Playing sharp (that is to say out of tune)

It's never too early to start talking about musical basics; rhythm, pitch, tuning, musicality etc..

I mention this as I have(unbelievably) had pro musicians tell me they don't start talking about musical issues until their students are advanced. I certainly wouldn't expect a beginner to master this stuff but introducing the concepts and revisiting them periodically is crucial.

If you are out of tune, there is a good chance you are sharp. Why is this?

Well, the human ear has more of a tolerance for sharpness than flatness, people will happily play quite sharp but if they are a little flat they will feel uncomfortable right away.

you can use this in your tuning practice by tuning from below, adjust so you are flat which is easier to detect then bring the pitch up to in tune.

kinds of player the first thinks about the pitch of every note they play the other ones, they play out of tune.**pitch is like any other ability it has to be practiced. Daily

I would have to say that the habitually sharp player would be at the top of my list of annoyances.

The sharp player will have their tone project over the in tune player, they will feel great at the expense of the other players and the lower pitch players will have to move up to them (in a concert, in a rehearsal you can take them to task for it) probably having to play incorrectly or hurting themselves in the process. The resulting sound of the ensemble will be pinched strident and unpleasant.

As a woodwind gets warmer the pitch goes up. If you start playing in the group not warmed up you will be flat. This will make you bite. Once you have started to bite it's hard to stop. You will go very sharp. As you play you will have to pull out the barrel and middle joint to keep your pitch at the standard. practice with a drone pitch to keep your pitch and intonation in shape.

Certain notes will tend to go really sharp:eg. low g lip it down.(if you can't lip it down your reed is too hard).

low Bb, B, and A can go very sharp in P- (use e or c key to bring them down) Throat tones in P Long c d often sharp (pull out in the middle.)

main reasons for going sharp other than not listening or being evil are:

• not enough support in soft playing

• using the jaw/ too much biting

• closing the throat

• poor physical conditioning.( you have to be fit, sorry so work on your cardio and have enough muscle to hold the instrument, be in shape (you have to be in shape also to deal with the stress of playing)

• Being tense when you play, this is most often because you are 1 out of playing shape shame shame or are 2 not prepared shame shame shame.

• Being a victim of pitch drift, when you play louder( too loud compared to the ensemble) you will think your pitch is lower than it really is

What about flat? it's bad too how about being on pitch??