調律 and 音階: Tuning a Piano and Playing a Scale
Compare tuning before a concert and time spent on an old instrument with slowly playing a basic scale and a bright-sounding scale in one piece. Distinguish the work from the musical element.
Who tuned the instrument and when
調律 (ちょうりつ) means tuning. 「演奏会の前に専門家がピアノを調律した。」 — “A specialist tuned the piano before the concert.” The specialist is the person who tuned the piano, and the tuning occurred before the concert.
「古い楽器の調律には時間がかかった。」 — “Tuning the old instrument took time.” The sentence says that tuning the old instrument took time. It gives no number of minutes or hours and does not describe completed repairs to every instrument.
A scale played and a scale heard in a piece
音階 (おんかい) means a musical scale. 「ピアノで基本の音階をゆっくり弾いた。」 — “I slowly played a basic scale on the piano.” A basic scale was slowly played on the piano. Keep the scale as the played object distinct from the specialist's tuning work.
「この曲には明るく聞こえる音階が使われている。」 — “This piece uses a scale that sounds bright.” The bright-sounding scale is used in this piece. No particular scale is named, so the sentence does not identify it as major or minor or assign a fixed emotional effect to every scale.
Tuning work and a musical element
The 調律 examples focus on a specialist's work and the time spent tuning. The 音階 examples focus on the basic scale played and the bright-sounding scale used in a particular piece.
調律した describes tuning the instrument, while 音階を弾いた describes playing the scale. Keep the before-concert order separate from completion of the concert, and distinguish work, played object, and the impression within this piece.
What actions appear in 「専門家がピアノを調律した」 and 「基本の音階をゆっくり弾いた」?
Show the answer and why
The first describes a specialist tuning the piano; the second describes slowly playing a basic scale. The tuning took place before the concert without saying that the concert had finished. Playing a scale or hearing it as bright is distinct from the tuning work.