Difficulty Hearing Beats While Setting Temperament

[Maggie Jusiel]

I haven't read the other responses you got, but wanted to mention that if
it's a spinnet, change pianos.  I practiced on spinnets when I first
started, and it was more of a handicap than a help.  When I got to
practice on Steinways, Kawais, etc., I could hear the beats quite clearly,
and was able to hear the spinnet later.  Of course, it was my difficulty
with spinnets that led me to get an ETD, which I still love having.  ;)

-mags


> I have been trying to set the temperament on my piano and am having
> trouble hearing the correct beat rates of the intervals. The problem is
> that the beats are so weak they are hardly perceptible. I have strip muted
> the piano and was able to tune A49 on the piano to the A440 tuning fork by
> comparing the beat rate of the note and the fork with F21. I am now trying
> to tune the other notes within the temperament octave and get the beat
> rates of the F-A, A-C#, C#-F and F-A to gradually increase from 7 bps to
> 14 bps, but they are very difficult to hear. What can be done to hear the
> beats more clearly? I have been studying tuning for several months now,
> but the beats of the intervals are still difficult to hear. I don't have
> much trouble with unisons as I can hear the beats more distinctly, and the
> improvement in the quality of the note when I reach the pure state is very
> noticeable.
>
> I have an SAT III tuning device that enables me to tune the piano very
> well, and to check my aural tuning, but I want to be able to tune the
> piano completely by ear so that I can eventually pass the PTG
> examinations. Thank you for your help.
>
> Robert Finley


Maggie Jusiel
Piano Tuner
Winds & Strings Teacher
PO Box 1234
Athens, WV  24712-1234
(304)952-8615
<mags@magsmusic.net>
<http://www.magsmusic.net>


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