Step 1: Set A4 to 440hz
Scoring:
Anything within 1 cent (between 439.75 and 440.25hz) gets 100%. Otherwise your score is
calculated as
100 - (cents_away_from_440 - 1)*10
which is to say that each 0.1 cents further away than 1 cent of 440 is 1 point off.
Step 2: Set the temperament octave F3-F4
Scoring: We first examine how much "stretch" you put in the A3-A4 octave and use that as the basis of an even-tempered "master" tune to compare your tuning to. So even if you tune another note (or notes) before A3, be extra careful about where you put A3, because that will determine what we consider the "master tuning" to be. You can decide how much stretch you want to introduce, but it must sound "ok", or points will start to be deducted. Here, we define "ok" to mean no more than 0.8 beats per second in any coincidental partials in the A3/A4 octave. This gives you a reasonably large window of more than 2 cents to work with, with A3 needing to be between 219.75 (2 cents flat of 220hz) and 220hz. This "piano" models the inharmonicity of a Steinway model A (a nice parlour sized grand piano) so you will probably want some stretch.
Once the stretch, and therefore the master tuning, is determined, each note of F3-F4 is given a number of deduction points based on its proximity to the master tuning: Within 0-0.9 cents of the master tuning will get 0 points. Within 1-1.9 cents is given 1 point. Within 2-2.9 cents is given 2 points, etc. The number of points is added up and multiplied by 2.5 and the result subtracted from 100 to obtain your score.
Step 3: See how you did
If you score less than 100 on either Step 1 or Step 2, or if it takes you longer than 10 minutes to set the temperament octave, you might benefit from using the Temper Tool's Practice Piano. And even if you get 100 on Step 2, you should really get within 0.5 cents on all notes of the temperament octave (this piano is very easy to tune).
If you are signed in, we save the tuning so that you can keep a record of how you are progressing. You can also recall the tuning, see where you went wrong, and work on improving those intervals.
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