I would definitely agree that anyone who plays an instrument should learn to tune to a single pitch standard, and tuning forks are much more stable than most "reed" pitchpipes, or many of the other alternatives. Many people will always prefer to tune by ear. Some of us just can't do it as well as we'd like to.

I'm not sure I'm quite as confident in the reliability of tuning forks (of the kind usually used) as some seem to be. I've used a fair number of them, and usually they're quite accurate when new, but no matter how carefully you care for them, they seem to "wander" after a while.

Two A-440Hz forks that were "perfectly matched" when I got them (a pair, one for each case) now "beat" at about 15 or 20 Hz when you put them together. Since they were "identical," one would suspect that they'd "drift" in the same direction, so the 15 Hz is probably not the error - but the difference in error of the two. I don't have a "lab grade" setup to test them against "absolute" standards, but my impression is that both have gone "flat," but one is 15 Hz (approximately) "flatter" (or maybe less flat) than the other.

Actually, either is still close enough to be quite usable, but it is obvious that at least one, and probably both, are a little "off absolute" accuracy.

Many of the "better" tuners now will sound a tone, usually A-440Hz, and are actually quite good at maintaining calibration. They are probably more "reliable," if you're looking for "always get the same 440 Hz" than most tuning forks, and possibly less susceptible to damage that affects the "accuracy" of the reference tone. They are a little more bulky than the forks usually seen, but are often smaller than the "laboratory" forks you would need to use for comparable accuracy. (And much smaller than the box you'd want to keep a "lab" fork in.) You do have to replace/charge the batteries every year or so in an electronic tuner.

With a little step up on the price scale, you can get electronic tuners that will sound any single note you select. And the note sustains until you're done tuning and turn it off.

At the top of the line, you can get a tuner that detects the note you are playing and sounds the nearest "in tune" note for you to tune to by ear, if you prefer not to fight with the needle. In this class, you also get a choice of tuning to the usual equal-tempered scale, to the just scale for whatever specific key you select, or sometimes to as many as a half-dozen other "temperaments." (And I have no idea why anyone would want one of thees "other temperaments, but it's there.)

The bottom line, though, is if it sounds good to you you're in tune. If it doesn't sound good to those you play with, they probably aren't (in tune with you, at least). It is, after all, about the music - not a laboratory experiment.

John