tuning HT's by ear

[Charles Neuman]

When you're tuning a HT by ear, how do you expand the temperament to the
rest of the piano? You can't rely on a gradual progression of beat rates
as you can with ET.

My idea is to tune about an octave's worth of octaves from the temperament
to the next higher octave, carefully stretching each octave about the same
amount. Well, actually, as you get higher, the octaves will be a little
more active. Then take an interval from the temperament octave and make
sure it gets wider in the octave above the temperament. And same with the
other intervals. That is, I could test each interval in every octave from
the temperament up (and then down). After testing the notes in the next
higher octave, then I move up an octave and do the same. For example, if
my temperament has a pure C4-G4, then I check C5-G5 to make sure it's a
little wider than pure, and then C6-G6 to make sure it gets even wider,
etc. Then I check a different interval and continue until I'm satisfied.
Does that sound like a reasonable approach?

Another problem is: What if I want a little stretch in the temperament
octave? How do I know exactly how to distribute that stretch among the
intervals? One of the benefits of some of the strong well temperaments is
that they are very easy to tune, due to the many pure intervals. Adding
tiny amonts of stretch complicates things.

My theory is that if I focus on HT's for a while, it will make me a better
aural tuner overall. Here's how: Setting the temperament for many of the
HT's by ear is very simple compared to ET. Thus, I will focus on tuning
the other parts of the piano and my unisons. I find that when learning to
tune ET, there is so much emphasis on the temperament that there isn't
enough time and energy left to practice tuning the rest of the piano. And
that's the part I need the most practice on, I think.

Charles Neuman
PTG Associate, Long Island, NY