Tuning question

jdecker12

What's the tuning difference b/t piano and guitar. I think it's a 1/2 step, but I'm not sure. Can anyone help me out?

mccreadyisgod

Both should be A-440. It's a universal tuning. It's just that pianos are arranged for playing in C-major, and guitars (and basses) are more tailored to playing in E. But if you play a C note on either, they should match.

Echo Flanger

Originally posted by mccreadyisgod
Both should be A-440. It's a universal tuning. It's just that pianos are arranged for playing in C-major, and guitars (and basses) are more tailored to playing in E. But if you play a C note on either, they should match.

mccreadyisgod

It's also worth mentioning, just for comparison, that both a keyboard and a fretboard have 12 steps in an octave... Pianos are arranged like this:

C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C

Guitars, on open tuning for low and high strings are:

E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E

So, you would have to transpose from piano to guitar (or bass) but the tunings are exactly the same for each note.

jdecker12

That's what I was talking about, the transposition difference. I knew that tuning was pretty much the same but maybe I didn't convey what I meant well. I think what I meant to ask was what key each was in. Because I know when you play an E simultaneously on guitar and a piano/keyboard they don't match up. I'm trying to figure out the difference between the two on the same note for them to sound the same. Like if it was a half step up on a guitar to get the same note when playing E on a piano you would play F on a guitar. I'm just not sure if it's a half step, whole step, etc...

mccreadyisgod

Originally posted by jdecker12
That's what I was talking about, the transposition difference. I knew that tuning was pretty much the same but maybe I didn't convey what I meant well. I think what I meant to ask was what key each was in. Because I know when you play an E simultaneously on guitar and a piano/keyboard they don't match up. I'm trying to figure out the difference between the two on the same note for them to sound the same. Like if it was a half step up on a guitar to get the same note when playing E on a piano you would play F on a guitar. I'm just not sure if it's a half step, whole step, etc...

Actually, an E should be the same on a piano and a guitar... I'd say either your guitar is out of tune, your piano is out of tune, or you're not playing the right notes on one or the other. Do you tune to an electronic tuner? If so, play the piano and see if it's in tune with your tuner. Also, if it's a keyboard, it might have an adjustable tuning, it might be detuned to match something else. But the A below Middle C should be 440 Hz. That's universal.

jdecker12

I'm not playing them both right now so it's not that either of the 2 are out of tune, I just thought there was a key difference between the two. I was thinking that it was either a half step with E on the guitar matching Eb on the piano, or a larger difference where E on the guitar matched A on the piano. Maybe I was thinking of something else though. I'll try it next time I'm back at my parents house with a piano and see what the difference, if any is.

mccreadyisgod

Originally posted by jdecker12
I'm not playing them both right now so it's not that either of the 2 are out of tune, I just thought there was a key difference between the two. I was thinking that it was either a half step, or that E on the guitar matched A on the piano. Maybe I was thinking of something else though. I'll try it next time I'm back at my parents house with a piano and see what the difference, if any is.

Well, they should be the same, note for note. If you look at a keyboard, you should be looking for this:

W=White, B=Black

W, B, W, B, W, W, B, W, B, W, B, W, W

Which is equal to:

C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C

I always remember C, because it's right below the two black keys together... not the three black keys together.

C, D, and E are a C-major chord, that should sound the same as a C-major on guitar:

E--0
B--1
G--0
D--2
A--3
E--X