OFF LIST !!!!Re: Songwriters, Temperaments (*was: neurology)

[pbailey]

BTW SUSAN is a tough sell IMO; I met her at a CAL State Convention,
she likes to play Scarlatti sonatas, but she argues in favor of ET as the
only reasonable temperament. Go figure!

Of course you want to encourage me to post the Gloria Frawley  letter,
don't you? or should I be sticking with more current life material? But
she is so eloquent about her experience, in an modest way.

				PB.


On Wednesday, April 24, 2002, at 06:27 PM, A440A@AOL.COM wrote:

> Greetings,  (hell yea, this has to do with temperament).
> Susan writes:
>>> Now, pianos which are off-pitch WITH THEMSELVES do cause harm, because
> musical interval sizes are learned<snip> It's important to set up that 
> pitch
> template right in the early years.<<
>
>     I had interesting mornings yesterday and today.  Yesterday I tuned 
> one of
> my lease pianos (1892 Steinway upright, restored) to a very well known
> pop/folk artist here in Gnashville.  She has sold millions of records 
> over
> the last 30 years and I have always known that she had particularly keen
> ears.  She is also not shy about the quality of the tunings and likes 
> this
> particular piano because she grew up with one much like it.
>    After I finished, I mentioned a well-tempered sound might be useful 
> and
> invited her over to listen to one.  She said, "Ok, let's go", so we 
> came back
> and she sat down at a 1950 M in a Broadwood's "Best". This tuning has 
> some
> thirds that are 18 cents wide,  11 cents, G-B and F-A are 8 cents, and 
> the
> C-E is 7.  This is not a drastic temperament but certainly offers a 
> palette
> of harmonic values.  She was initially taken aback by the key of 
> E(18cents),
> but began pushing around, getting sorta jazzy.  It was enough, she told 
> me
> she would like  to retune the piano at her house,(and yes, she said she 
> would
> be  glad to pay for it again).
>     So,  this morning I went back and retuned.  She sat down and played 
> for
> approx. 30 seconds, stopped, and with tears in her eyes, said, "this 
> sounds
> like my mom's piano did".  She moved to the key of C and said that it 
> was the
> first time in years that she had liked the sound of C.  She then went 
> to Eb,
> thought it sounded great, tried out the Ab, said "wow, that is pretty 
> intense
> but I kinda like it,  in fact, I love the way this thing sounds.
>     The early years might have been well tempered for a lot of people 
> out
> there but we will never know unless we try the alternatives.
> Regards,
> Ed Foote
>