Effects of Stimulus Type, Distance, and Instrument on High School Students’ Open String Tuning

High school string orchestra students (N = 139) were measured on their ability to tune their instruments’ open A-string in response to either a pure tone stimulus or a complex tone stimulus within a classroom setting. Proximity to the stimuli and possible differences between string instrument types were also tested. No significant difference was found between the two types of stimuli. Significant differences were found on the variable of distance, however, a significant interaction between distance and instrument type was also found. Graphic analysis showed that the poor tuning of cellists who were farthest away from the tuning source accounted for the differences found for the effect of distance. Implications for tuning string instruments and suggestions for classroom application, particularly for cello and double bass are discussed.