never say never..kinda long

[Phil Bondi]

David Ilvedson wrote:
>
  If you get the ETD first you will never learn to tune without it no
> matter what people say about EDTs being great teaching devices.

..I'm late on this thread, but this comment caught my eye..

David...you're kinda wrong..and hopefully, _I_ will prove you wrong this
Summer when I take the Tuning Exam in Reno.

breif history about myself:

started working with a dealership in 1997 after 1.5 years of bi-monthly(?)
trips to Atlanta to work and study with Larry Crabb. In Feb. of '97, Larry
thought I was 'ready' to start earning money in the field..I inquired to a
local dealership about doing some work for them, and it just so happens that
they were looking for a new tech..I was hired on the spot and given a bunch
of work right away, both on the floor and in customer's homes.

Baptism Under Fire.

..and I felt that my aural skills were no where ready to be 'scrutinized'.
Of course my feelings were correct, so I purchased a SATll to make my work
more 'credible'. It was a great purchase at the time. Some customers had
seen this device before and were not satisfied with the results. I assured
them that this is a great tool to do our job, and would welcome any
criticism once I was finished tuning...never had one complaint.

..in the meantime, working for this dealership, I would practice my aural
skills while doing floor tunings. The SAT was my tutor, since my visits to
Atlanta were coming to a halt, not because of my wealth of knowledge, but
because my business was starting to take off and I felt I needed to be here
to answer the phone.

As I was getting more confidence in hearing those s l o w beating 5ths, I
was starting to tune aurally on selected pianos out in the field..ones that
I felt I could hear what I needed to hear and not feel scrutinized by the
customer. Spinets were a welcome sight, since most of my customers that have
spinets are not going to be critical of my work..more like grateful that it
sounds better!..but..spinets were harder for this green roo(k) to hear those
5ths and 4ths than some of the Grands that I chose to tune aurally....i was
feeling some frustration because i felt I had hit a wall in my learning
process..i probably did..

and then one day..while tuning on the dealer floor, i nailed a temperament
on the 1st try...this was a big confidence boost..i listened and played and
re-played those 4ths, 5ths, 3rd's and 6th's till it was ad nauseum..but I
needed to implant that sound in my remaining brain cell to be able to
confidently open a spinet or lift the lid on a 9'er to tune aurally.

The SATll sits in my tool box and is removed now for pitch raises, noisy
enviroments, and unfamiliar Concert Venues (that doesn't happen too often).

Am I the exception rather than the rule?..probably..I've been accused of
worse.

David, if you're in Reno this summer, hopefully I will be able to say to you
that 'never' is not a good word to use. Let me say this publicly..I am
finally prepared to 'fail' the test..which means that if I had taken the
tuning test 2 years ago in Providence, I would have failed miserably because
I would have been unprepared to fail..I would have been clinging to the SAT
for alot longer than I have if I had taken that test back then..my
confidence in my aural tunings has improved immeasurably since then. I have
learned how to let the piano tell me how it wants to sound..still learning
'how', but I think I can tune aurally fairly well, with an accurate stretch
both ways, and have the instrument be musical to the player..and I do mean
'player'.

Confident, never cocky,
roo(k)