I’ve noticed, since it’s gotten fairly warm out, that my strings tend to get sharp between tunings rather than flat…especially the higher strings (quite the opposite of what I normally expect). I could understand this kind of fluxuation with gut, but is this also the norm with nylon strings?
It’s just a curiousity question. The heat in the house is well below the “danger” zone the manufacturer gives (at the hottest it’s maybe 90 degrees in here). It just came as a surprise to me the first time I had to tune several strings DOWN rather than up.
My hammered dulcimer also goes sharp. It happens when the furnace goes off and the instrument is exposed to higher humidity. The humidity causes the wood to swell and the instruments pulls on the strings causing sharpness. I live in a different climate than you and it’s quite normal for instruments to swell in the spring. All except banjos with skin heads because the moisture causes the skin to go slack and the instrument goes flat and sometimes unplayable in extreme humidity.
My harp and hammer dulcimer go sharp in the spring…and do I ever hate to tune my hd when it’s sharp. Lots harder than when it’s flat.
I never did understand why those two instruments were the only ones that go sharp, so thanks for solving the mystery, SteveK. Though I live in a fairly dry area, we get more precip in the spring than in the winter.
My cello and fiddle stay in tune pretty well unless I’ve just changed strings.
hyldemoer, thanks for responding. I did happen to figure that out, but for some reason, turning the tuning wrench counter-clockwise to flatten the tone makes my hand/s shaky, and they stay that way for a while. Unless I’m going to perfom, I often wait till the strings go flat by themselves and then tune them the easy way.
With my harp (nylon) it tends to depend on the strings…the longer strings tend to stay in tune, but the short strings get sharp. That’s pretty logical, I think…it doesn’t take much change at all for the really short strings (my high G is only about two inches long) to gain or lose pitch, so even a modest change in the tension is going to cause major changes in the string. I always dread tuning the high strings because it only takes the tiniest movement of the tuning key, and I’m always over- and under-shooting.
Redwolf, if you are using a L shaped wrench, here is a trick to help with those tiny adjustments…
Hold the tuning wrench so that the end of it is in your palm and the wrench portion is between your fingertips. Now, think of the wrench like the hands of a clock, with the part that is on the tuning pin being the center of the clock and the leg of the wrench as the hand of the clock. What you are looking to do is swing the long end of the wrench smoothly like a clock hand.
With practice, you can get to the point where you are moving the open end of the wrench only a “minute” or two. The longer the handle, the easier it is to see (and make) these tiny movements.
This works the same way with a T handled wrench, but it isn’t as easy to describe.
This also applies to HDs and Autoharps…anything with zither pins.
In regards to the shaking hand, try going to the wrong side of the instrument and tuning with your other hand. That may help.
