lessons learned

[John Ross]

Hi Clyde,
I would do the same for the little old man, that I already said I do for the
little old lady. :-)
Whether we could recognize the difference between A435 and A440, doesn't
matter, it is whether the child would notice the difference, when she went
to her teacher's piano, or whether it is played with another instrument.
Remember, a fiddle has no frets, it depends on where the ear and brain
determine the note should be, around here there are a lot of fiddle players.
I always give the customer, the choice of what they want to do, after
explaining all the possibilities. I sometimes have to raise the piano, a
tone or a tone and a half, in semi-tone steps. Sometimes strings break,
sometimes they don't. Depending on how many break determines what I do, if
too many break, I take it back to where it was, and recommend a restringing,
when they can afford it.
Everycase is different.
My original e-mail stated, I will bring it to pitch, if possible. I didn't
go through the whole story of what I do or say to the customer. Obviously, I
should have.
Best regards,
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano@win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Clyde Hollinger" <cedel@supernet.com>
To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 6:06 PM
Subject: Re: lessons learned


> John,
>
> I have long wondered how many experienced piano technicians can definitely
> tell the difference between, say, A435 and A440 without some sort of
> reference.  I wish there were some way to test this.
>
> Maybe the next time a chapter meeting happens, someone could alter the
pitch
> of A4 on a nearby piano (or leave it where it belongs, for that matter),
and
> have each person present write down on a piece of paper what they think
the
> pitch actually is.  Could be pretty revealing.  Or would there be a better
> way?
>
> What do you do, John, if it's just a little old *man* that just uses it
for
> hymns?  <G>
>
> Regards,
> Clyde
>
> John Ross wrote:
>
> > I always take them up to A440, if at all possible. Mind you, not if it
is
> > just a little old lady, that just uses it for Hymns.  I feel if a child
is
> > taking lessons, that the ear needs to hear the proper
> > pitch, for future reference.
>
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