I’m still working on getting the hang of tuning by ear with a tuning fork.  Part of me wants to just get an electronic tuner so I can just see if I’m in tune or not.  However that is something you should avoid, as it will only hurt you in the long run.  This is even more important if you plan on playing with anyone else in the near future, and being able to play in tune with them.  Your not going to pull out your little electronic tuner and tell everyone to hold on while you make sure it is right, and then inform them if they are or not as well.  That is just unrealistic.

So, what is a good way to get better at tuning?  Stephen Howard provides the following suggestions.

“Almost any kind of playing is going to be helpful when it comes to tuning, but one of the most useful things to do is concentrate on octave jumps.  The reason for this is that this is the easiest interval over which to hear tuning problems – and the way in which you do this is to both sing and play the jump.  Take a tune like ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ – this starts with an octave jump. You start by playing the root note on the sax – then you stop and sing the opening phrase. You then play it on the horn.  This teaches you to pitch notes with your voice – because being able to hear an interval in your head is more than half of being able to play one in tune.  You follow this up by playing the major scale from root to octave and back again on the horn. This helps to improve your knowledge of scales and also to maintain the tuning and you move up and down the instrument.  You can follow this up with major arpeggios.

Pretty much any book of exercises will help, but I find it easier to play tunes – slow ballads and the like. The reason being that you’re more likely to be familiar with a tune than an exercises, and it’s a lot easier to hear when the tuning is out.”

I like the idea of playing tunes myself as well, as it just is more enjoyable to begin with, and at the end, you’ll have a number of songs you’ll have learned you can play for others and play just for your own satisfaction.