Useful apps for practicing intonation

I often get asked to recommend apps for practicing intonation. Different apps have different strengths, and the most useful app is the one most relevant to your need while being easy to use. I'm an iPhone user with an ancient iPhone 6, but it still works great for practicing music, so here's an short list of intonation apps:

All-in-one: TE Tuner (Tonal Energy Tuner, iOS only) is my Swiss Army knife app which includes:

• a tuner that uses the iPhone mic to listen to and measure your tuning

• a tone generator that allows you to sustain up to 6 drone tones simultaneously

• the ability to record either a sequence of the above drone tones or your own live sound

• waveform pitch analysis (to show how much fundamental there is in the pitch for more focus)

• metronome with tap tool and lots of subdivisions, even programmable tempo changes

• a practice loop tool for slowing down excerpts of audio tracks, similar to apps like the Amazing Slow Downer (I already have that particular app, which has a better interface)

My favorite part of TE Tuner is the tone generator, which looks like a pitch pipe wheel and can cover all octaves necessary. You can use it with earphones, the iPhone's built-in speaker (not very loud), or an external speaker (Bluetooth or wired). If for example you're faced with a difficult shift, then you can play drone tones for both the starting and ending pitch, providing your ear with a sonic model before you play it on the cello. You also can change settings from equal temperament to Pythagorean tuning, just intonation, etc..

Tuner-only apps:

• iStrobosoft (iOS and Android) has a display big enough for a whole chamber group to see it if you put it up on a music stand. No drone tones, but it's made by the company that makes Peterson Tuners, so a very solid measuring tool.

• ClearTune is a perennial favorite for both iOS and Android, and is especially helpful if you need to find quarter tones and other microtuned pitches between the standard 12 tones (ex., the music of Ben Johnston). It can play one drone tone at a time.

A cello open-string warmup exercise (free pdf)

Here is a simple bowing exercise inspired by the teaching of George Neikrug. The point is to be aware of how the curve of the bow can be utilized to pull the string in either direction, and how it should take advantage of the cylindrical cross-section of the string to maximize the tonal output for the leverage which the bow-arm, shoulders, back, torso, and hips put into that string, taking into account the angle required by the string's position on the bridge. The angle of the bow is exaggerated in the graphics here, but the idea is to almost but not actually touch the adjacent string at either end of the bow stroke when using the whole bow to roll over on either side of the string (but you can start by playing a double stop with the adjacent string to get used to moving from one side of the string to the other, then work on avoiding it). 

One other thing not on this sheet: I generally prefer to play on the edge of the hair with the stick turned towards me, even at the tip. If you want consistency in your foundation tone, the string expects the same degree of focus at any point in the bow, so rather than play flat hair at the tip which can lead to a harder edged sound, I engage the core of my back muscles and rotate around my spine to help maintain strength and leverage (remember the baseball slugger on this blog?), and keep the same narrow amount of string under the bow hair to maximize how much of the string is vibrating. Of course, with variety of musical expression there should be variety of tone color, so in actual music making one needs to be flexible in bow usage, but this is a good way to start a practice session.

Open string bowing exercise, free pdf download

Hold the bow

This blog will eventually get into much detail about music making, cello playing, and cello technique. For now, as a teaser, here's a look at the bow grips of some of the greatest cellists (and maybe the greatest violinist). If I seem biased towards bow grips with the pinkie on top of the stick: well, yes. But there are always exceptions, and one should be flexible and adaptable.

Jascha Heifetz, whose favorite cellist was...

...Emanuel Feuermann. Their recording of the Brahms Double Concerto is one of the all time great recordings, stupendous playing.

Another look at Emanuel Feuermann. Check out his video on YouTube.

A former pupil of Feuermann, George Neikrug became a devoted student and proponent of D.C. Dounis, a legendary teacher who tackled many physical issues of playing.

Pablo Casals

Mstislav Rostropovich

Jacqueline Du Pre

Anner Bylsma