---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment In a message dated 3/12/05 4:05:24 AM, tune4u@earthlink.net (who didn't sign= =20 a name to his post) writes: > The very common march tempo of mm=3D120=A0will let=A0you count 4 beats per= =20 > metronome tick, which is 8bps,=A0and it's easy to get that rate into your=20= noodle=20 > storage space. >=20 >=20 This is simply not true.=A0 I conducted professional musical theater=20 productions for 25 years before becoming a tuner.=A0 For 20 years I set the=20= tempi in my=20 head for each song. (The goal being to play the same tempo every night.)=A0=20= I was=20 known for my accuracy and consistency here in Chicago.=A0 Then, in the 1990s= I=20 became involved in computer sequencing of live shows.=A0 At this point, I wa= s=20 CERTAIN that the tempi were the same night after night because the computer=20= set=20 the tempi. Let me tell you: some nights that thing seemed=A0=A0=A0 S=A0 O=A0=A0=A0=A0= =A0=A0 S=A0=A0 L=A0=A0 O=A0=A0 W=A0=20 .=A0=A0 Other nights it seemed as if things were flying by.=A0 I remember th= e dance=20 captain coming to me at intermission once to ask, "Is it possible that the=20 'BlahBlah dance break' was fast tonight?"=A0=A0=A0 No, it was digitally the=20= same as last=20 night.=A0 It just SEEMED faster tonight. So maybe I was better than most at setting those tempi in my head prior to=20 the digital revolution (I'd like to think so), but I know now that I was not= =20 100% accurate.=A0 It's not humanly possible. So to bet the farm on your ability to set 120 in your head is folly.=A0 Knowing that, as a tuner I have never tried to count beats in tempo.=A0 I us= e=20 comparison exclusively.=A0 Yeah, the F3-A3 third is the starting point and y= ou=20 try to hit that as close as you can, but by then comparing the contiguous th= irds=20 F3-A3-C#4-F4 and making sure that you have a progression there you can get i= t=20 even closer if you missed it in the first place.=A0 Even Virgil Smith has in his tuning sequence a quick check (using comparison= )=20 to make sure that his F3-A3 third is beating properly.=A0 If all you had to=20= do=20 was memorize a tempo, why would Virgil Smith, certainly one of the greatest=20 tuners of his generation, use comparison to check his beat speed on that ope= ning=20 F3-A3 third? Trying to memorize beat speeds in your head is a waste of time in my=20 opinion.=A0 At the very least, I can guarantee that there are other ways to=20= skin the=20 cat.=A0 My proof: I recently passed the RPT exam with all scores 93 or highe= r.=A0 And=20 I never ever try to count beats.=A0 Ever.=A0 I only compare. Tom Sivak Chicago Chapter PTG Associate ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/2e/e9/94/8d/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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