<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2>I think this method definitely has merit.  One must adhere to the general boundaries of an equal temperment (contracted fifths, expanded thirds, etc.), but I would be willing to bet that experienced, seasoned tuners have at some point stopped conciously counting beats and just go by quick, interval-quality judgements.  I think I have heard that Horowitz's (world renowned, pianist super-star) tuner tuned his Stein. D soley by listening to the quality of its fifths. <BR>    Now, can someone learn from the begining to tune this way? I am not sure.  I doubt anyone would could quickly learn to discriminate between the quality of fifths. As far as a more generalized, hollistic aproach to tuning, I think it is possible to tune this way.  Actually, in my humble opinion, in regards to tuning the sixth and seventh octaves, it may be a better policy to abandon traditional beat counting, which seems to create an exaggeratedly wide octave.</FONT></HTML>