leftie vs. rightie

[Tom Cole]

Owen J Greyling, RPT wrote:
> 
> DOES WORKING WITH THE
> RIGHT HAND ON THE TUNING HAMMER DEMAND THAT THERE MUST ALWAYS BE MORE
> FLAGPOLLING OF THE PIN IN A GRAND PIANO THEN WORKING WITH THE LEFT HAND ON A
> VERTICAL PIANO?

Owen,

Tuning a grand piano right-handed does seem to be the dominant method,
not ever having witnessed a leftie approach. Except I know one person
who tunes right-handed until he gets up somewhere in the top octave
where interference with the rim and lid stick causes him to change to
tuning left-handed. I thought I'd try this once, thinking that I'm
somewhat ambidexterous. It would be a neat way to tune when the right
side of a piano is against a wall, I thought. But, no way, it was like
starting over. I just didn't have near enough control to achieve even a
reasonable tuning. And control is what you need on those short strings!

I tune grand pianos with a long tip because I end up changing to one in
the top octave. With the tuning hammer pointing at approx 1:00, I can
minimize the flagpolling if I want (side-to-side flagpolling I don't
consider a significant factor in tuning or stability). I've also tuned
with a long tip and the hammer pointing at 2:00 or 3:00 with good
results (more overshoot and undershoot to achieve stability, though, and
therefore a problem where strings are brittle). This latter position is
a technique I use more for pitch raises than concert tunings but it's a
little easier on the anatomy. I can sit facing the keyboard whereas,
with the hammer pointing toward the tail, I need to face toward the bass
end to minimize strain.

So, I wouldn't worry about your technique. If the method you use gets
the job done well and doesn't cause back problems or repetitive stress
injuries, that's the right (or left) method. If I had my druthers, I
would tune both ways on any given piano so that stresses would be
somewhat equalized. Whenever I have my body worked on, people notice
that I'm more tense on one side than the other - more tense on the
_left_ side.

Also, I wouldn't worry about flagpolling so much. Beginners are told to
not do it, that they should only _turn_ the pin. But, in fact, we can't
help but bend it. It is important, however, to feel the differences
between, and experiment with, pin bending, turning and twisting when in
the process of setting the pin. All three factors can play a part in a
stable tuning.

Tom
-- 
Thomas A. Cole RPT
Santa Cruz, CA