re inventing the wheel again

[Richard Brekne]

Nice post Robin .. Here here !!... but just a point of grammar... the word is
aurally... not orally.. God.. think about that... Orally tuning a piano... BIG
GRIN..

Robin Stevens wrote:

> I have been reading the digest for the last 6 months and I am amazed the
> amount of crap I am reading from the "learner Tuners" re tuning scopes Etc.
> Firstly I must state I am a self employed Piano Tuner of 42 years with a
> very good business and a vast amount of experience in the REAL WORLD.
> I am  very much in favour of using Scopes Etc. BUT I must stress you can not
> base your tuning business on the results of viewing the results of a scope.
> I would like to list what I think is the order of importance
> 1.  Practice tuning unisons by EAR until the three strings sound as one AND
> DO NOT proceed until this is achieved.
> 2 Learn the basic principles of setting the scale or Bearings or what ever
> you
> Yanks call the foundation of your tunings.
> Once that you are happy with your settings of the initial octave then
> practice just copying what you have set through the range of the piano.
> 3. Learn to be very aware by EAR of "not nice sounding intervals"
> At this stage of your learning you will be THAT FAR AHEAD of what the
> average customer can hear it will surprise you.
> I have tuned pianos orally  for 30 years, but the last 12 years I have used
> a Yamaha PT100 for the following reasons.
>     1 All piano tuners loose their upper frequency range with age.
>     2 I tune 5 or six pianos a day and I find that using the scope where I
> only listen to one note at a time
>        is less tiring on the ear.
>     3 Unless you master or have a basic feel for oral tuning you will for
> ever be in the control of the designers of these super scopes which have
> seemed to convince you that you need to upgrade at a frequency that would
> make Bill Gates envious.
>     4 Remember that the customer in the REAL WORLD  is calling you for one
> of the following reasons.
>             1 They have just received the piano from Grandma (has not been
> tuned for the last 30 years)
>             2 they have just moved the piano from across the room ( told it
> must be tuned when moved)
>             3 Sounds terrible ( putting the trip to the Rubbish tip off for
> another year)
>             4  Note or notes not working ( If you are not confident re
> faulty or  non playing notes start to get
>                 worried because this is the main reason for them calling
> you.
>             5 Lastly there is a very small group of piano owners who follow
> the Makers instructions and
>                have them tuned regularly ( this group very well catered for
> by the established Tuners)
> Finally remember that all is not doom and gloom
>              Remember what ever tuning result you present to your 1st or
> 100th customer,if you have the
>              true love and devotion to this noble craft, your interest in
> the Customers piano will not fail to be
>              noticed.
>  Customer skills are far more important (and pay more) than any desire to
> tune to a accuracy of 10 decimal places
> Robin stevens
> South Australia

--
Richard Brekne
Associate PTG, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway