Improving Intonation Skills Book 1

Electronic tuners have become required accessories for today’s music students to own, but little is said about how to actually use them.  A tuner can be an incredibly useful tool, and the purpose of this book is to show you how to use one effectively. Simply owning a tuner is not enough, and checking the pitch of a note here and there won’t help you learn to play with good intonation.  The 8 exercises described in this booklet show you how to make use of an electronic tuner in your daily musical practice so you can develop better control of your tone and intonation, regardless of whether you play a wind or string instrument. You'll begin by 'Charting Your Pitch Tendencies,' an exercise that many have already done after reading about it on this site or after attending a class with me.  You'll then move on to learning how to use a tuner to monitor pitch inconsistencies, identify weaknesses in technique, and make your playing sound better overall.

Electronic tuners have become required accessories for today’s music students to own, but little is said about how to actually use them.  A tuner can be an incredibly useful tool, and the purpose of this book is to show you how to use one effectively. Simply owning a tuner is not enough, and checking the pitch of a note here and there won’t help you learn to play with good intonation.  The 8 exercises described in this booklet show you how to make use of an electronic tuner in your daily musical practice so you can develop better control of your tone and intonation, regardless of whether you play a wind or string instrument. You'll begin by 'Charting Your Pitch Tendencies,' an exercise that many have already done after reading about it on this site or after attending a class with me.  You'll then move on to learning how to use a tuner to monitor pitch inconsistencies, identify weaknesses in technique, and make your playing sound better overall.

Deanna Mathews Kilbourne is a flutist and writer living in St. Petersburg, Florida. She studied flute at Bradley University, Northern Illinois University, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She has taught at Illinois Central College, Knox College, and the University of Illinois, as well as giving private lessons to students of all ages and levels. Currently she is performing with The South Shore Symphony Orchestra and conducting the Tampa Bay Flute Choir. She writes a blog, www.practicingflutist.com, about flute practice and life as a ‘flutist with a day job.’