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I got this idea from Steve Neff.
For those that haven't checked out his lessons, I can't recommend them highly enough.
Steve has a great lesson on intonation. He talks about playing in tune, what that means and how to know when you're playing in tune and when you aren't.
Steve also talks about how to check the intonation on a prospective horn purchase and why this is the most important thing to look for on any horn you might be considering. The lesson covers various ways to learn to adjust for intonation quirks on your horn from voicing the note to changing the direction of your air stream and more. Steve demonstrates all these concepts and really does a fantastic job of guiding you through the process of becoming aware of your intonation and then fixing any problems you might have.
One of Steve's suggestions, was to map out the intonation tendencies of your horn. You can't fix it if you don't know it's broke right?
So, having recently added a "The Martin" alto to my collection, I decided this was a really good idea. I wasn't happy with the intonation on too many notes. I love the sound of this horn but it's gonna take some work to learn to play it in tune.
I plotted the results in a spreadsheet and came up with the chart below. I used two mouthpieces for comparison.
The first, a Meyer 6M that had been opened up a little to around a 7. The second, a Jody Jazz Classic 6 (the old blue one) that has also been opened up to around a 7. Rico Royal 3 reeds on both.
I wanted to get an idea of what the horn's natural tendencies were. Rather than play each note whilst watching the tuner, I played a short lick or scale as I targeted each note on the horn, from bottom Bb (Bb1) up to palm key F (F3). I played the lick, landed on the target note tried to centre the note and held it. I played at about 90% volume and aimed for a big full sound on each note. Then I looked at the tuner and jotted down the result.
The chart is below. I'd encourage everyone to give this a go. It's a real eye opener. For more info on Steve Neff's great lesson on intonation, visit his website http://www.neffmusic.com/cms/index....er_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=88888928
(edit) The data table at the bottom of the chart isn't quite right. Must've gone astray when I resized it. The values in the chart itself are the correct ones.
For those that haven't checked out his lessons, I can't recommend them highly enough.
Steve has a great lesson on intonation. He talks about playing in tune, what that means and how to know when you're playing in tune and when you aren't.
Steve also talks about how to check the intonation on a prospective horn purchase and why this is the most important thing to look for on any horn you might be considering. The lesson covers various ways to learn to adjust for intonation quirks on your horn from voicing the note to changing the direction of your air stream and more. Steve demonstrates all these concepts and really does a fantastic job of guiding you through the process of becoming aware of your intonation and then fixing any problems you might have.
One of Steve's suggestions, was to map out the intonation tendencies of your horn. You can't fix it if you don't know it's broke right?
So, having recently added a "The Martin" alto to my collection, I decided this was a really good idea. I wasn't happy with the intonation on too many notes. I love the sound of this horn but it's gonna take some work to learn to play it in tune.
I plotted the results in a spreadsheet and came up with the chart below. I used two mouthpieces for comparison.
The first, a Meyer 6M that had been opened up a little to around a 7. The second, a Jody Jazz Classic 6 (the old blue one) that has also been opened up to around a 7. Rico Royal 3 reeds on both.
I wanted to get an idea of what the horn's natural tendencies were. Rather than play each note whilst watching the tuner, I played a short lick or scale as I targeted each note on the horn, from bottom Bb (Bb1) up to palm key F (F3). I played the lick, landed on the target note tried to centre the note and held it. I played at about 90% volume and aimed for a big full sound on each note. Then I looked at the tuner and jotted down the result.
The chart is below. I'd encourage everyone to give this a go. It's a real eye opener. For more info on Steve Neff's great lesson on intonation, visit his website http://www.neffmusic.com/cms/index....er_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=88888928

(edit) The data table at the bottom of the chart isn't quite right. Must've gone astray when I resized it. The values in the chart itself are the correct ones.