Any key · tuned pure · tanpura
Drone tones for practising in tune
Pick a key, then add the fifth or a pure chord. Keeps playing while you practise.
How to use it
- Pick the key at the top, then the key note alone, the fifth, or a major or minor chord, and tap Play. Change anything while it plays and it follows.
- Sing a long note over it and listen: out of tune you hear a slow wobble, in tune it goes still. Pick the barbershop seventh in More, then switch Equal to Pure under the key: the wobble stops and the chord locks.
How to practise with a drone
Long notes first: sing or play the drone's own note and hold it until the wobble disappears. Then a slow scale, stopping on every note, listening for each to settle. Then intervals over the key note: the fifth, the fourth, the thirds, the sixths.
Little and often works best: the drone is training your ear to hear in tune, not just your voice or fingers.
Pure and equal tuning, in cents
A cent is a hundredth of a semitone, and a piano spaces every semitone equally, so its intervals are whole hundreds: a fifth is 700 cents, a major third 400. A drone's pure intervals are the simple ratios its overtones line up on, and some sit noticeably off the piano's. A pure fifth is 701.96 cents and a pure major third 386.31; the table says how far each pure interval sits from the piano's.
| Interval | Ratio | Pure, against the piano |
|---|---|---|
| Octave | 2:1 | The same |
| Fifth | 3:2 | 1.96 cents wider |
| Fourth | 4:3 | 1.96 cents narrower |
| Major third | 5:4 | 13.69 cents lower |
| Minor third | 6:5 | 15.64 cents higher |
| Barbershop 7th | 7:4 | 31.17 cents lower |
Drones for singers, and for strings
For singers: put the key note in your own octave and sing over it. A pure chord shows you where your note belongs in harmony, the barbershop seventh most of all.
For strings and winds: a drone on the key note, or the key note and fifth, lets you hear your intonation in every note of a scale, with no tuner needle to watch.
Free tools by Stackapella
A drone holds one note. Now sing a part against three.
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Questions
What is a drone in music?
A long, steady note, or a few, held under the music, like a bagpipe's drones or the tanpura in Indian music. Practising against one gives your ear a fixed reference to measure every note by.
How do you practise with a drone?
Start with long notes on the drone's own note. Then sing or play a scale slowly, stopping on each note until it settles against the drone. Then try intervals: the fifth, the third, the octave.
Which note should the drone play?
Usually the key's home note, the first note of its scale: pick the song's key here. Add the fifth for a fuller sound that still doesn't say major or minor.
Why do some notes sound off against the drone even when a tuner says they're right?
A tuner measures equal temperament, the piano's tuning. Against a steady drone your ear wants pure intervals: a major third about 14 cents lower than the piano's, a fifth 2 cents wider. Switch between Pure and Equal to hear it.
What are beats, and why do they matter?
Two notes that are nearly the same wobble against each other, faster the further apart they are. That wobble is beating. When it slows and stops, you're in tune with the drone.
Which drone is best for violin, viola or cello practice?
The key note, or the key note and its fifth, in a low octave: step the octave down for cello. A pure fifth is how strings tuned in fifths ring, so it's a good partner for double stops.
Can I sing with a drone?
Yes, it's made for singers. Put the key note where your voice sits, sing long notes over it and listen for the wobble to settle. Then try the chords and find your note in them.
What is the barbershop seventh, and why does it ring?
A chord tuned 4:5:6:7 over its key note. Its seventh sits 31 cents under the piano's, and that low seventh lines its overtones up with the others, so the chord rings. It's under More chords.
What is the tanpura?
The drone of Indian classical music: four strings plucked in turn round the singer's key note, called Sa. Here it plays Pa (the fifth, below), the key note twice, and the key note an octave down. Under More, the first string can be Ma or Ni instead.
Can it keep playing while I use another app or lock the screen?
It keeps playing in another tab, and the phone's media controls can pause it. On an iPhone, Safari stops a web page's sound when the screen locks or you switch apps, and Android may do the same to save battery. So while it plays, the drone keeps your screen on (switch that off under More).
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