scordatura

The term 'scordatura' indicates the retuning (or literally translated, mis-tuning) of stringed instruments; its purpose includes enlarging the range of sonorities available, introducing and exploiting diverse tonal, harmonic and display effects, or simply facilitating the performance of certain chords, figurations and ...

In the classical period a famous example of scordatura is Mozart's, "Sinfonia Concertante" for Violin, Viola and Orchestra in which he asks the viola to tune all four strings a semitone higher than usual.

Scordatura ([skordaˈtuːra]; literally, Italian for "discord", or "mistuning") is a tuning of a string instrument that is different from the normal, standard tuning. It typically attempts to allow special effects or unusual chords or timbre, or to make certain passages easier to play.

A tuning peg in a pegbox is perhaps the most common system. A peg has a grip or knob on it to allow it to be turned. A tuning pin is a tuning peg with a detachable grip, called a tuning lever.

Like an acoustic guitar or lute, a zither's body serves as a resonating chamber (sound box), but, unlike guitars and lutes, a zither lacks a distinctly separate neck assembly. The number of strings varies, from one to more than fifty.

They believe the oboe is subject to changes in atmospheric conditions (like temperature or humidity), meaning that as the room gets warmer, the instrument's pitch will get sharper. Still others argue that its penetrating tone is what makes it the perfect candidate for head tuner.

Scordatura Basics

1. The string formerly known as A is written as A, but sounds G because it's tuned down a while step.
2. The first finger on that string is still written as B, but accordingly sounds A.
3. The second finger is written as C# but sounds B.
4. The third finger is written as D but sounds C.

Italian scordatura is a derivative of scordato “out of tune,” past participle of the verb scordare “to be out of tune.” Scordare is a somewhat reduced form of Latin discordāre “to be at variance, quarrel, disagree,” formed from the prefix dis- “apart, asunder” and cord-, the stem of the noun cor “heart.” Scordatura ...

Tuning is the process of adjusting the pitch of one or many tones from musical instruments to establish typical intervals between these tones. Tuning is usually based on a fixed reference, such as A = 440 Hz.

A=440 Hertz Orchestras always tune to 'A', because every string instrument has an 'A' string. The standard pitch is A=440 Hertz (440 vibrations per second). Some orchestras favor a slightly higher pitch, like A=442 or higher, which some believe results in a brighter sound.

tuning and temperament, in music, the adjustment of one sound source, such as a voice or string, to produce a desired pitch in relation to a given pitch, and the modification of that tuning to lessen dissonance.

Among various tuning systems, three temperaments were commonly used in Western Music at some point of time: Pythagorean Tuning, Quarter Comma Meantone Temperament, and 12 Tone Equal Temperament[1], in chronological order of each temperament's dominant time period.