never say never..kinda long

[David Ilvedson]

Go Phil!  I've been kinda wrong before...;-]  Of course we won't be hearing
from all the folks who can't tune with a tuning fork and make a living
tuning with a ETD will we...

David I.


*********** REPLY SEPARATOR  ***********

On 3/25/01 at 8:56 AM Phil Bondi wrote:

>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)