In a message dated 1/9/01 2:47:48 AM Central Standard Time, drose@dlcwest.com writes: << My reason for placing hammer technique last is that it is the hardest to learn. It takes the most practise. And no one quite agrees with anyone else about *what* is happening. Further, what works on one piano may *not* work on another of the same make and model (and age). My reason for placing basic tuning theory first is that without understanding what you are trying to do you are reduced to *guessing*. A simple example. If you tried to get to my house from yours you would need some idea of where I live first. On the other hand, if you were *already* at my house, you would have little difficulty finding your way to your own home. Hearing beats is essential if you wish to tune unisons, so it must come before unisons. >> Don: In relation to where you live, and hammer technique, I use this analogy. Knowing hammer technique is like knowing how to drive. You can tell me where you, and how to get there, but if I don't know how to drive, I don't have the means to get to your house. (or you can use the analogy of knowing how to walk). As far as hearing beats, the easiest way to hear beats is on a unison. Hearing beats between intervals is very difficult, especially when one doesn't know what a beat is. And, again, using what you said, every piano will produce different kinds of beats in an interval that will interfere with the beats you are trying to hear. Often times when I was teaching my wife to tune, she kept hearing what she referred too as "beats behind the beats." I though she was talking about false beats, but she knew what they were. She was hearing beat patterns created by other partials. Beats that I was ignoring, but she was hearing. And is some case, hearing louder than the beats she was supposed to hear. Willem
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