Tuning

[David ilvedson]

A good way to practice on those three contiguous thirds, F-A, 
A-C#, C#-F, is to set a good F to F octave and adjust the A & C# 
so that all three thirds beat the same.  That's good ear work.  
Then adjust the A and C# down slightly so that the F-A is a 
little slower than the A-C#, which is a little slower than the 
C#-F.  Approximately 7, 9 & 11 beats per second.  As I said in 
the beginning this is ear training practice.

David ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA

> Date:          Fri, 16 Oct 1998 09:22:13 -0400 (EDT)
> From:          Mark Graham <magraham@bw.edu>
> To:            pianotech@ptg.org
> Subject:       Re: Tuning
> Reply-to:      pianotech@ptg.org

> Jonathan,
> 
> I agree that you should eventually aim for a temperament based on all
> these intervals at once. I think a good place to start, assuming you're
> setting a temperament from F to F, is to learn to recognize the correct
> setting of the F to A major third. Once you can nail that, learn the A to
> C# rate. If you can set those intervals correctly, you have the framework
> for a good temperament, even if you fill in the gaps with fourths and
> fifths. Even if you're doing different temperaments, you need to
> eventually train your ear to do thirds.
> 
> It's actually fun to be able to "nail" thirds, especially when you
> remember that it was once predicted, in the days before Dr. White, that it
> was too much to ask of tuners. Now we all do it. It just takes ear
> training by much repetition and listening.
> 
> Mark Graham
> Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music
> Berea, Ohio
> 
> 
> 
> 
David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA
ilvey@jps.net