Well said Jim. Keeping in shape requires frequent practice for anything we do. I have often said I practice tuning as a doctor practices medicine. After many many years of tuning without an SAT, now that I have one I spend a lot of my tuning time checking it by ear and often (but not always) find that my eyes were not as accurate as they should have been. What really slows me down is when my ear says the note should be flatter than the SAT does, and after checking octaves, forths, fifths and 3rd sequences I leave it where my ear says to. One thing that bothers me about the SAT, FAC tunings is that the beat rates of the 3rds and 6ths start out faster in the temperament octave than my aural tuning, and some of the 4ths have a tad more beat than I prefer. I must admit I have not studied or analyzed the difference, such as spending time on my own Steinway S, to try to understand the reason for the difference. For now I yield to the SAT for the temperament and have had no complaints, nor do I expect any, because the 4ths and 5ths sound as good as mine and slight differences are found only with very close listening. And to the Nichols, not funny. Sad at times but not funny. Our public school has an outstanding string program starting in the 5th grade( but facing Mr. Hollands Opus problems). Recently went to the annual All Orchestra Annual Review. Over 400 kids, 5th thru 12th. Amazing how good a large bunch of 5th graders can sound after a few months training. The senior high orchestra (about 80 I think; 15 cellos, 14 1st violins, etc. were a thrill to hear. They took the sweepstakes at a contest in Atlanta, last year. Band and choral did the same at their contests. With a great program that means so much to so many it is a constant fight with present school administration who take every opportunity to cut the program. Constant tension, and sad. Travis Gordy Jim wrote: > > Hi Jim: > > I just have to confess. I am a violin player also. The thing that bugs me > most these days is how difficult it is to play in tune. One would think > a piano tuner would do better. I have discovered however, that when I > do not play every day, my intonation suffers. Hmmm . .. I wonder if my > tuning alo suffers if I don't tune every day. Well, thankfully, I have > my SAT. But, I notice also that if I don't tune every day my eyes can become > careless and my ears will pickup on it and cry for correction or more > precision in stopping the dots. It's nice how beautifully the two work > together even when I'm not at my best.
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