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<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=4>Israel,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2><FONT size=4>I just have to chime in
here. Comments interspersed</FONT>.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>> <BR>> Actually, David, wrong
on all counts. No handouts, no sheets, no <BR>> lists in my classes. They
learn by doing - you get an action model <BR>> and you learn how to regulate
by regulating. I give them a short <BR>> verbal introduction What
typically happens is that I explain to them <BR>> the various stages - and
most everyone (except for the rawest <BR>> beginners - the class is not aimed
at them) can right away tell me <BR>> themselves what functions are
dealt with in each stage. It's just <BR>> logic - don't need a list.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=4>If it is "just
logic," I fail to see how an outline or "list" can be an impediment for all but
those same "rawest beginners."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>> After that they dive right in,
sink or <BR>> swim. With plenty one-on-one coaching and occasional short
<BR>> discussions of what was done, how and why it works or doesn't... And
<BR>> they learn to see whether or not something was done from the results
<BR>> - not from checking an item off on a sheet.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=4>What you describe is precisely how
the 37 steps works. It is by the results that we determine whether or not
something was done properly. Similarly, you're not taught to perform steps
that are done. Check them, yes, add redundancy, no. There are no
check boxes in that system either. The steps sound to me much like your
system, only you have it subdivided into a few larger categories as well.
Semantics IMO.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>> That's what I keep trying
<BR>> to tell you - the action itself can tell you what needs to be done
<BR>> when. I just show them where to look and how to read analyze the
<BR>> relevant information.<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=4>Again, same thing.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>> If you want to <BR>>
conceive of it as the first stage of regulation - fine. But <BR>>
conceptually it is once again a totally different beast from aligning <BR>>
parts, or working out specs, requiring a different mindset and <BR>>
approach. Anything broken or worn or loose or tight or dirty? Fix it. <BR>>
There's lots of truth in Cy Schuster's little joke about the "very <BR>>
first step" - tightening screws has more to do with fixing and <BR>> cleaning
than with regulating.<BR></FONT><FONT face="Bookman Old Style"
size=4><BR>Right. In the Yamaha system, the same thing is stressed.
Those tightening screws and repairs are emphasized as things that must be taken
care of before any serious attempt at regulation can occur. Again, seems
like semantics to me.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>> If you toss away your linear
thinking and really get into this <BR>> scheme, you will see that within each
stage, the precise order of the <BR>> individual steps is not all that
crucial - you are going to have to <BR>> go back and forth somewhere, it's a
circle - not a line... From the <BR>> messages posted by the likes of David
Andersen and Roger Jolly it's <BR>> obvious that different circumstances
require different orders - they <BR>> are determined empirically, by
observation. I try to teach the <BR>> students what to observe and how to go
from there... </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=4>One needn't toss away linear thinking
altogether. After all, it is important in many places. I think that
having a linear system works well, provided you have the insight to recognize
where attention is needed. It is an outline of an efficient, well-thought
system. One doesn't have to marry themselves to it. Just as you say
below, "any idiot" can understand the where exact order is essential. That
same idiot should be just as capable of knowing that if the piano is not in the
shop, you probably don't need to sweat your hammer alignment and you can go
ahead and level the keys.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>> And where the <BR>> exact
order is important - well, it's pretty obvious. Any idiot can <BR>>
understand and remember that you can't set key level before bedding <BR>> the
keyframe. Don't need a list for that... But does it really matter <BR>>
whether you level the keys first or space the hammers to strings <BR>> first?
Has more to do with how your shop is set up and whether or not <BR>> you use
lead weights or transfer jigs than with anything else...<BR>> <BR>> The
point of this conceptual organization is that students deal with <BR>> a
small number of function in each stage, thoroughly learn the <BR>>
relationship between these functions and how they affect each other <BR>> and
are then able to erect their own order of regulation suited to <BR>> each
particular situation they encounter. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=4>Again, I think you could similarly
break down the 37 steps, or any other system or that matter, into a smaller
number of stages. David's point I think, and I agree, is that any
student in your class who takes notes will invariably have a list of stages,
subdivided into component parts. They may not be numbered, but so
what? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>> And the relationship <BR>>
between the stages is just common sense logic. So who needs a list <BR>> and
a pre-determined order of steps?<BR>> <BR>> Israel Stein<BR>>
<BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2><FONT size=4>Don't get me wrong
Israel, I think what you're doing has merit, and makes good sense, but I think
that disparaging the other system is fruitless. It's just a different way
of thinking, organizing the process. And, as I said before, all but your
"rawest beginners" will recognize that one can diverge from this list as
convenience or needs require given a particular situation. I don't think
it requires great capabilities for abstract thought, as you
say.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2><FONT
size=4></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2><FONT size=4>William R.
Monroe</FONT></FONT></DIV>
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