![]() The repetition of practice ingrains those intervals into muscle memory, and when overlaid onto the piano’s ET, almost every pitch is “out of tune” to varying degrees. The student dutifully practicing their sonata part alone is practicing tunings that sound vibrant and sonorous on solo violin, likely an intuitive mix of 5-limit JI, Pythagorean, and ET. The intervals of ET represent an averaging that is out of sync with the natural overtones of the harmonic series and are therefore very difficult to intuit by ear. Indeed, it is virtually impossible for a string player (or a singer, or any human performing on a non-fixed-pitch instrument) to play in ET without a pitch reference like a keyboard or a digital tuner. So, why did those student violin and piano rehearsals sound so ugly? Answer: because the modern piano is tuned in equal temperament (ET), and solo violinists do not play in ET. My mind was blown, and the shape of my artistic practice on the violin was radically changed for the better. Making music in this community of adventurous artists provided the energy that led me to a serious investigation of tuning systems and, in particular as the system perhaps most applicable to string players, just intonation (JI). I was playing with the Wet Ink Ensemble, co-founded a new-music string quartet (Mivos), was working with composers like Sam Pluta, Taylor Brook, Eric Wubbels, Kate Soper, and Alex Mincek, and taking any gig I could get. It was after grad school, and I was just starting out in the New York City contemporary music scene and loving every minute of it. I only realized many years later the root of the problem that created this cycle of demoralizing episodes. Based on the information available to me as a student of the violin conservatory tradition, I could only conclude that I was a violinist with “bad intonation.”Īfter a few more rehearsals the tuning and blend would always get better, and I’d shrug it off and move on. I knew the problem was likely related to tuning, but I didn’t know how to fix it except for a directionless feeling that I needed to practice more. I had put in the time diligently practicing the music and had worked with my teacher on the nuances of the violin part, yet the first several rehearsals with piano always sounded grating and left me disoriented and unmoored. I left the rehearsal feeling totally deflated. We rehearsed the piece for forty-five minutes, maybe an hour. Or maybe it was Brahms? The specifics are of little importance as this was a scenario that played out many times throughout my student years. The repertoire was a Beethoven sonata for violin and piano. ![]() I entered the rehearsal room violin in tow, anxious to work with the staff pianist. ![]()
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