Introduction to Visual Tuning

• The human eye has been scientifically proven to be many times more sensitive to change than the ear.

• This sensitivity manifests itself in involuntary changes, which will help to identify pitch changes.

• Through regular practice (at least four weeks) 95% of the individuals tested showed significant improvement in recognition of slight pitch changes while tuning  their instrument.

• Females have a greater rate of improvement than males. This is probably due to the fact that most tuning pitches are more in the range of the female sensitivity range.

Photo Credit: Look Into My Eyes on Flickr

How to use Visual Tuning

• All pitches can be placed on a vertical scale.

• • Face a wall that has some sort of lines running horizontally. Buildings with inside  walls with exposed concrete blocks work best for they can be seen from the floor to the ceiling.

• Have someone play any note on a piano.

• • It doesn’t matter what note they play. Continue to fix your eye on the spot that your eye led you to on the wall. Do not change your focus on that spot.

• Then have the person play another note  either above the first note or below, it doesn’t matter.

• • At the instant the second note was played, did your eye go up or did it go down? Or did it remain the same. If it went up, was the second note higher of lower than the first? If it went down, was the second note higher of lower than the first? If the notes were different in pitch and your eye did not move, you might be one of the 5% who cannot be helped with this exercise.

• If your eye moved up on the second pitch and the second pitch was in fact higher, you’re on your way to better tuning. If your second note was lower and your eye moved down to match it, you are also on your way.

• • The amount of movement does not matter in the least for it is the involuntary change that we are after. As you develop through practice, you will become much more sensitive and thus more accurate in your judgments.

How to Practice Visual Tuning

• Every day spend about five minutes in a room with walls with horizontal lines as stated before. As a substitute you could use a yardstick placed vertically at least five to ten feet in front of you. Play a tuning note (piano, percussion keyboard, tuner, etc. but not your instrument) and visually place that pitch somewhere on your vertical scale. Where you place it does not matter. It will find its own placement.

• Without taking your eyes off your spot, play a different pitch. Your eyes should have jumped to a higher or lower spot on your scale the instant the second pitch was played. If it didn’t jump to a different level, it might take you longer than most to develop this technique. If it jumped, you’re on your way.

How to Read your Findings and Apply the Concept

If your eyes moved up, that means the second pitch was higher than the first. If it moved down, the second pitch was lower than the first. If you are able to concentrate and retain the tuning pitch on a vertical scale, the instant the next pitch is played, you can say “you’re sharp or flat depending on the actual second pitch in relation to the tuning pitch on your vertical scale.

When rehearsing my jazz band at UNI, I would have the piano player play a concert Bb and hold it until I was able to get a strong fix on its position on our band room wall. I would continue to keep my sight on that spot and ask the players in each section to play their concert Bb. As soon as each player played his or her note I could immediately say flat or sharp or OK. I was able to tune a trumpet section as fast as they could play their notes. It never took more than about two minutes to tune the whole band. Sometimes my eyes would move up or down very slightly and other times it would jump a great distance depending on the intonation discrepancy.

That applies to working from the podium and tuning many instrument and players. Now you might ask, how does it work as an individual tuning his or her own instrument to a concert Bb. I’m glad you asked and if you didn’t, I hope it wasn’t because you got bored and stopped reading “the rest of the story”. The student needs to play his or her concert tuning note first (Bb) and focuses on a spot on a vertical scale. Then, while still focusing on that spot, he or she needs to play a fixed tuning note (again Bb) and the direction of their eyes will tell them if they need to adjust their instrument up or down. If the second pitch (piano) forced they eyes up, then it tells them that their instrument is flat.

That’s it! Now go practice.

Let us know how you are able to apply Visual Tuning to your everyday music life.  Add your comments below.