On 2/15/05 6:02 PM, "Don" <pianotuna@accesscomm.ca> wrote: > At 03:19 PM 15/02/2005 -0600, you wrote: >> When string players tune to a piano the A 440 is struck, and that is >> often followed by a d minor, root position chord with the A 440 being >> the fifth. I've often heard this done at concerts but I've never been >> asked why the d minor chord is used. A student asked me today and I >> didn't have an answer. Why d minor? >> >> Richard West, RPT >> University of Nebraska >> Lincoln, NE >> D, F natural, and A all share harmonics at A, and playing the notes together helps focus the ear on that pitch. (Yes, I know, the coincident partials are one and a couple octaves above A4, but it does seem to focus the ear anyway). The problem, I believe, is the difficulty of matching pitch from such different pitch sources - piano to violin string. Harpsichord seems to be even more problematic (due especially to rapid decay). It's more psychological than physical IMO, but there's no question it seems to help (from many years of accompanying). Regards, Fred Sturm University of New Mexico
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