris Comic Opera used a pitch of A422.5.
1823	In Veienna pitch was A437 and it 1834 A 440
1828	Philharmonic Society A 440
1834	Vienna Opera A 436.5
1835	Wolfels piano maker A443
1836	Pleyel's Pianos A446
1846	Philharmonic pitch was A452.5 (very high) which lasted till 1854
1846	Mr Hipkins piano tuner (Meantone) A433.5 (Equal) A436.0
1849	Broadwood's medium pitch was A445.9 which lasted till 1854
1858	New Philharmonic pitch C522
1859	The French government set up a commission for a standard pitch. which was A435 the fork temperature was15 degrees centigrade.
1860	Cramer's piano makers of London A448.4
1862	Dresden Opera A 440
1871	Covent Garden Opera House A 440
1877	Collard's piano maker standard pitch was A 449.9
1877	St. Paul Cathedral organ A446.6
1877	Chappell Pianos A455.9
1877	Mr Hipkins piano tuner A448.8
1878	Her Majesty's Organ A436.1
1878	Vienna Opera A447
1879	Covent Garden Opera A450
1879	Erard's factory fork 455.3
1879	Steinway of England A 454.
1879	British Army regulation pitch for woodwinds A451.9
1880	Brinsmead, Broadwood, and Erard apparently used a pitch of A455.3
1880	Steinway may have been using a pitch of A436. According to Steinway of New York, 1880 is right around the time they switched from three piece rims to the continuous rim that is used today. So it is unlikely the pitch was any higher before 1880, yet Steinway of London had a fork A454.7.
1885	In Vienna a pitch of A435.4 was adopted at a temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit for A.
1885	At an international exhibition of inventions and music in London a pitch of A452 was adopted.
1896	Philharmonic pitch A439, giving C522
1925	On the 11th of June the American music industry adopted A440.
1936	American Standards Association adopted A440. yet; New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, use 442 Hz
1939	At an international conference A440 was adopted.

 

[davidKOS]

Kind of a surprise, nobody mentioned playing in A:432, there's a whole thing about that. Tuned Eb (down 1/2 step) is effectively A:415.3, sometimes called Baroque tuning.

A440 has been more or less universally accepted since 1975. We regularly listen to music that predates the standard.

The following is an incomplete list of pitch standards from various sources.

1640	Vienna Franciscan Organ A457.6
1663	Bernards Schmidt's Orgain in Duham, England A474
1699	Paris Opera A404
1711	John Shore's tuning fork, a pitch of A423.5 He invented the tuning fork, one of which still exists today.
1780	Stines, for Mozart, A421
1780	Organ builder Schulz A421.3
1714	Strasbourg Cathedral organ A391
1722	Dresden's chief Roman Catholic church organ A415
1759	Trinity College Cambridge organ A309
1762	Stringed instruments at Hamburg A405
1772	Gottfried Silbermann built the organ in the main Roman Catholic church in Dresden, and it had a pitch of A 415 at the time.
1780	Organ builder Schulz A421.3
1780	Stein's tuning fork A422.6
1751	Handel's own fork A422.5
1800	Broadwood's C fork, 505.7, which is about half a semitone lower than that of today
1811	Paris Grand Opera A 427
1812	Paris Conservatoire A440, as modern pitch
1813	George Smart adopted for the Philharmonic Society the pitch of A423.3.
1820	Westminster Abbey organ and possibly Paris Comic Opera used a pitch of A422.5.
1823	In Veienna pitch was A437 and it 1834 A 440
1828	Philharmonic Society A 440
1834	Vienna Opera A 436.5
1835	Wolfels piano maker A443
1836	Pleyel's Pianos A446
1846	Philharmonic pitch was A452.5 (very high) which lasted till 1854
1846	Mr Hipkins piano tuner (Meantone) A433.5 (Equal) A436.0
1849	Broadwood's medium pitch was A445.9 which lasted till 1854
1858	New Philharmonic pitch C522
1859	The French government set up a commission for a standard pitch. which was A435 the fork temperature was15 degrees centigrade.
1860	Cramer's piano makers of London A448.4
1862	Dresden Opera A 440
1871	Covent Garden Opera House A 440
1877	Collard's piano maker standard pitch was A 449.9
1877	St. Paul Cathedral organ A446.6
1877	Chappell Pianos A455.9
1877	Mr Hipkins piano tuner A448.8
1878	Her Majesty's Organ A436.1
1878	Vienna Opera A447
1879	Covent Garden Opera A450
1879	Erard's factory fork 455.3
1879	Steinway of England A 454.
1879	British Army regulation pitch for woodwinds A451.9
1880	Brinsmead, Broadwood, and Erard apparently used a pitch of A455.3
1880	Steinway may have been using a pitch of A436. According to Steinway of New York, 1880 is right around the time they switched from three piece rims to the continuous rim that is used today. So it is unlikely the pitch was any higher before 1880, yet Steinway of London had a fork A454.7.
1885	In Vienna a pitch of A435.4 was adopted at a temperature of 59 degrees Fahrenheit for A.
1885	At an international exhibition of inventions and music in London a pitch of A452 was adopted.
1896	Philharmonic pitch A439, giving C522
1925	On the 11th of June the American music industry adopted A440.
1936	American Standards Association adopted A440. yet; New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, use 442 Hz
1939	At an international conference A440 was adopted.

thanks for posting this list....which I've used in the past in these sort of discussions, glad you beat me to it this time!

it proves pitch was all over the place before international standards, both high and low

the Baroque tuning you mention is also sort of a modern construct for reproduction instrument makers

"

British Army regulation pitch for woodwinds A451.9

"

Old High Pitch...almost a half step high

If you are interested also look into the difference between chorton and cammerton:

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www.libs.uga.edu

THANKS

 

[crankmeister]

i like my parlor in DADF#AD, my resonator in DADDAD, and everything else in EADGBE

DADFAD, DADF#AD and DADGAD are so fun on acoustic.

They’re not as popular on electric, for whatever reason. I’ve never tried it myself. But didn’t/doesn’t Keith Richards play a fair amount of electric in open G?

 

[dirocyn]

the Baroque tuning you mention is also sort of a modern construct for reproduction instrument makers

It IS effectively the tuning of the Silbermann pipe organ at Dresden. Which was good enough for the likes of Mozart and Bach, they both loved it.

And since it was good enough for them, I say that's more than enough to give cover for anybody else who prefers to tune to A:415 (Eb).

 

[Groundwire]

I don't like making other musicians transpose...and I don't like doing it myself unless I absolutely have to. Standard tuning for me.

Do you ever use Eb tuning for the occasional song that is in Ab or Bb? I have heard some session guys do this so they can make use of open strings etc… I guess these keys are more common for arrangements that have Horns.

 

[Nadnitram]

I tuned my acoustic down to C standard. My wife was so impressed that she encouraged me to keep tuning even lower.
B Standard?
"Lower!"
A? G?
"Lower!"
Finally, the strings got so slack that they stopped making noise.
"Perfect!"

 

[6stringslacker]

Standard tuning though I find many 6-string things just sound absolutely spot on in Eb.

Open G comes in 3rd place.

 

[davidKOS]

Do you ever use Eb tuning for the occasional song that is in Ab or Bb? I have heard some session guys do this so they can make use of open strings etc… I guess these keys are more common for arrangements that have Horns.

I ain't El Gob...but

Open string licks...OK, that would justify retuning. It never happened to me, though.

Pretty much all the "horn bands" I played in were fine with me playing in standard tuning.

I would play stuff in all the flat keys - including Ab and Db - even when playing solo jazz guitar.

For non-jazz, it was also all standard tuning. hey, Eb9 chords are cool!

 

[MetalPedal]

I play in D standard. When I jam with others I just use a capo and it's not too bad for me ...I just clip it on there and start playing.

For a while, I avoided songs in non-standard tuning but if all strings are dropped equally, the pitch shifter on the Quad Cortex makes it a breeze. We’re now doing Stereo by the Watchmen.

 

[El Gobernador]

Do you ever use Eb tuning for the occasional song that is in Ab or Bb? I have heard some session guys do this so they can make use of open strings etc… I guess these keys are more common for arrangements that have Horns.

No.

 

[Capncalyx]

I tune a half step down and then play a lot in drop D, whatever that would be. Also a few months back i found love for heavier gauge strings, like 11+. Killer tone. Chews my fingers up more though.

 

[dspellman]

That's what multiple guitars are for.

It's also what Variax guitars are for.

 

[dspellman]

I like to have standby guitar in Eb for playing with pianists who play a lot in Bb and F keys...and Eb.

I'm one of those pianists, but I've never had a guitar player tune to Eb to accommodate me. Shouldn't be necessary at all.

 

[dspellman]

I put the song into Guitar Rig 5 and convert it to the tuning I want.
I do the same with Motely Crue stuff that I don't want to tune to D Standard for.
There are many software options to change the pitch of songs, and as long as you don't go crazy, the songs still sound great. (It gets a little wonky if you start down-tuning standard songs to drop C or something lol...the music still sounds good but the vocals sound crazy.

I have no problem playing in standard if I were playing with a group or something, but if I'm sitting at home on my own, why do I care that my non-existent band has to down tune to match my Eb lol

I have Korg Pandoras that include both a pitch shifter and a slower-downer. Two of the best practice gizmos (after a metronome) I've used.

 

[joebtone]

I'm one of those pianists, but I've never had a guitar player tune to Eb to accommodate me. Shouldn't be necessary at all.

It’s not that I have to for those keys it’s that I like the fingerings better.
Not a big deal...It’s a change of pace.
I used standard E for years.

 

[davidKOS]

It's also what Variax guitars are for.

Quite so - I have a Variax Standard, and apart from the guitar itself being a fine SSS Strat-type, it gives me access to a wide variety of guitar sounds and tunings.

Good point.

 

[joebtone]

I'm one of those pianists, but I've never had a guitar player tune to Eb to accommodate me. Shouldn't be necessary at all.

I like to steal bass lines when I can too....so the open lower strings...I tend to use them even when I’m way up the neck with them ringing between my fingers.
Sometimes bass players don’t like it.
Pianist too.

 

[92 Fiesta Red 62]

You left off Open G, Open D, Open Dm and Open A.

 

[s5tuart]

I'm rehearsing for a get together and so far there are 3 different tunings to achieve, including C Standard! PITA!

 

[davidKOS]

You left off Open G, Open D, Open Dm and Open A.

and the lute-type tuning sometimes used in classical guitar transcriptions, EADF#BE, and the variant DADF#BE