The Tuning Details window is opened by the Tuning Details button in the Instrument page, which is enabled only where you are working with a non-standard instrument, or a custom tuning for a standard instrument.
The Tuning Details window allows you to specify individual pitches for the strings of your instrument.
If your instrument is a dual-string instrument (such as a mandolin or 12-string guitar) you can also view or modify how the strings of each course are tuned relative to each other.
Each string (or each course, for a dual-string instrument) occupies a row in the Tuning Details window.
The lowest pitched string (Bass) and the highest pitched string (Treble) are marked with special indicators on the right hand side, to help you identify which is which. These label may change if you update the pitches of any strings.
The strings (or courses) are numbered in sequence starting with the string that is closest to the ground when you hold the instrument. This confuses some people, because it is opposite to the direction of a normal downstrum.
For example, the bass string on a standard guitar is the 6th, and the bass course of a mandolin is the 4th. The highest pitched string of both of these is the 1st string.
Controls
Pitch
There is a column of dropdown lists, one for each string. Each Pitch list contains all the possible pitches that the string could be tuned to.
These pitches use a note and an octave number to identify them, where C5=Middle C. For an explanation of this notation, see The Octave of a Note in Tutorials View.
For examples of the pitches used in real instruments, see standard instruments.
Dual
If your instrument is dual-string, you will see an additional column of dropdown lists to the right of the Pitch lists, with a column heading of Dual.
These Dual controls are enabled only for a custom instrument type. They are read-only with a standard instrument type in a custom tuning.
The strings on dual-string instruments appear in pairs, or courses. Each pair is tuned to the same note, but depending on the instrument, they may not have the same pitch.
You can specify whether the strings in each course are tuned in Unison (to the same pitch) or whether one string is tuned an Octave higher than the specified Pitch.
Often, there is a combination of Unison and Octave courses on the same instrument. For example, with the 12-string guitar and mandolin, the bass courses tend to be tuned in octaves, while the treble courses tend to be tuned in unison.
These settings will not affect any analysis that ChordWizard does on the instrument (since the same note is present on both strings of a course anyway).
However, they do affect the sound of chordshapes and scale positions, and the appearance of the strings on the fretboard of each view in the workspace.
Octave Strings First
If your instrument is a custom dual-string model, this option will also appear.
It specifies, for courses tuned in Octaves, whether the higher pitched string appears first (towards the highest numbered course) on the fretboard.
This is a subtle distinction, but it does vary between instruments. For example, the bass strings of the mandolin put the non-octave strings first so they do not drown out the octave strings in a strum.
On the other hand, the 12-string guitar, with thicker bass strings, puts the octave strings first so the thumb does not catch on the non-octave strings, causing it to skip over the octave strings in a strum.
Play Instrument
Plays the open strings of the current tuning one at a time, so you can check your settings for correctness.
Note that once you have finished here, you can tune your actual instrument from ChordWizard with the Tuner tool.
OK
Accepts any changes you have made to the tuning, closes the Tuning Details window and returns to the Instrument page.
Cancel
Closes the Tuning Details window and returns to the Instrument page without making any changes to the tuning.
Help
Opens ChordWizard Help at this topic.
See Also
