<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.2604" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I have just started to study = piano technology with a correspondence course, and one of the text books = suggests that it is necessary to recognize beat rates of 7, 8 and 9 beats per second = in order to tune certain intervals such as 3rds and  6ths. To me this = seems extremely subtle, and I am wondering whether most people can = tell these beat rates apart just by listening? At the moment I am having = difficulty even hearing the beats in the first place, and was = wondering if anyone can suggest how they can be made to be more pronounced and easily = heard? </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I don't have much problem with unisons. = I can hear the beat rate slow down when the frequency of one string gets closer to = the other, and then the quality suddenly improves (probably by sympathetic vibration?) when I get a good unison. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Does one's ability to hear beats and to = determine their speed improve with experience? Thank you for your advice. = </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Robert = Finley</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>