Posted by Chuck(G) on January 05, 2002 at 02:27:30:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Tuning posted by Rick Denney on January 05, 2002 at 01:41:48:
In fact, in the example just given, any note of the triad could be the root of the chord, and one could devise a sequence where the same triad played three times in a row would have three different roots. Makes my head hurt thinking about it.
All of which is getting at the question "How do we play in tune and what does 'in tune' mean exactly?" My tuner's got a needle that says when it's dead center, I'm in tune. But as you and several other people have commented, that's not quite the case in the real world and someone who plays by his tuner might not sound all that great.
What I'm fishing for are some rules of thumb regarding type of music, sequences, accompaniment, etc. that calls out how to play in tune (or sound like it anyway). This includes sharpened leading tones, pure intervals, tempered intervals and all sorts of other things that might affect how far off of dead center one might play.
Although maybe not in the case of sharpened leading tones. I know of a work where the ensemble modulates down a semitone to resolve a solo voice sounding a leading tone to the tonic. Very funny to listen to--and one where you wouldn't want to sharpen that leading tone.
Certainly some will say "use your ear to tell you" and I'm sure that's what most do. But are there some fairly reliable guidelines? Would it be a fair statement to say that if jazz or atonal music is being played that one is best sticking with equal temperament? If you're playing Gabrielli, then the pure intervals are wonderful and you'd be well advised to stick to them in that case?
I apologize for belaboring the issue, and appreciate the attempts to lessen my ignorance.