Unison Theory Lesson 1

Beating Unison Partials

There are many levels to understanding what a clean unison sounds like. The first level involves understanding that each string produces multiple frequencies, part of the partial series, and if those frequencies are not equal, there will be beating.

The biggest problem with tuning for beginners is that they do not hear any beating partials and, therefore, think the unison is clean. You have to learn to hear the beating partials, or your unisons will never be close to clean.

Click the following links before watching the video if you do not understand these concepts.

The Harmonic Series
Do you know the pattern of frequencies and intervals produced above all vibrating strings? If not watch this video:
The Harmonic Series

Beats
Do you understand how different frequencies produce beating?
If not watch this video:
What are Beats

Partials
Do you understand that unison partials need to line up?
If not, go to this page:
What Are In-Tune Unisons?

Bad Unisons
Do you know what a bad unison sounds like?
If not, go to this page:
What Does a Bad Unison Sound Like
(You will get to tune your own virtual unisons online in the unison exercises at the end of this course)

Now, you will be able to see and hear the beating partials in the video below and understand what they are, what causes them, and why we don't want beating partials in our unisons. The only thing left to do now is learn to hear them.

How SoundBeam Works

Using SoundBeam to SEE Unsions Beating