Concert tuning stability fuse

[Hrschm@aol.com]

    I have always tuned using hard test blows but it has caused me some
ploblems.

     First It is hard on my ears . In fact my ears use to actually hurt after
a day of tuning  especially while tuning the notes in the High treble using
repeated hard blows.

    Second, I found I was much too tense while tuning , finding it hard to
relax while continuously switching back and forth between soft blows and loud
blows. I tended to tense up while stricking hard blows and found myself  with
sore tense soulders and neck at the end of the day.

   Third, I find the hard test blows hard on the nerves and I believe they
interfere with listening because I tend to want to not here such a loud sound
. It interferes with my concentration.

   Recently I have been tuning a little differently that seems to solve these
problems. I tune a section of the piano ( for example the temperment octave )
 using careful hammer technique but no test blows . In fact the quieter I
play the better because I can here the beats sooner since I do not have to
wait for the noise of the initial impact of the hammer to die down. THen,
when everything sonds just right, I put my right shoulder up to cover my
right ear and I put my left hand over my left ear and I pound each note of
the tuned section with three very hard blows. I pick the number three because
thats how many they use to test stability during the PTG tuning exam and my
blows are every bit as hard as what the examiners use.  Then if anything has
changed ( usually on the twelve notes in the temperment I will have one to
three strings that are affected ) I retune these strings and using test blows
on these strings again afterward.

   Now I can relax while tuning .   Does anyone else use a similar method .
 I whould appreciate any feedback on my newly adopted technique.