Fred writes:
<< When I ask about playing with piano, most commonly the discussion
begins with a grimace on their part. "Nothing one can possibly do to
the tuning of a piano will make it easy to play with, because it is
fixed pitch." I ask whether some alternate tuning might be better than
ET. The consensus seems to be that the piano should be in ET, because
all students are taught to match to ET the best they can. If it is
something else that is significantly different, they will have to make
adjustments more or less "in the dark," unless they actually practice
with, say, Valotti on a regular basis (as many Baroque musicians today
do). >>
My experience with Peter Sheppard Skaerved is exactly the opposite.
Last year, in performance here, his accompanist chose a piano that was in a
Coleman tuning, (which varies the thirds by a considerable amount). They were
playing a piano/violin concerto by Carl Maria Von Weber. It was an intonational
tour de force, with shared melodies, arpeggio's heading in all directions,
large piano chords with the violin weaving all around them, many keys, etc.
They were unaware the piano wasn't tuned any differently than any other.
After the performance, when I asked for a critique of the tuning, he told me
that for the first time in his life, "the overtones were perfectly lined up".
I told him that it was not in ET and he said he didn't care what it was, but
that he wished all pianos were tuned like that.
I think string players in general have an easier time with a piano that is
tuned so that there is a tonal center,(ET has none).
Regards,
Ed Foote RPT
http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html
www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html
<BR><BR><BR>**************<BR>A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. See yours
in just 2 easy steps!
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1215855013x1201028747/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26h
mpgID=62%26bcd=DecemailfooterNO62)</HTML>
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC