In today’s high-tech world, it’s rare that someone doesn’t have an electronic tuner for the acoustic instrument they play. For example, I play the Celtic harp and all the harpists I know have an electronic tuner. What if your tuner runs out of batteries and so does the trash bin? My harp has 39 strings tuned to the white keys of the piano. (Many harpists tune their harps to the B-flat or E-flat keys; in fact, I tune mine to the F key.) For this particular situation, we are going to (pretend) tune to the key of C.
We have to get a “benchmark” to tune “A-440”. If you have a piano, you can use the middle C note as a reference point. Maybe you have a fingerboard to use? If you don’t have any landmarks, maybe you can find a ringtone on your phone from the internet? I imagine if you google ‘medium C tone’ you will find something out there that will produce a tone for you.
OK lets start. The best way to tune the harp is in fifths. A perfect fifth has a certain vibration that makes it sound “perfect”. Mentally review the ‘Do Re Mi’ scale. If you can mentally chant the interval from C to G and pay attention to the uniformity of the vibration that produces a perfect fifth, then tuning will be easier.
Start by bringing the G above the middle C to its perfect state. (We’re going to tune a full octave and then move on to the rest of the strings tuning with octaves from that point on.) After the Sun is in and the vibrations are stable and together (not ‘hitting each other’) then it will tune from that G to the D above. This is also a perfect fifth and you should be able to match the vibes. What I mean is that when one note is in tune with another (in a perfect fifth, fourth or octave), the two notes will vibrate in harmony (together). If they are not in tune, you will hear an “out of phase” vibration between the two notes; they strike “against each other” rather than together. After tuning the D above the middle G, you will tune the D that is one octave below. Again, you will listen very carefully to the beat of the vibrations. Play around with it a bit … make it really flat and then bring it to the note. Try to make it sharp (without breaking the string!) And then tune it back to its correct note. The more carefully you listen, the more aware you will be of “pitch perfect” and whether a note is sharp or flat, whether one note is striking against another or vibrating in harmony with it.
So no, we’ve tuned the middle C, the G above that, the D above that, and the D next to C. From there, we tuned the A above the middle D (again a perfect fifth) . Each time, you are listening to the beat of the vibrations of each note. Are they hitting together or against each other? From that A (when it is in tune) we will tune the E above that (another perfect fifth). Now tune the E one octave lower (which will be the middle E). From middle E (when in tune), you will tune B above middle C. Once again, it’s another perfect fifth. We are almost there! Now, all that’s left is C, an octave above middle C, and we’ll tune it against the middle C note. Once you’ve done that full octave, you’ll tune the F (just above the middle C) from the top C note (again, another perfect fifth). Once you are done with the full octave above Middle C along with the other notes above, then you will want to listen very carefully to the entire scale and sing along to make sure it sounds like C Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti. . Scale. If you’re satisfied with how it sounds, you can move on to tuning the rest of the strings by octaves.
A ‘harmonic’ is produced by lightly tapping the string with the palm midway between the soundboard and the harmonic curve and then plucking the string with the thumb.In the middle C range, the distance between the ‘palm touch ‘and the’ thumb ‘is about 5 inches. The shorter the string, the closer the distance between the palm and the thumb is; the longer the rope, the wider the distance.
These harmonics help “check” the note once you think it is in tune. When you create the first harmonic of a note (exactly half the length of the string), it sounds an octave higher. This is the “check” you will do to confirm that your harp is in tune. If an octave is in tune with your note in unison (the harmonic), then you are on the right track. Each string also has other harmonics (in addition to the octave) that you can produce by shortening the distance between the palm and thumb again, and moving the string up towards the harmonic curve or down the string towards the resonance box. Some harmonics are perfect fifths above the octave: for example, if you create the harmonic in the middle C of your upper octave C note, you can also create the G above that with the next harmonic on the middle C string . This helps you check some notes in a perfect fifth sense. In a physical sense, when we play harmonics, we are actually ‘cutting the string in half’ with the placement of our palm, and once again with the plucking of the thumb. This mathematical reduction will produce harmonics in many different ways. As you go through the reduction by moving your hand position up the string or towards the sound board, you result in those higher harmonics (12, double octaves, etc.)
This is certainly very detailed information, but a great auditory training exercise nonetheless. With these harmonic tuning and playing skills, you will gain confidence in your performance and musical ability.
Again, most of all, have fun!
