David Ilvedson wrote: > If you get the ETD first you will never learn to tune without it no > matter what people say about EDTs being great teaching devices. ..I'm late on this thread, but this comment caught my eye.. David...you're kinda wrong..and hopefully, _I_ will prove you wrong this Summer when I take the Tuning Exam in Reno. breif history about myself: started working with a dealership in 1997 after 1.5 years of bi-monthly(?) trips to Atlanta to work and study with Larry Crabb. In Feb. of '97, Larry thought I was 'ready' to start earning money in the field..I inquired to a local dealership about doing some work for them, and it just so happens that they were looking for a new tech..I was hired on the spot and given a bunch of work right away, both on the floor and in customer's homes. Baptism Under Fire. ..and I felt that my aural skills were no where ready to be 'scrutinized'. Of course my feelings were correct, so I purchased a SATll to make my work more 'credible'. It was a great purchase at the time. Some customers had seen this device before and were not satisfied with the results. I assured them that this is a great tool to do our job, and would welcome any criticism once I was finished tuning...never had one complaint. ..in the meantime, working for this dealership, I would practice my aural skills while doing floor tunings. The SAT was my tutor, since my visits to Atlanta were coming to a halt, not because of my wealth of knowledge, but because my business was starting to take off and I felt I needed to be here to answer the phone. As I was getting more confidence in hearing those s l o w beating 5ths, I was starting to tune aurally on selected pianos out in the field..ones that I felt I could hear what I needed to hear and not feel scrutinized by the customer. Spinets were a welcome sight, since most of my customers that have spinets are not going to be critical of my work..more like grateful that it sounds better!..but..spinets were harder for this green roo(k) to hear those 5ths and 4ths than some of the Grands that I chose to tune aurally....i was feeling some frustration because i felt I had hit a wall in my learning process..i probably did.. and then one day..while tuning on the dealer floor, i nailed a temperament on the 1st try...this was a big confidence boost..i listened and played and re-played those 4ths, 5ths, 3rd's and 6th's till it was ad nauseum..but I needed to implant that sound in my remaining brain cell to be able to confidently open a spinet or lift the lid on a 9'er to tune aurally. The SATll sits in my tool box and is removed now for pitch raises, noisy enviroments, and unfamiliar Concert Venues (that doesn't happen too often). Am I the exception rather than the rule?..probably..I've been accused of worse. David, if you're in Reno this summer, hopefully I will be able to say to you that 'never' is not a good word to use. Let me say this publicly..I am finally prepared to 'fail' the test..which means that if I had taken the tuning test 2 years ago in Providence, I would have failed miserably because I would have been unprepared to fail..I would have been clinging to the SAT for alot longer than I have if I had taken that test back then..my confidence in my aural tunings has improved immeasurably since then. I have learned how to let the piano tell me how it wants to sound..still learning 'how', but I think I can tune aurally fairly well, with an accurate stretch both ways, and have the instrument be musical to the player..and I do mean 'player'. Confident, never cocky, roo(k)
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