Friends, Taking this conversation in a slightly different direction, I have noticed that we seem to have two schools of thought when it comes to test blows -- those who believe hard test blows are a necessary part of tuning and those who do not. I believe that in addition to our concern for stable tunings should be a concern for our own health. Which is better, to use heavy test blows and have hand-arm-shoulder problems in a short time, or to go lighter and preserve the length of time you can provide piano tuning to your clients? I rarely use heavy test blows because my tunings are stable without them. I believe good hammer technique is a more important part of the equation, although, not having done research as such, I may be wrong. It has happened before! :-) Clyde Ron Nossaman wrote: > >Dr. Ron and others, > > > >I've developed a sore thumb this past week. The pain is at the base of my > >left thumb. Being a right-handed tuner it sure makes it difficult to check > >my work with tenths as the stretch is a bit much. > > > >Has anyone in the 59 plus age group experienced this? Could it be arthritis? > > > >I had a rotater problem in my right shoulder a year ago, but it seems to > >have mended on its own. > > > >Don't tell me it's time to retire just yet. I won't even be out of debt > >until 65!! > > > >John Lillico, RPT, > >Oakville, Ontario > > Pending such time as this mysterious 59+ Dr. Ron guy shows up, I get the > same thing periodically at a mere 52. Mine tends to come on some time in > mid December, and last through April. In my case it's overenthusiastic > octave striking. If I remember to come out of auto pilot once in a while > and pay attention to varying hand position every now and then throughout > the day, and not try to hit keys too hard at full hand extension, I can > keep ahead of it. So far. At the moment, it's not a problem, but I'm > spending a lot of time in the shop this time of year, abusing different > muscles and joints, and not doing an awful lot of tuning. It's when I'm > doing 20+ a week that it starts to be a nuisance. I don't think it's > arthritis, just chronic abuse. It's something that moves from the > inconsequential, through annoying to critical as your joints age and your > immortality fades. This is where it would be handy to be able to tune with > either hand, like I will run a drill, screwdriver, hammer, chisel, or air > conditioner with either hand. It halves the concentrated abuse, and should > theoretically double your mileage. > > Other folks have resorted to strap on hardware of various sorts, > anti-inflammatories, massage, and acupuncture. Whatever helps. > > Ron N
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