practice

[JIMRPT@AOL.COM]

I have tried to send this four times and each time it has been bounced back
due to "addressee unknown".  
Maybe the mailer system is trying to tell me not to send it. :-)
JB
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Jonathan, et al;
  Two things I do for ear training/practice/boredom relief:
 1. When tuning the bass, tune it while unmuted..............To do this make
sure that any tri-chord or bi-chord bass note is in unison with itself. Then
from a reference note that has been tuned, to whatever pitch, determine the
beat speed present between the reference and bass. Then, while striking only
the bass note, tune the bass note to match the aprox beats of the
reference/bass notes. The way to do this is to pull up one string of the
unison until the approximate beat rate is duplicated, and then tuning the
other string (s) of the unison to that first string.  With a little practice
this becomes a very quick way of doing a rough bass pitch raise and with a
little more practice this will improve your listening in the bass section
altogether.

2. Tune unisons unmuted.......Set a temperament or several notes, to whatever
pitch, while muted.  Then remove the muting strips/mutes so that all strings
are unmuted. Then pull, push, beg, cajole, each string into unison, but don't
touch the first string as this is your base.  At first you will have to bounce
from string to string but soon you will be able to do a really good job of
getting each string very close on the first/second try.

Each of these exercises will teach you to listen to areas that you now take
for granted and will also improve your judgement as to sharp/flat.
 Enjoy.
 Jim Bryant (FL)