How to tune your instrument properly

1. Warm up first

Temperature changes pitch. On wind instruments the sound rises as the air in the tube warms, roughly 3 cents per degree Celsius (the speed of sound increases by about 0.17% per degree). Strings, on the other hand, tend to go flat as temperature and humidity rise. So play for a few minutes before tuning: if you tune a cold instrument, ten minutes later you will be sharp.

2. Tune on a long, steady note

Play a note at mezzo-forte, held for several seconds, with constant air (or bow). Watch the average on the tuner, not the first instant: the attack often drifts. If the needle moves a lot, your tone is not steady yet, and that is useful information too.

3. Reference first, then your instrument

Decide the group's A (see 440 or 442) and set the tuner to it. Brass players usually tune an easy, central note such as concert B♭ (on trumpet, written C with no valves). In wind ensembles it is common to tune to B♭ and check with an A.

4. Listen for beats

When you play a note nearly equal to another (or to a drone), you hear a pulsing called a beat. The slower the pulse, the closer you are. When it disappears, you are in tune. The beat rate is the frequency difference: at 440 Hz, 2 Hz apart gives 2 beats per second. Use the drone to train your ear without looking at the screen.

5. Adjust and check again

• Brass: pull the main tuning slide out if you are sharp and push it in if you are flat. Move in small steps.
• Woodwinds: adjust the barrel (flute, clarinet) or the mouthpiece (sax). Every millimetre counts.
• Strings: tune the peg slightly below and bring the string up to pitch so it stays put. On violin, viola and cello use the fine tuners.

6. After one note, check the others

An instrument in tune on one note is not in tune on all. Every tube has tendencies: certain notes come out sharp or flat because of the construction and the way fingerings combine. Play a slow scale with a drone underneath and see which notes drift. The Intonation X-ray does exactly that: it shows which notes are sharp or flat and what to do.

Common mistakes

• Tuning a cold instrument.
• Watching the tuner instead of listening: the aim is to tune by ear with the tuner as a check.
• Correcting every note with lips or air pressure without understanding why it is out of tune. Identify the tendency first, then correct.
• Tuning only at forte. Try piano as well: many notes shift with dynamics.
• Forgetting the group's A may not be 440.

Open the tuner Intonation X-ray

Next: notes and frequencies for each instrument.