Yeah dude if it's off, squat down next to the cab and check it against the 2 fret on the G string. Doesn't matter if it's in the middle of a song. Laugh it off after you stand up. That way you only ruin 1/2 of one song.
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What is with me and A strings?
- Thread starter Treadstone71
- Start date
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- strings
- Jan 26, 2014
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- Disclosures
- I teach lessons and perform live music in and around San Diego CA. Sometimes I even make money doing it!
Well that's a bit of a trainwreck, innit. Everyone's had a couple of those, so don't sweat it. Tu-2 are an incredibly reliable pedal, until they break after 10 years or so, perhaps that happened? it's common for clip on tuners to "hear the wrong harmonic," like an F# instead of a B (they're closely related mathematically) but I can't say that's usually the case with the Boss, let alone G and A, which are very different mathematically. Perhaps you were on some drop tune setting? very bizarre. But yeah, stick to your own gear if you know it works!
Quit feeling bad and go back out and act like you killed it! The band knows you made a mistake, heck there's worse things in life to do than be out of tune. I can't even remember all the embarrassing moments I've had over decades but they're in my old noodle somewhere. Tomorrow will be another day, you'll move on as the memory fades.
The takeaway from this is trust your own gear unless it's a totally sponsored professional show. I've had a foot pedal for years that shows bright LED letters and a bright bar red/green/red and it requires a 9v battery. I had two of them over 25 years. I've kind of retired it because the Snark Super Tight is so doggone reliable and just sits on my headstock. One other thing in the future: maybe have a small practice amp and tuner in the back room to check your tuning? Or maybe not.
The takeaway from this is trust your own gear unless it's a totally sponsored professional show. I've had a foot pedal for years that shows bright LED letters and a bright bar red/green/red and it requires a 9v battery. I had two of them over 25 years. I've kind of retired it because the Snark Super Tight is so doggone reliable and just sits on my headstock. One other thing in the future: maybe have a small practice amp and tuner in the back room to check your tuning? Or maybe not.
Sorry this happened to you.
After silently tuning,
I suggest you learn to do a quick, audible tuning check by ringing the 7th fret harmonic on the G string ( it will ring a D), then ring the 12th fret of the D string—- those pitches should match.
Repeat for all 4 or 5 or 6 strings.
This will take about 8 seconds— saved my butt a couple of times when I didn’t notice the + or -
indicator on the tuner.
After silently tuning,
I suggest you learn to do a quick, audible tuning check by ringing the 7th fret harmonic on the G string ( it will ring a D), then ring the 12th fret of the D string—- those pitches should match.
Repeat for all 4 or 5 or 6 strings.
This will take about 8 seconds— saved my butt a couple of times when I didn’t notice the + or -
indicator on the tuner.
Beat me to it. I use the 5th fret of E string/7th fret of A string method because you can generate both harmonics almost simultaneously using index/little fingers. You can eventually get this check down to much less than 8 seconds. It's instant feedback, you should know right away if one of your strings is out.
By the way, don't sweat it man, we've all been there. You'll take steps to make sure that this particular error doesn't happen again. Then you only have to worry about the other 96 things that can go wrong without you seeing them coming.
Well... I'd say that for many people, it's easy once you've practiced. For some people though, this isn't easy on the fly. Especially when you're in the middle of the battle and freaking out a bit and the other band members are looking at you.
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A tuning error almost happened to me before an outdoor gig in bright light when I didn't see the little flat dot or dash on my zoom. After silent tuning I was playing something quietly before the show and noticed something was wrong and noticed what happened. My zoom is not working now so I am using a phone app and tuning with my amp at low volume. After tuning I play notes across the fretboard just to make sure it's Okay.
My biggest nightmare on stage is to turn the wrong key when I'm tuning. I've done it a couple of times, and I feel the audience looking at me like "Who's this stupid bassplayer who can't even tune his bass?".
On tuners: I had this little electronic automatic thing that showed a small letter a for Ab, small letter e for Eb, and big letters for A and E. I hadn't noticed this, so I learned the difference the hard way.
On tuners: I had this little electronic automatic thing that showed a small letter a for Ab, small letter e for Eb, and big letters for A and E. I hadn't noticed this, so I learned the difference the hard way.
I respectfully disagree. If it sounds off when you play, it should also sound off when you tell the guitarist to give you an A.
The sound is off as in not turned on. Silent. You don't tune with the sound on on stage, do you?
In this guy’s situation, yes. One note isn’t exactly detrimental to, well, anything. But, I guess if it takes you five minutes to tune one string, sure, I see your point. I suppose you’d be the kind of musician that plays out of tune for three songs because you can’t use your ears to tune. It would take me less than ten seconds to ask for an A, get my sh#t in tune.
If necessary then yes, it is better to check your tuning with the sound on than to play out of tune.
Personally I tune with the sound muted using my digital tuner, but then I always double check my tuning by ear before the song starts. I find a quick 4-string E power chord is enough to alert my ears to a serious tuning problem, and doesn't sound like obnoxious "tuning" to the audience.
If your band has a history of tuning problems then it's a good idea for everybody to strum a chord together before launching into the first song. Or, write a short "tuning song" (like a fanfare) that you can all play together before starting the set. One of my bands would play a few seconds of the Star Wars Imperial March while the singer was coming on stage, for exactly this reason.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure I was the one being respectful until you chimed in with your bad, smart a$$ attitude. That, is the essence of trolling....bashing someone’s advice just to do so without any supportive input of their own.
There are a lot of situations where this is not an option. Of course, everybody tune before they go on stage, but things can happen (like someone bumping into the headstock or whatever). That's why I always do a silent check before playing the first tone.
I repeat: you can stop trolling now, thank you. If I want your advice later, I'll be sure to ask for it.
Man, you’ve got some anger issues.
Edit: It is ok to disagree with one another. But, using the word “troll” is similar to using the statement, “I’m offended.” I said, “I respectfully disagree” in order to let this dude know that I feel tuning on stage is perfectly acceptable without making him feel upset...if you have no other choice, do it. It would be a good time for you or someone in the band to offer a few words and to ultimately seem human, not a robot. They have DJs for that purpose already. I assure you, tuning on stage happens. Heck, I’ve seen guys do it during a song. BB King changed a damm string....while playing a song.
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I've seen best-of-the-best orchestral musicians tune by ear, on stage, in front of an audience paying $100+ per seat. I've seen a world famous fretless bass virtuoso glance at his tuner during a song to check his intonation. Heck even Edgar Meyer puts tape on his fingerboard to mark the positions. Playing in tune is musicianship 101 so do whatever it takes.
