Setting pitch with a fork

[David's Email]

As someone mentioned...rubber tubing around the stem protects the teeth...

David I.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "ilex cameron ross" <i1ex@earthlink.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Thursday, August 26, 2004 12:01 PM
Subject: Re: Setting pitch with a fork


>
> heh. my old mentor actually used to clamp the tuning fork in his teeth.
> FRIGHTENING! i suppose it must resonate quite well inside one's skull that
> way, but i wonder what kind of damage is being done to his teeth!
> -ilex
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Cy Shuster" <741662027@theshusters.org>
> To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2004 11:02 AM
> Subject: Setting pitch with a fork
>
>
> List,
>
> I'm practicing setting pitch with a tuning fork (for the RPT exam, 
> someday),
> and I'm finding it hard to hear the beats between F2 and the fork.  I'm 
> also
> struggling to hold the fork, play the note, and turn the pin.  What works
> for you?
> < . . . . .>
> --Cy Shuster--
> Bluefield, WV
>    I tune verticals "left-handed," i.e., tuning hammer in left hand,
> striking notes and octaves with my right, piano bench angled so I'm facing
> the treble end.  I often stand to tune the bass, but don't necessarily 
> have
> to.  The following method probably won't work if you tune "right-handed,"
> but maybe it's adaptable.
>    I tap the fork on my knee, hold it up to my ear, then with the fork
> still held with my right thumb and index (why set it down when I'm going 
> to
> immediately use it again?), play A 49 with my right 3rd & 4th fingers and
> just get A in the right ballpark.  Then I quickly tune A3 to A4,
> approximately beatless, but not bothering with any other checks than just
> the two A's together.  Then I get F2 to beat fairly slowly with A4, in the
> neighborhood of three to six beats a second -- that's just where I find it
> easiest to compare beats.
>    Now I can hit the fork on my knee, hold it up to my ear or put the base
> of it against my cheekbone or jawbone up near the ear while I play F2 and
> memorize the beat rate.  Then, still holding the fork with right thumb &
> forefinger, play A with the 3rd & 4th fingers, and F2 with the left hand,
> comparing the beat rate with the previous one.
>    When the beat rates sound the same, I again hit the fork, move it
> immediately to my ear and play A4, and let them both ring, listening for 
> any
> "slow roll."
>    If F2 doesn't beat that loudly with the fork, try using B1.
>
>    --David Nereson, RPT
>
>
>
>
>
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