Even contrabass (if you can distinguish those pitches.).īy googling Robert's (the OP) title, 'Tuning scales according to Simon Fischer' one not only comes upon this summary gem but also some cogent summaries of 'Equal,' 'Pythagorean' and 'Just' intonation by other authors. It's all the same, whatever your instrument violin, viola, cello. One can view (and download) 24 pages of Simon Fischer's SCALE book for violin and find a summary of this thread's subject on an early page of it: This is the basis for the rule that in chromatic scales (at least, in those that are slow enough for subtle intonation to matter), pitches that have the same basic note name (such as D and D#) will be farther apart than pitches that have a different note name (such as D# and E).Īndrew Victor Edited: April 24, 2023, 6:44 PM C to C# is wider than C# to D because C# is a leading tone to D, which is the next note in the major scale. Similar analysis applies to chromatic scales. The relationship between C and F is a perfect interval, so you can't adjust that (setting aside equal temperament, which is another issue entirely), so you have to play the E very high, and this is only possible if the whole-steps (C to D and D to E) are wide. Therefore since E is the leading tone of F, you want E to be close in pitch to the F. By playing the C-D-E-F of the C-major scale, you've traced out an authentic cadence, wherein C resolves to F. The 'obvious' leading tone is B, but we can explore further. The leading tone concept is very far-reaching in music. There is nothing wrong or inconsistent about Simon Fischer's teachings on intonation, but personally, I find that Kurt Sassmannshaus's description of the difference between Just and Pythagorean tuning is much more direct and accessible.

They are different, and in time you need at least these two methods and even then you will find that you make compromises all the time. These are the two most common and canonical methods of dealing with intonation on the violin.

Tuning against a drone or open string is fine, but you need to be aware that you've selected a 'Just' or 'vertical' tuning approach as opposed to the 'Pythagorean' or 'horizontal' approach.

Paul Deck Edited: April 23, 2023, 9:08 PM

B flat minor scale viola