Intonation practice CD and instructions

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 19 Jul 2004 7:06 am

I have been using a CD of single note and beatless chord drones to practice intonation. It works great for me and any students that have used it.

I can send you one along with instructions for $10.00.
Overseas $12.00
No charge for shipping.

I take paypal or checks.

Send me an E mail if you want to pay by Paypal and I'll send you a money request.

Bob Hoffnar
160 Coffey st
Brooklyn, NY
11231

thanks, Bob[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 13 December 2005 at 07:50 PM.]

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 19 Jul 2004 4:18 pm

Hey good going Bob; If folks would use this from you to practice their intonation and ear, then actually there would be NO MORE of the long "Tuning" Threads....ha.
Ricky

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 19 Jul 2004 9:52 pm

Ricky,
Thanks for the bump. The chords I have recorded are absolutely beatless which for me is good practice for recording work. You can hear how every note can interact in a cluttered track. Plus that idea of yours to practice along to a single note drone while thinking of it as a 3rd or a 7th or whatever is a great workout.

Just so you guys know this is not a way to learn how to play in just intonation, play fast or crafty. Its just a way to learn how to focus your hearing so you can play in tune along to whatever gets tossed at you.

Bob[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 20 July 2004 at 01:27 PM.]

Garry Vanderlinde · Post by **Garry Vanderlinde** » 20 Jul 2004 4:26 am

This sounds like a good way to cut down on my suck factor. [This message was edited by Garry Vanderlinde on 22 July 2004 at 06:24 AM.]

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 20 Jul 2004 10:59 am

If anybody is interested and doesn't want to deal with paypal regular old mail and personal checks are fine also.

thanks, Bob

Gerald Menke · Post by **Gerald Menke** » 21 Jul 2004 12:21 pm

Bob gave me a beta version of his drone practice CD and it has been a huge help. Imagine a CD that does for your intonation what a metronome, drum machine or AdrenaLinn does for your timing, and that's what you've got here. Will make a huge difference in our intonation, believe me, I noticed a difference just after a few sessions of playing through the whole CD of drone tones. Made recording sessions a pleasure instead of cause for trepdation. Worry about your ideas instead of your intonation, try Bob's CD.

G

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 21 Jul 2004 12:33 pm

Here is an E mail I got from Ricky Davis:
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Bob that is great man;
I understand it perfectly and would be very excited to practice it(If I
didn't already that is..ha.).
Unfortunately Most Steel players haven't a clue on this technique in
hearing intonation as none of the major teachers ie:
Emmons;Franklin;Wallace;Newman..etc. teach this; so it is not the norm and
you know how folks stay away from the norm..ha.
But you and I know the MAJOR importance of this and the EXTREAME
improvement it has given us; as it was passed along to me from Gary
Carpenter and you and I both know Carp plays more in tune than possibly
anyone we've ever heard..ha...
I was very fortunate that Carp helped me with this Technique and I hope that
many others will take on your challenge/teaching aid to further their
technique.
Good luck my Brother and folks may not realize right now, that what your
offering is the MOST important advancement of improving their playing the
Steel Guitar.

Bob you can quote me on any or all of this if you like.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks Ricky !

Bob

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 21 Jul 2004 12:43 pm

Bob--for the record, I was already in, even without the testimonials. Burn me one. I gotta run but I'll get in touch. And I don't want none of that Beta stuff your passing off to Gerald. Nuthin but primo for me, thank you.

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 24 Jul 2004 5:56 am

Hey Bob--email me your paypal handle so I can send you the $$. I'll arrange for getting hold of the CD some time (don't spend $$ on shipping).

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 24 Jul 2004 8:43 am

bump[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 02 November 2004 at 08:23 AM.]

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 26 Jul 2004 12:18 pm

I sent a batch out today. You guys that ordered one let me know if it helps. If you have any questions get in touch.
BTW: the instructions are inside the CD insert.

thanks, Bob

Ron Bednar · Post by **Ron Bednar** » 26 Jul 2004 7:16 pm

Bob, it sounds good but I am not sure I understand completely what the CD does. For instance, what tuning is it geared to? Can I use it if I am tuning to open D?

Thanks,
Ron

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 27 Jul 2004 3:29 am

Its not geared towards any particular tuning. Whatever tuning you use will work fine. Its just a series of long droning notes that you practice very very slowly along to while listening to hear if the notes you are playing create beats or sound out of tune.

Its a way to train your ears to hear into the tonal center of what you are playing along with and then adjust to on the fly.

The droning chords are great because you can easily hear how each note in the scale can be in tune or out of tune if you play slowly enough and learn how to listen. Its like being able to tune with harmonics (you know that beating sound that gets slower the closer to pitch you get) to every note in a scale.

Bob[This message was edited by Bob Hoffnar on 27 July 2004 at 04:34 AM.]

Lawrence Lupkin · Post by **Lawrence Lupkin** » 27 Jul 2004 12:05 pm

A Beatless Bump for Bob.

I'll have to come over and check it out for myself this weekend. Too bad I already have perfect pitch.

Does that mean I can stand up in a canoe without falling over?

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 29 Jul 2004 8:57 pm

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 30 Jul 2004 12:03 pm

Hey Bob--I've had possession of this for a few days now but haven't had the chance to work with it. Long ago I intended to make something like this to work against. Just another 'to do' thing on the ever-growing list. This will work out great for me. Thanks.
But I keep expecting Phillip Glass to walk thru the door......

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 3 Aug 2004 8:35 am

Any reports or questions out there from the guys that got one ?

Bob

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 4 Aug 2004 9:36 pm

I've got a pile of them left if anybody still wants one.

Thanks, Bob

John McGann · Post by **John McGann** » 6 Aug 2004 1:29 pm

So simple, but so useful! You can use the drone as a root, or as a different chord tone, or as a "color" tone. The single notes are great, as you have the most flexibility of what you play against them. The Amazing Slowdowner lets you drop them an octave to get the lower pitch so play against which is also good for the E9 neck (could get a little muddy on C6)...Thanks Bob!

------------------
http://www.johnmcgann.com
Info for musicians, transcribers, technique tips and fun stuff.

Jon Light · Post by **Jon Light** » 7 Aug 2004 8:15 am

I haven't paid much attention to instructions or disciplined practice routines with this but just putting it on and playing long tone unisons, intervals, harmonized intervals, triads, etc. becomes very intensive. I'm coming away somewhat fatigued and very confident that I have put in some very worthwhile time. I'm not looking for results; I'm just knowing that working with this will yield better ears, better intonation. It's a no-brainer. Which makes me a perfect candidate.

Gerald Menke · Post by **Gerald Menke** » 10 Aug 2004 11:20 am

I had a session Sunday which involved the following: playing steel to a track that the guitarist had played using a capo on an open tuned 12 string Taylor, some of the chords WAAAAAY above the 12th fret. With a slide. Not tuned to 440. This tested my ability to play in tune like no other session I have ever done, I all but had to look somewhere other than the neck as the fret markers were just adding to the mayhem. I am pretty sure that had I gone into this session without practicing with the drones, I would have been sent home after the first few passes.

Thanks Bob, for not keeping this one under your hat.

Gerald

Ricky Davis · Post by **Ricky Davis** » 10 Aug 2004 9:51 pm

Gerald that is a great great testimony right there on how invaluable this technique is. And Absolutely; you would have been shown the door if you had not the opportunity to work on this excerise. There is no way anyone could have pulled that off unless they have worked on intonation to a fixed pitch and I don't care who it is.
Good for you man....I know your a believer now.
And good for you Bob for putting this out there for the folks to grab hold of and better their playing "10-fold".
I guess my testimonial comes after years of studio work and many many sessions of: "Hey Ricky try that again; sounds like it was a little pitchy in that one spot"..and of course I'd eventually get it right; but I wanted better. I wanted to go into a session and the word "Pitchy" NEVER EVER come up or out of the mouth of the producer; so we can just concentrate on the music and ideas. Ever since Gary Carpenter opened the door to perfecting my pitch and hearing intonation; through the work of playing along with a fixed single tone, I have yet to hear the word "pitchy" in any sessions in the last several years..yeeehaaaa.....and that's on 14 master commercial recording sessions and 25 different artist Cd's. I guess this all sounds like I'm saying I'm all that and stuff..ha....>but really I'm not...>I'm saying that I had a goal in mind and someone helped me learn how to reach that goal; and this is exactly what Bob Hoffner is offering up.

Ricky

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 11 Aug 2004 6:08 am

Ricky and Gerald,
Yea, it was the same for me at sessions with the pitchy thing. After spending 5 minutes overdubing a freakin whole step single note gliss a few years ago I started looking for ways to improve my pitch perception. I decided that Indian musicians have the best intonation of anybody on the planet so I started experimenting with drones. Its been a big help. I'm still not perfect but I'm alot better than I was.
Now I can tell who is out on the track and ignore it if I need to. And more importantly listen to the overall mass of notes coming my way and find a tonal center to hook into. I used to get my pitch from the bass but that doesn't always work.

Thanks for the feedback guys. Keep it coming.

Bob

Bob Hoffnar · Post by **Bob Hoffnar** » 14 Aug 2004 3:47 pm

Jim Marconi · Post by **Jim Marconi** » 15 Aug 2004 10:51 am

Hi Bob....can you please email your paypal info so I can buy one of your CD's..
Kind Regards
Jim