I wonder how many of you on the list manipulate the pin vertically (on a vertical piano, that is...). Having started out with the Randy Potter course, it specifically states that the tuning hammer is not a slot machine, and no vertical movement should be used, and then tells you that the last motion to set the pin is DOWNWARD and to the left. At my recent tutoring session in Reno I was tuning A4 to match the tuning fork and began to flagpole it to zero it in, and my tutor took the tuning hammer away from me and adamantly informed me I should NEVER move the pin vertically like that. Then, of course, I watched him do the same thing! Is this something we all do, but no one will admit to it or is unaware that they are doing it? I remember back when I started with that Randy Potter course going to the Cultural Arts Center in Chicago and coming across a tuner working on a piano. It seemed all of his motions were vertical! This was taboo according to Potter! Yet here he was, tuning a piano for the Cultural Arts Center---he must be good, I figured! The only man I know who not only admits to flagpoling, but teaches it is Nick Kircher, a local RPT, who taught me that vertical manipulation of the pin helps to render the string and also helps to find a good "resting point" for the pin. Since using this tecnique I have found my tunings to be very stable. I also find it easier to make subtle changes of pitch as I zero in on a good unison with this technique than actually turning the pin. I generally get the pitch slightly sharp (by turning the pin) and then flagpole it even sharper, then relaxing it downward to its resting point. To be stable the pin must rest not high nor low, but comfortably in the middle of that vertical range. I do use it less on grands than verticals, but it still works well in the upper register. (The only piano I have come across that this technique will not work at all is the Steinway upright.) Flame me if you will, but I confess: I flagpole and I believe it helps me achieve a more stable tuning. Any comments? Tom Sivak
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