Posted by Bill Nazzaro on April 08, 2003 at 16:17:31:
In Reply to: Intonation Help posted by Matt on April 08, 2003 at 15:00:34:
Get yourself some kind of pitch generator ("PG") (something that emits different pitches). Either plug it in to an amp or get a set of headphones. Have the PG emit, say a C. Play a C. Do you hear beats? Play with the pitch so that the beats slow down and speed up. Make the beats go away. Now play a D (keep the PG at C) do the same thing (remember 2nds and 7ths are hard to tune, so maybe stick to E, F, G and A and hold off on D and B). After you have played the entire diatonic scale in C, turn the PG to D and repeat. If you have any questions about this idea, post them here and I will try to explain this better.
Stay away from the tuner for a while. It is helpful, but you need to train your ears and chops to eliminate beats between intervals. Being able to adjust to the tuner is a different skill, and one that you will never use in an ensemble setting.
Good Luck.
P.S. You should be able to find a PG and headphones for under $50.