Arco pitch lower than same pizzicato pitch

[Timbo]

Atleast that's what my tuner says. I'm not sure if tuner's mistaken or what but when I play my C# arco the tuner will say im like 20-25 hertz low of the note but when I pluck it without moving my hand pizz it says it's right on the money. Do you guys know of any reason for that?

[PaulCannon]

Could be that you're not pushing the string down firmly enough for the pitch to work with a bow.

In any case, you shouldn't use a tuner to find out if you're playing a note in tune. See if you can't set the tuner to a drone pitch and try the same thing, and see what you hear. You should never adjust pitch according to a visual aid, especially if you don't hear it as being out of tune. That's really nothing more than a video game.

[mcnaire2004]

+1 on what Paul said (though I have been guilty of it myself)



One thing though is that you'll be in better tune if you don't check pizz with a tuner. Especially when tuning strings. With the wide vibration the tuner wont pick up pizz as clearly as arco.

If arco is the string that varies it could be that your fingers aren't firm or more important, your bow is not in a steady spot, and there is not consistent bow pressure.

[Cory Palmer]

The pizz being at a different frequency as arco is like when you get different frequencies from using faster or slower bow speed. Also, the pitch usually changes within a pizz. The beginning of a pizz is usually sharper than what it will end up ringing at.

I agree with using a drone instead of watching the tuner. What you hear isn't always the same as what you see.