How can one tell if their Selmer alto saxophone is in tune?

Answer 1

How to tell depends whether you're talking about one person singing out of tune with others (who should be singing the same note), or one-person singing out of tune (with nobody else on a similar part.)

The answer comes out of physics. If two (or more) people are singing very nearly, but not quite, the same pitch, you will hear "beats". That means that you will hear moments, repeating in a regular pattern, in which the sound seems louder or softer. It comes from constructive and destructive interference, and the frequency of the beats is equal to the difference in frequency of the fundamental pitches. Think of it like common multiples. If one pitch (frequency in wave form) reaches a peak every 4 hundredths of a second (25 times per second, or 25 hertz), and a second pitch reaches its peak every 5 hundredths of a second (20 times per second, or 20 hertz), those two peaks will coincide with each other once every 20 hundredths of a second (5 times per second, or 5 hertz, the difference between the original two pitches/frequencies.) Note that if the difference is large enough, you will hear them as two distinct pitches, rather than "beats" or an out-of-tune note. So the long answer here involves the physics and calculations, but the simple one is that if you hear beats, the two pitches are not in tune with each other.

If you're singing a solo, there isn't anything quite so easily quantifiable to the untrained ear. You can learn over time to hear relations of pitches, but the math/physics don't translate as directly into the hearing on this one. "In-tune" as a concept doesn't change much, but it's in-tune based on relations to the pitch where you started, and not to a pitch that is still ringing at a given later moment, for ease of comparison. If you're asking primarily in order to keep yourself in tune, I suggest singing with a choir, where you will hear beats if your section doesn't match pitch quite accurately. Once you know what to listen for, it won't be difficult to notice you're out of tune, though fixing it is not as simple. As a soloist, you'll need to have a good ear since you don't have that comparison. However, it is very often vocal technique that causes people to sing a note sharp or flat, rather than failure to hear the note accurately. A very general rule, though, is that sharpness is caused by tension in the voice, and flatness is caused by insufficient breath support. So those are the things to address if you notice (by comparison with another instrument if you need to) that you're often going sharp or flat. The details of how to fix this can involve considerable training, and you should seek a voice teacher.

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

well you could start by getting a tuner and find out for sure it all depends how often it has been tuned lately and how good the keys are there is also some guitar sites that you could browse that have tuners on their for you to listen to and try to match it

Answer 3

If one does not possess perfect pitch the simplest way to tell if one's Selmer Alto Saxophone is in tune is to use a tuner. These are available for purchase both at music shops and on the internet.

Answer 4

There are specified tuners made exclusively for piano incorporating the overtone series to make sure that the piano is perfectly in tune.

Answer 5

It sound really nice

Answer 6

Yes.