Hi John, The 10th has never been an easy one for me under the left hand. I can play it, but to repeatedly bang away with it while tuning is not comfortable or easy for me. You could try to develop an ear for some of the intervals that would fall easily under the hand. Of course, we usually start with the octave. But there are a few that can reach pretty far down into the bass if one will pay attention to what they're listening to. I'm particularly fond of 6ths myself. I've been using them as a test interval for long enough that on most pianos, I can go down well into the first octave using the 6th as a test. Same goes for the 3rd, although that one usually drops away in about the 2nd octave. Another thing you can do, if you're inclined to try it, is to tune perhaps 5 or 6 notes with the intervals under your hand, and then use both hands to test those 5 or 6 with the 10th, making note of anybody that needs tweaking and trying it again, sort of doing it in little sections. Sorry to hear about the pain in the thumb. It's no fun to feel a pain with every strike of the key. Hope it's just a temporary thing and that it'll feel better soon. Probably not much help, but I had to kick in my $0.02. Good luck John. Brian Trout Quarryville, PA btrout@desupernet.net
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC