Owen J Greyling, RPT wrote: > > DOES WORKING WITH THE > RIGHT HAND ON THE TUNING HAMMER DEMAND THAT THERE MUST ALWAYS BE MORE > FLAGPOLLING OF THE PIN IN A GRAND PIANO THEN WORKING WITH THE LEFT HAND ON A > VERTICAL PIANO? Owen, Tuning a grand piano right-handed does seem to be the dominant method, not ever having witnessed a leftie approach. Except I know one person who tunes right-handed until he gets up somewhere in the top octave where interference with the rim and lid stick causes him to change to tuning left-handed. I thought I'd try this once, thinking that I'm somewhat ambidexterous. It would be a neat way to tune when the right side of a piano is against a wall, I thought. But, no way, it was like starting over. I just didn't have near enough control to achieve even a reasonable tuning. And control is what you need on those short strings! I tune grand pianos with a long tip because I end up changing to one in the top octave. With the tuning hammer pointing at approx 1:00, I can minimize the flagpolling if I want (side-to-side flagpolling I don't consider a significant factor in tuning or stability). I've also tuned with a long tip and the hammer pointing at 2:00 or 3:00 with good results (more overshoot and undershoot to achieve stability, though, and therefore a problem where strings are brittle). This latter position is a technique I use more for pitch raises than concert tunings but it's a little easier on the anatomy. I can sit facing the keyboard whereas, with the hammer pointing toward the tail, I need to face toward the bass end to minimize strain. So, I wouldn't worry about your technique. If the method you use gets the job done well and doesn't cause back problems or repetitive stress injuries, that's the right (or left) method. If I had my druthers, I would tune both ways on any given piano so that stresses would be somewhat equalized. Whenever I have my body worked on, people notice that I'm more tense on one side than the other - more tense on the _left_ side. Also, I wouldn't worry about flagpolling so much. Beginners are told to not do it, that they should only _turn_ the pin. But, in fact, we can't help but bend it. It is important, however, to feel the differences between, and experiment with, pin bending, turning and twisting when in the process of setting the pin. All three factors can play a part in a stable tuning. Tom -- Thomas A. Cole RPT Santa Cruz, CA
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