Just Intonation

My friend and fellow bassist Adam Bernstein recently told me about an app called the TotalEnergy Tuner. It costs a few bucks, but wow is it worth it.

Practicing intonation has always been a bit of a question mark for me. Should I play with a tuner? Should I practice with a drone? Should I just try to hear it? What does “in tune” mean anyways?

I recently became acquainted with “Just Intonation” a tuning system where the distance between notes is non-uniform; each note in the scale is derived by multiplying a fundamental frequency by a specific ratio.

This is in contrast to “Equal Temperament,” where the octave is simply divided into twelve equal parts. Super handy when playing with piano accompaniment…not super handy when playing a major third.

Now, back to the The TotalEnergy Tuner. TET has this rad feature where you can drone multiple notes at once and choose to tune the chord with Equal Temperament or Just Intonation. Here’s how I use this tool:

I choose a key and drone the three notes of the tonic chord. For ten minutes, I practice tonic arpeggios, fifths, fourths, in different positions, at different speeds, with different fingerings, etc.

Then I change my drone to the three notes of the subdominant chord and jam on that for ten minutes; the three (or four) notes of the dominant, ten minutes; back to tonic, ten minutes.

Keep in mind, Just Intonation is not always an appropriate choice for your musical context. From the style and period of the music you’re playing, to your placement in the harmony, there are many factors that can influence your intonation choices; Just Intonation adds another dimension to inform and color those choices.