Returning bone player

[Thom]

I have been posting on this forum for awhile and I may seem to ask some apparently redundant and/or silly questions, please do not be offended if they seem ridiculous. I have stated in other threads that even though I am about a very good HS level to above average College level player, I never took the horn home in school and never gave lessons the attention they are due. At 64 I have come to a place where I need to do the basics I never did in my youth and I believe I have the desire to do so. I have a very excellent and patient professional trombone instructor and I ask him many of these same questions. My question this time is should I practice the Arbans exercises my instructor assigns with a tuner to ingrain the positions and intonation better?

[Wilktone]

Ultimately you want to use your ears to adjust intonation and not need to rely on the visual aid of the tuner. Furthermore, as you develop your ears you'll start adjusting intonation slightly differently for the same note, depending on the key you're playing in and where you are in the chord.

Probably the best thing you can do to work on intonation is to play with other musicians and practice playing in tune. There are also some intonation practice methods that have exercises designed to practice with a drone or other play-a-long track.

As far as working on etudes from the Arban's at home by yourself, it won't hurt you to put a tuner on your stand, (make sure your instrument is tuned up first) and then spot check intonation on a pitch from time to time. I wouldn't make an effort to practice every note with a tuner, maybe spot check your first note then play the etude and spot check the last note. Then pick a random note (or any 5th position note, for example) and play again, pausing to spot check that note. Finish off by playing it through using just your ear to play in tune.

Dave

[Thom]

Ultimately you want to use your ears to adjust intonation and not need to rely on the visual aid of the tuner. Furthermore, as you develop your ears you'll start adjusting intonation slightly differently for the same note, depending on the key you're playing in and where you are in the chord.

Probably the best thing you can do to work on intonation is to play with other musicians and practice playing in tune. There are also some intonation practice methods that have exercises designed to practice with a drone or other play-a-long track.

As far as working on etudes from the Arban's at home by yourself, it won't hurt you to put a tuner on your stand, (make sure your instrument is tuned up first) and then spot check intonation on a pitch from time to time. I wouldn't make an effort to practice every note with a tuner, maybe spot check your first note then play the etude and spot check the last note. Then pick a random note (or any 5th position note, for example) and play again, pausing to spot check that note. Finish off by playing it through using just your ear to play in tune.

Dave

Good advice

[harrisonreed]

I would use drones, not a tuner, to work on intonation. Pick an Arbans exercise, put on a drone of an open 5th in the key the exercise is in, and play it slowly.

If you get really into the weeds with intonation, you will come to see that the tuner is wrong on every note except the root in a given key. You can't even tune a piano with a normal tuner, without a key to worry about.

[Thom]

I would use drones, not a tuner, to work on intonation. Pick an Arbans exercise, put on a drone of an open 5th in the key the exercise is in, and play it slowly.

If you get really into the weeds with intonation, you will come to see that the tuner is wrong on every note except the root in a given key. You can't even tune a piano with a normal tuner, without a key to worry about.