<HTML>In a message dated 12/23/02 4:57:40 PM Central Standard Time, sbellieu@mindspring.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">If an aural tuner can ask a stupid question:  does this mean that a one cent mistake in the top of the piano is much bigger than a one cent mistake in the bottom of the piano?  By bigger I mean more likely to be percieved aurally.   Steve B </BLOCKQUOTE> Steve First of all, as an educator I must tell you that there is no such thing as a stupid question. For you, (or anyone who asks), the question is not stupid, otherwise you wouldn't be asking it. On the tuning exam, both the first octave and the top octave have a 6 cent tolerance. Which means that the tuner is allowed a bigger leeway when tuning those octaves. In the first octave, six cents is comes out to almost 3 beats per second. But because it is so hard to hear down there, that difference is almost indiscernible. In the top octave, however, 6 cents comes out to less than one beat per second. But the opposite is true, you can hear the slightest of difference much easier. (except maybe the last two or three notes. So to answer your question, yes, a one cent "mistake" is much "bigger" in the top octave. Wim</HTML>