Wim wrote; <<" (If the student doesn't even have a basic understanding of music theory, then I wouldn't even teach him/her tuning.)">> Gee Wim I'm glad Uncle Smitty didn't feel like this or I would never have been a tuner. :-) As to the original question....well it ain't as easy as y'all been saying. As Ed said "Hammer technique" is important but you can't have technique without knowing what you need it for, what it does, and why you are doing it......can you? Tuning unisons is important as this teaches beat rates kinda automatically, as well as what happens when you pull strings sharper or push them flatter...doesn't it? "Tuning theory" is also important but it does not make much sense if you don't know what the words mean and the only way to find out what the words mean is to do it....isn't it? The first thing that should be ascertained is whether or not the person wanting to learn tuning can actually hear "beats" and if they can...great! Then you can start feeding in a little information at a time as the student becomes comfortable with each new bit of information you have given them. You can't do one without the other I suppose is what I am trying to say. A 'good' "hammer technique can be helped along by the teacher not allowing the student to tune in an unacceptable manner but....... the students technique will be developed by the student after being given guidance from the teacher. This "technique" will change constantly over time and after several years in the business will reach a happy medium...hopefully. A semi-fully matured hammer technique 'probably' will not look anything like the teachers after this period. While the requirements of stability are the same for every tuner the road to that stability ain't needfully the same. I forget how the list was presented...but tuning can be taught without "tuning theory" or a basic knowledge of "music theory". It can be taught without "good hammer technique"...it will be frustrating but it can be taught. Tuning cannot be taught without hearing the beats, interval and unison, so that is where I would start. Gradually the other ingredients can be worked in to supplement the learning and provide a broader base upon which to build............Learning to tune is kinda like sitting on one end of a road and trying to figure out what the other end is like without going there...so perhaps the best way is to just start and along the way pick up the information needed to reach the other end........Isn't that what we all do when we sit down to tune a piano? My thoughts. JIm Bryant (FL)
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