Tuning Softly - was Re: Sanderson Accu-tuner

[David Andersen]

On Jun 9, 2007, at 12:56 PM, John Formsma wrote:
>
> I'm a believer in making a piano stable. Just not a believer that  
> it has to be done by hurting my ears, hands, and other joints. :-)   
> The way I see it, if I'm standing up at a piano, and smacking it  
> from that position, it's reasonable to assume that no pianist is  
> going to hit harder than that. If they do, that's piano abuse, and  
> they can have their unstable piano then. I just don't see how they  
> can routinely play harder than most tuners do for test blows, and  
> still have any finger dexterity left.
>
> Therefore, I'm adopting the view that my hands, elbows, and  
> shoulders are more important than murderously ferocious test blows.  
> It just ain't worth it. Particularly when stability comes from  
> lever technique, based on how close the piano was to pitch before  
> the fine tuning. Soft, rapid playing while tuning will cause the  
> string to move just as well as moderately hard or hard playing  
> while tuning. IMO, of course. YMMV, as they say.  :-)

GREAT JOB, JOHN....

The above should be inscribed in the Akashic record of piano tuners.  
It should be inscribed on the inside of our eyeballs and tattooed  
onto our forearms.

  The vast majority of serious tuners I've known have severe  
mechanical injuries in their upper bodies due to abuse in many ways  
while tuning. Tuning is definitely a physical event, but at the  
highest level, a SUBTLE AND NUANCED physical event, like professional  
billiardsl---once you have the technique of listening and pin-setting  
integrated into your wetware at a very high level---you can relax and  
have fun, keep your attention in the present moment, and LET YOUR  
BODY DO THE DAMN TUNING. Trust your body.

Believe me when I tell you this: your whole body, your intuitive  
wisdom, knows exactly what to do after a couple thousand good pianos  
are tuned. A beautiful, soaring, rock-solid, highly musical tuning  
then becomes a question of how you deal with the constant self- 
criticism your mind provides---the running dialogue of analysis and  
doubt that interferes with your body's elegant, almost automatic  
tuning work.

I invite and encourage everyone whose interest is piqued by this to  
come to my "Advanced Listening Skills" class in KC; I'll tune, and  
show you very valuable tuning tips, but more than that, time-tested  
listening and focusing tips; I feel I've finally had a chance to  
break world-class tuning down to its crucial components, and we'll  
watch, do, and listen together. I wish it was 2 periods, but I'll do  
what I can to make it entertaining.

And PLEASE encourage new, gifted technicians to sign up for the Roger  
Jolly piano prep epic, of which I will be an instructor under the  
thumb of the pfleugelmeister---the one, the only Crusty Old Pirate.  
Total hands-on in a great atmosphere...concentrated learning nectar.  
Mmmmm.

Best,
David Andersen

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