Tune a Harpsichord by Ear! (Meantone)

This happens to all of us: We find ourselves at a harpsichord that’s terribly out of tune and we have only a tuning hammer and 30 minutes to fix it. (This didn’t happen to you? Trust me: It will!) In this quick tutorial I show you how to tune a harpsichord by ear, first covering the basics of tuning and then providing you with a step-by-step guide. For today’s video I chose the meantone temperament, as I wanted to play some 16th century repertoire, but you can apply this technique to the temperament of your choice. I am a conductor and ensemble leader based in Basel, Switzerland. I’m currently studying Generalbass at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. My instrument is a double manual harpsichord built in 1992 by Martin Skowroneck (Germany) after a Franco Flamish model. My website: 00:00 Intro 00:15 Basics 02:35 Pitch & Temperament 04:13 Tune fifths down 08:57 Tune fifths up 11:09 Tune remaining keys