Tuner tunes

[RustRazor@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 12/30/00 1:56:37 AM Eastern Standard Time, Jim writes:

<< 
One day after  playing the C Maj. the lady of the house entered and said: 
"Oh, do you  play? I felt a little put down at the time, I thought I played 
pretty well,
 but now that I think about it, maybe she had something else in mind. 
>>

She might have meant "Do you play professionally or for parties?"  I do and 
have played parties for several of my clients.  Music and piano tuning 
compliment each other as occpations that way.  Teaching piano would work that 
way as well, but I can't be bothered to teach...it doesn't pay enough.

Jim also said:

<<
 
 Here's one which I found in a piano tuning instruction book many years ago.
 Play a C octave with left hand and E, G, Bb in the right hand. As the bass 
 changes downward by 3 separate half steps, raise the top note one half 
 step at a time for 3 changes. Then raise the middle note for three half 
 step changes as the Bass continues to go down by 3 more separate half 
 steps. Then raise the lower note of the right hand a half step at a time 
 for 3 changes. As the Bass keeps lowering by half steps, you can repeat 
 the right hand changes starting over again with changes of the top note.
 Keep doing this until you run out of keys and you will have checked out 
 the whole piano.
  >>

That routine is called the omnibus.  It goes back to around the time of 
Chopin and Beethoven.  Actually I believe it may have been created by one of 
them.  The way I learned it was to start with an E minor traid with the right 
hand and B octave with the left and proceed as you describe above.

Matt in NY