Tuning App

Often my students don't have perfect pitch and so even though I give them guidance each lesson with learning how to tune their instruments themselves, they don't have a starting point to work from.
"Perfect pitch" is when you are able to name any note that is played without having a given note before it. It's apparently very rare, and more common among musicians that have learned from a very young age. Asians - Chinese in particular I believe, are more likely to have it, due to the musical nature of their language. They have to have different pitches for words as often they use the same word for many different meanings - Interesting!
"Relative pitch" is when you are given a note and then, once you have this note, you are able to recognise other pitches by figuring out the interval. This is where having a tuning aid comes in handy. The violin tunes to an A. We always start with the A string and then adjust all other strings. That's why at the beginning of an orchestra concert, the Oboe gives an A to the concertmaster.
When it comes to tuning at home, whether it's a piano (not great if it hasn't been tuned recently), a tuning fork, or an electronic tuner, your child can learn to figure out a way to tune their instrument more easily without a teachers help. If you have none of these options available, but you have an I-Phone (as just about everyone has nowadays), there is an app called "Tuner Lite" and it's free! (thank goodness for technology). There is the option of having the A played by pressing one button, or by using it's microphone and having the application work out if you are playing too high or low.

Happy Practicing!