From the book Poor & Famous by Clive “Mono” Mukundu

 

Is There Need to Use Guitar Tuners?

I played a lot with a number of bands that did not use tuners, especially early in my career. I also did not see the need to use tuners myself until I embarked on international tours. That phrase “international tuning” was used by some musicians in Zimbabwe long back to refer to standard tuning, but I would not advise anybody to use such terms because they are not universally used so it will cause confusion when you need to communicate with the rest of musicians that use standard music terms. It is the same with guitarists who use such terms as “Furu C” (Full C). There is no tuning called Full C so let’s move with the times and buy tuners, they are affordable.

 

It is the duty of the musician to make sure that his instrument is properly tuned unless you are in a super big band like U2, where they have guitar technicians who do it for them. Ears cannot be trusted all the time because they get tired. If you are musical, it is natural for you to hear that the guitar or any instrument is out of tune. It is not something that you are taught but it comes naturally. You do not need special training to tell you that there is too much sugar in your tea, so for a naturally gifted musician, it is the same.

 

I am sure at one time we have watched with wonder how some of our favorite musicians play instruments that are totally out of tune, especially at national events being broadcast on national TV.

 

During such events as well as music festivals there is usually no time for a proper soundcheck where you have all the time to tune up with your ears alone because they would be too many bands lined up with so much going on. If you try to tune before you go on stage using your ears the noise would obviously distract you. That is the reason why someone came up with the idea of creating a tuner.

A tuner is a small device that you use to tune your instrument to the standard pitch. It is fast to use and accurate. Before I joined Oliver Mtukudzi in 2003, I used to think that guitar tuners were for less talented musicians who did not trust their ears since I was used to tuning by ear. This changed when I started playing at major international festivals around the world. I noticed that all the guitarists I met either carried a tuner or used tuners on their effect pedals. Each musician would tune up quietly in his corner but when they go on stage everything would be in tune yet they tuned their instruments separately without comparing them pitch-wise. It is because all tuners have a standard pitch known as 440 Hz which is the industry standard you find on all electronic keyboards and tuners, regardless of where you buy it or the company that manufactured it.

 

Types of Tuning

To summarize, there are basically two types of tuning used in bands.

Comparative Tuning: This is an old fashioned way of tuning. You tune your guitars by ear, comparing the pitch of each other’s instruments. If the band uses keyboards, usually the guitars would be tuned in reference to the keyboard pitch. If it is Sungura bands or other bands that do not use keyboards they tune up to any random pitch the band feels comfortable with. This might work if you have time for the whole band to do so. But imagine if you are at a major noisy festival and when you go on stage you just have time to plug in and play, there is no time to compare your instruments’ pitch. The only time tuners cannot be trusted is if your guitar has very old strings or if the guitar fret board has defects, which is not acceptable for a musician who takes their business seriously.

Tuning the Flintstones Way

We still have a number of bands that have this very unprofessional and archaic way of tuning their guitars loudly through the PA system right before their audience. I am sure we have heard that horrible “Ti-nde-ndo-ndu-nde-ndo-tiiiiiiiii” sound piercing your ears. That is being very disrespectful to the fans.

 

Tuning the Mbira

It is important for Mbira players to learn how to use tuners if they are to fuse their Mbira with other instruments. Every time in the studio I come across a problem where I have Mbira players who come to the studio wanting to fuse their Mbira with guitars and keyboards, but when it is time to play, the Mbira will not be in tune with the keyboards and guitars. They would be tuned to a random pitch using comparative tuning on the other hand the guitars will be tuned at 440 Hz.

If I tune my guitar on my own without a tuner and it gets in tune with itself and you tune yours at home on your own at any pitch you randomly think of and it gets in tune, these two guitars will be in tune separately, but when we try to play together, it is most likely that they will not be in tune with one another. So, your C will not sound the same as my C. This led to the idea that there should be an agreed pitch so that if I use that pitch to tune my guitar here, and someone tunes their guitar somewhere else using that same pitch, my C should be of the same pitch as their C.

 

What is a 440 Hz Pitch?

We know that all sound is vibration, and the speed of these vibrations produces the pitch of the sound. Frequency or vibration speed is known in music terms as Hertz, shortened to Hz. So, when a guitar string vibrates at a speed of 440 Hz, it will produce a standard note in tune with the industry-standard pitch, that is why the name 440 Hz pitch is used.

 

From the book Poor & Famous chapter 21.

Author: Clive ”Mono” Mukundu, Edited by Philip Chidavaenzi & Bernadette Mari-Deve

Monolio publications, Harare, Zimbabwe 2018