Andy R Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I have known for I don't know how long that a "Concert Pitch" A is 440 Hz. I had always assumed it was the open A 5th string:blink: After 30 years of playing and tuning guitars I find out today that the 440 Hz A is the 5th fret on the High E String I guess I never really thought about it... Open A on the 5th String is 110 Hz I know I'm always yakking on here about stuff I know about. Just letting y'all know that I am not afraid or too embarrassed to admit what or when I don't know shite. He he Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAS44 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 We still love you Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShredAstaire Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 You didn't know that?!?!?!?! Neither did I...heheheh :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Wunterslausche Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Funny, I did know but only for a few months as I used a tuner that showed Hz. I bet many people don't know which A on their instrument is 440Hz. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 n00b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Funny, I did know but only for a few months as I used a tuner that showed Hz. I bet many people don't know which A on their instrument is 440Hz. I'm betting many didn't care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 This is freaking me out. Not only did I NOT know that, but WHY I wouldn't know that. I always assumed like you said, the open A, but with all the cassette machine tuning I used to do and such, it was right under my nose the whole time. I mean, how many times have we heard a tone that we KNEW was 440 HZ? This is kinda on the level of eating at Denny's. We should know the food is less than spectacular and kinda makes you feel weird, but yet, whenever you go there, you STILL kinda drool at the menu with anticipation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 . * Yawn * I'm gettin' another cold one. :mellow: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milod Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 All I can say is I pretty much agree with Andy and I pray, literally, that when I stop learning something every day I'm put to sleep for good. m Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Maybe people care.... Maybe they don't..... Maybe they yawn and get beers..... Makes me no never mind. I enjoy learning and find it funny to have not known that for all of these years when it was right under my ears the whole time... So have a laugh on me. I don't mind.... or maybe learn something that may or may not ever make a difference.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stein Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Maybe people care.... Maybe they don't..... Maybe they yawn and get beers..... Makes me no never mind. I enjoy learning and find it funny to have not known that for all of these years when it was right under my ears the whole time... So have a laugh on me. I don't mind.... or maybe learn something that may or may not ever make a difference.... You are CONSTANTLY admitting openly that you don't know everything, and correct yourself and accept correction at least as much as anyone here. That is the reason people trust you so much and turn to you for answers. It is part of your integrity. You have a talent for making people think. One guy thought he would get a beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silenced Fred Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I was being a smart aleck in my post, hope you took it with a grain of salt I had heard about that from my guitar teacher two summers ago, but I guess I knew it, but didn't care. How the hell would anyone know that? And I agree with milod, if I ever stop learning, I want a bullet in the head ASAP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrosurfer1959 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Yep I knew that from reading it one time, what I have never really heard though is the other half of the story? why do they use the A above middle C as the standard for concert pitch? I know it was a standard with the guy that invented the tuning fork for his trumpet if I remember correctly and is common in many instruments but I have never heard if there is something else about it or why it was selected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I have known for I don't know how long that a "Concert Pitch" A is 440 Hz. .... Actually, 440Hz = A is a recently (1950s) agreed upon "standard", but still is not used in all cases. There are plenty of orchestras and bands that set at A at a different frequency than 440Hz. That is the reason many electronic tuners allow the user to change the "Concert Pitch" frequency (calibration) - I've got a Korg that's adjustable. Just in case you didn't know. B) BTW, bands with brass, woodwinds (no strings) often use "Concert Pitch" B-flat for tuning - I played in one for years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 If you don't tune to A 440 you could throw the earth off it's axis, alter it's orbit and therefore mess up the order of the universe... Just sayin'... :blink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl00dsm0k3 Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 never knew that either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Wunterslausche Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 If you don't tune to A 440 you could throw the earth off it's axis, alter it's orbit and therefore mess up the order of the universe... Just sayin'... :blink: Blimey, I didn't know that. Sometimes I go weeks without tuning to concert pitch, just making small adjustments relatively. Is that dangerous, really? My father, BTW, has several clarinets that are not concert pitch. Just some pointless trivia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Actually, 440Hz = A is a recently (1950s) agreed upon "standard", but still is not used in all cases. There are plenty of orchestras and bands that set at A at a different frequency than 440Hz. That is the reason many electronic tuners allow the user to change the "Concert Pitch" frequency (calibration) - I've got a Korg that's adjustable. Just in case you didn't know. B) BTW, bands with brass, woodwinds (no strings) often use "Concert Pitch" B-flat for tuning - I played in one for years. Actually I didn't know all of that. I know you can adjust tuners but thought that was more for calibration... 7:15 AM and already a wealth of knowledge I didn't have! Honestly I thought it was funny that of all of the mundane things I know about guitar that was not one of them. he he Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Most orchestras, travelling musicians that carry their own pianos, they have a placard inside the piano telling whomever wants to know what A equals. We do use 440 as the "standard", but really A can be 436 - 444, something like that? Maybe even wider, a physicist will have to get in here. The orchestra tunes the instruments to their relative transpositions. Bb, Eb, whatever. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zigzag Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I have known for I don't know how long that a "Concert Pitch" A is 440 Hz... Open A on the 5th String is 110 Hz... Interesting that A on the fifth fret, 1st string is exactly 4 times what A on the open 5th string is. Can anyone explain that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVOL! Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 I once heard an amp tech ask what the frequency for A 440 is. A lot like what does a pound of water weigh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Farnsbarns Wunterslausche Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Interesting that A on the fifth fret, 1st string is exactly 4 times what A on the open 5th string is. Can anyone explain that? Double the frequency = 1 octave. Hence, half the string length is one octave. You'll notice your 12th fret is exactly half way between nut and bridge. So 13.75 Hz, 27.5 Hz, 55Hz, 110 Hz, 220 Hz, 440 Hz, 880 Hz, 1760 Hz and so on, are all A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Double the frequency = 1 octave. Hence, half the string length is one octave. You'll notice your 12th fret is exactly half way between nut and bridge. So 13.75 Hz, 27.5 Hz, 55Hz, 110 Hz, 220 Hz, 440 Hz, 880 Hz, 1760 Hz and so on, are all A At or at least close you hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted June 14, 2011 Share Posted June 14, 2011 Double the frequency = 1 octave. Hence, half the string length is one octave. You'll notice your 12th fret is exactly half way between nut and bridge. So 13.75 Hz, 27.5 Hz, 55Hz, 110 Hz, 220 Hz, 440 Hz, 880 Hz, 1760 Hz and so on, are all A Well, of course.......Not only that, but when you try to tune this way and yer geetar is badly intonated, an ANALOG tuner will tell you, " Yer too sharp " or, " Yer too flat ".....Whereas, a DIGITAL tuner in the same situation will tell you, " 101100011011 ", or " 00110110100111 ".... Another little known fact is, once one goes up higher than 10,000 feet, to remain in tune, add .0214 to A-440 for each 1.3 meters in hight.... ( Also, way back when cat guts were used for geetar strings, being in tune was called " purrfect ", and being out of tune was " Meow ".... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted June 14, 2011 Author Share Posted June 14, 2011 Yep I knew that from reading it one time, what I have never really heard though is the other half of the story? why do they use the A above middle C as the standard for concert pitch? I know it was a standard with the guy that invented the tuning fork for his trumpet if I remember correctly and is common in many instruments but I have never heard if there is something else about it or why it was selected. I'm going to take a guess at this one but maybe they chose the A 4th Octave because it is the first occuring A inside the "Common" (for lack of a better term) Treble Clef? It is also seems to be the most " middle A" between the Bass instruments and the Higher Octave instruments. So possibly it is an A that can be hit by the majority of Instruments in some way????? I bet Matt or RCT knows for sure. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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