<HTML>I found myself helping out with a "beginning" tuning c= lass at our state convention. It was one of those classes which could have g= one many different directions. The topic came up about stable tunings...what= does it mean. Thus the whole idea of stability came down to the essentials = of good hammer/string control. The way I interpret it is, it's not only  a matter of good hammer contr= ol, nor is it only a matter of test blows, but more importantly it is how th= e two work together. Sort of a yin and yang. The hammer is putting the directional  torque on the pin while the test= blow is pulling the slack out of any access string movement. The 2 are work= ing together. Test blows at times, due to excessive drag on the string due to design situa= tions or newer strings, must be more firmer to take out all of the slack. Ho= wever the majority of instruments don't require as much. If you have an opportunity to observe a good concert tuner you'll quickly re= alize that pin movement is reduced to the minimum amount. Test blows to set = that small pin movement are reduced as well. That being said, if one has poor hammer technique and cannot move the pin in= extremely tiny increments, than more firmer test blows will be required in = order to settle all of the energy out of the string. Learn to work smart...not hard. Tom Servinsky   </HTML>