Levels of math necessary for truly understanding scaling, etc.

[piannaman at aol.com]

Ric, and others,
 
Thanks for the responses.  Seems quite doable...
 
You hit the nail on the head when stating that a boring teacher is insurance against learning.  My Algebra teacher in high schools was quite possibly the least dynamic individual I've ever encountered.  And that's not even mentioning his teaching skills, or lack thereof.  Spent much time drifting off or drawing pictures in that class...
 
Do you remember when the "Calculating Technician" series was published? If it was in the last 5 years, I'm sure I have it somewhere.  That's kind of what I was hunting for, though a deeper understanding might benefit me as well.
 
Thanks again for the help,
 
Dave Stahl

 
-----Original Message-----
From: ricbrek at broadpark.no
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Fri, 6 Oct 2006 3:16 AM
Subject: Levels of math necessary for truly understanding scaling, etc.


Hi Dave Stahl

Exactly the Calculating Technician was a series of articles in the journal meant 
to make understanding the concepts and formulas used easy and unintimidating for 
just about anyone... a  kind of  "how to rescale for the complete dummie"  
article.

If one takes the time to read it thoroughly I think one will find it far more 
easy to understand then perhaps at first it may seem.

As far as math levels generally  are concerned.  I think many let themselves get 
way too put off by the maths and physics levels typically used in discussions on 
this list.  Most of the stuff if not the overwhelming majority is 
sophmore/junior highschool level at best.  Learning this stuff is very doable. 

My experience is that most kids who do poorly in math do so because its 
presented/taught in a hopelessly boring maner... ofte times by teachers who dont 
really understand some basic pedogogic prinsiples to begin with.  Put the 
average kid in an environment with a brilliant teacher who knows math... and it 
becomes an exciting game... a huge puzzle that is both catching and fun.  The 
idea that so many of us are gifted one way or the other is IMHO grossly 
overstated.

Cheers
RicB




------------------------------
Well, now with software like P-scale and whatever else, you can
probably re-scale a piano without mathematically understanding
all the concepts involved.  But from the books I've read on
piano design and scaling, it looks like nothing more complex
than algebra is used.  Glancing through "The Calculating
Technician," I see some complex/lengthy formulae, but no
calculus or analytical geometry.  Not even trig, I don't think.
Mainly algebra.
    --David Nereson, RPT
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