J. Cree Fischer

“ Peculiar incidents occur in the experience of the piano tuner, some of which have come under the observation of the author so frequently that he deems it advisable to mention them here; there are incidents also that happen once in a life-time which must be treated in their time with tact and good judgment, and which it is impossible to describe here, as each tuner, in his special field, will elicit new developments. Occasion often requires the tuner to summon all his wits and tact in order to dispose of questions put to him, both by pianos and owners. ”

“ To become a piano tuner of the highest skill, many things are necessary; but what may be lacking at the outset may be acquired by study and practice. More depends upon the ear than upon anything else; but no person, however talented, has a sufficiently acute perception to tune perfectly without some culture. Some practice in tuning is necessary to bring the ear to that acuteness of perception so indispensable in certain portions of the instrument. ”

“ Rationale of the Temperament.
Writers upon the mathematics of sound tell us, experience teaches us, and in previous lessons we have demonstrated in various ways, that if we tune all fifths perfect up to the seventh step (see diagram, pages 82, 83) the last E obtained will be too sharp to form a major third to C. In fact, the third thus obtained is so sharp as to render it offensive to the ear, and therefore unfit for use in harmony, where this interval plays so conspicuous a part. To remedy this, it becomes necessary to tune each of the fifths a very small degree flatter than perfect. ”

“ If the instruction thus far is understood and carried out, and the student can properly tune fifths and octaves, the other intervals will take care of themselves, and will take their places gracefully in any harmony in which they are called upon to take part; but if there is a single instance in which an octave or a fifth is allowed to remain untrue or untempered, one or more chords will show it up. It may manifest itself in one chord only. A tone may be untrue to our tempered scale, and yet sound beautifully in certain chords, but there will always be at least one in which it will "howl." ”

“ To tune by the beats requires a sharp ear and mental discernment; to tune by pitch requires a fine musical ear and knowledge of the simpler laws of harmony.
As stated above, the tuner will fail in many cases to tune his high octaves sharp enough. Rarely, if ever, will a tuner with a good ear leave the upper tones too sharp. Now, there is one more fact which is of the utmost importance in tuning the treble: it is the fact that the extreme upper octave and a half must be tuned slightly sharper than perfect ”

“ Always test every key on the piano, or especially those of the middle five octaves, for bad unisons. Upon finding one, search for the string that has stood in tune, by testing each string of the unison with its octave. This being done, simply bring the other to it. Go over the whole key-board, striking octaves, and correct any that might offend. One extremely bad tone or octave may disparage your reputation, when in reality your work merits commendation. ”

“ In the consideration of Piano Tuning as a profession, one should first determine if he possesses the necessary qualifications, the most important of which are a musical ear and some degree of mechanical ability. Having these, all else may be acquired by study. It is not necessary to possess a musical education or to be a musician; although a knowledge of music will be found a great aid. Still, an elementary [Pg 008] knowledge of the principles of music is a necessity to the student of this course, as it has been found impossible to avoid the use of a few technical terms. ”

“ The idea with which we desire to impress the student by the foregoing remarks is, that while the piano is a superior instrument, and the art of tuning the piano is a much deeper study from the general tuner's [Pg 180] standpoint than that of doing the various things the tuner is called to do on the organ, he should not consider the reed organ of minor importance, or slight the organ when called upon to put it in order. The fact is, persons having organs in their homes cherish them as much as others do their pianos, and there is no reason why they should not have as good service. ”

“ The tuner should hear but two strings at once while setting a temperament; the one he is tuning by and the one he is tuning. A continuous mute is a strip of muting felt of the proper thickness to be pushed in between the trios of strings. Simply lay it across a portion of the strings and with a screwdriver push it in between the trios just above where the hammers strike. In the square piano, which has but two strings to a key, the continuous mute cannot be used and you will be obliged to tune both strings in unison before leaving to tune another interval. ”

“ The student of these lessons may, in his practice, discover defective mechanical action and by his ingenuity be able to improve it; he may likewise see where an improvement can be made in acoustic construction; where a better scale can be drawn; or where different and perhaps new materials may be used for the component parts of the instrument. The possibilities are numerous along these lines, and in addition to bestowing a favor upon the general public, the man who has the originality to produce something new, places himself beyond want. ”

“ Musical colleges in which tuning is taught are few and far between; piano factories are built for the purpose of producing pianos and not tuners, for mechanics and laborers and not for teachers and pupils; furthermore, very little fine tuning is done in the factory; rough tuning is the bulk of the work there, and a long apprenticeship in the factory, with its meager advantages, is rarely sufficient to meet the demands of the would-be-thorough tuner. ”

“ While production and accumulation have been increasing, there has been little, if any, effort made to provide tuners to look after the needs of this ever-increasing number of instruments, no provision for the thorough instruction of the learner of Piano Tuning, outside the walls of the factories, and of the few musical colleges where the art is taught. Doubtless there are many persons who are by nature well adapted to this agreeable and profitable occupationpersons who would make earnest effort to acquire the necessary skill and its honest application if they had a favorable opportunity. ”

“ For the purpose of making the student more thoroughly informed we detail here several different systems which have been devised and practiced by other tuners. It is a matter of history that artisans in this profession and leaders in musical science have endeavored to devise a system of temperament having all the desirable qualifications.
The aims of many have been to invent a system which uses the fewest number of tones; working under the impression that the fewer the tones used in the temperament, the easier the tuner's work. ”

“ If the piano is very bad, you may have to bring up the unisons roughly, inuring this portion of the instrument to the increased tension, when you may again place your continuous mute and set your temperament with more certainty. ”

“ One cannot conceive how difficult it is to produce something that has never existed, until he tries. The requirements necessary to such results as are obtainable from the modern piano are numerous and rigid and the result of many costly experiments. ”

“ The scale of equal temperament obviates all such inconveniences, and continues to be universally accepted with unqualified satisfaction by the most eminent vocalists; and equally so by the most renowned and accomplished performers on stringed instruments, although these instruments are capable of an indefinite variety of intonation. The high development of modern instrumental music would not have been possible, and could not have been acquired, without the manifold advantages of the tempered intonation by equal semitones, and it has, in consequence, long become the established basis of tuning. ”

“ You should be inspired with the utmost confidence, both in yourself and in the possibilities of the profession to those who merit a reputation. And, while this lesson contains little technical instruction, if by its study the pupil is impressed with the maxims herein presented, and is inspired to make earnest effort in his future work, both in acquiring and in practicing the art of Piano Tuning, the author will feel that its mission is, by no means, the least significant one in the course. ”

“ Where a piano is used in the home to practice by, and the singer goes out to various places to sing with other instruments, we have always advised to have the piano tuned as near concert pitch as it would bear, for the reason that if one practices with an instrument tuned to concert pitch he may feel sure of reaching the pitch of any instrument he may be called upon to sing with elsewhere.
The great majority of pianos are left entirely to the tuner's judgment in regard to pitch. ”

“ The student must bear in mind that there are numerous manufacturers of actions, and that each has his peculiar method of constructing his special action to bring about the desired results, which are practically the same in all cases; and consequently, while a variety of construction will confront the beginner in piano regulating and repairing, he will understand the construction and requirements of any action that may demand his skill from the foregoing instruction, if properly mastered. ”

“ If so, and the piano is not too much below concert pitch, and bids fair to stand the tension, draw your 3C up to concert pitch and proceed to lay your temperament. If the piano is nearly as low as international pitch, do not try to bring it up at one tuning to concert unless the owner demands it, when you may explain that it will not stand in tune long. The slightest alteration possible, in the pitch of an instrument, insures the best results, so far as standing in tune is concerned. ”

“ The untiring efforts of genius for over a century have succeeded in producing a musical instrument that falls little short of perfection. Yet other inventions and improvements are sure to come, for we are never content with "good enough." ”

“ Having acquired the ability to judge a second of time you can go to work with more confidence.
Now, as a matter of fact, in a scale which is equally tempered, no two fifths beat exactly alike, as the lower a fifth, the slower it should beat, and thus the fifths in the bass are hardly perceptibly flat, while those in the treble beat more rapidly. For example, if a certain fifth beat once a second, the fifth an octave higher will beat twice a second, and one that is two octaves higher will beat four times a second, and so on, doubling the number of beats with each ascending octave. ”

“ When the bushing of the center-pin of the hammer butt becomes badly worn or the hammer-flange becomes loose, or the condition of the hammer or flange becomes so impaired that the hammer has too much play, it may so strike the strings as to tend to produce the phenomenon described in the above paragraph. When in such a condition, one side of the hammer may strike in advance of the other just enough to throw the vibrations in opposition. Once you may get a strong tone, and again you strike with the same force and hear but a faint, almost inaudible sound. ”

“ As to our discussion of scale building, we shall take that up again, that you may be more thoroughly informed on that subject.
Some mechanics do more work in a given time than others, do it as well or better, and with less exertion. This is because they have method or system in their work so that there are no movements [Pg 110] lost. Every motion is made to count for the advancement of the cause. Others go about things in a reckless way, taking no thought as to time and labor-saving methods. ”

“ Any regulating or repairing of the action should be attended to before tuning the instrument; the latter should be the final operation. As a thorough knowledge of regulating and repairing is practically indispensable to the professional tuner, the author has spared neither means, labor nor research to make this part of the lessons very complete, and feels sure that it will meet with the hearty approval of most, if not all, students. The piano tuner who knows nothing of regulating and repairing will miss many an opportunity to earn extra money. ”

“ In spite of any instruction that can be given, the beginner in piano tuning will not be able to take hold of his work with the ease and the grace of the veteran, nor will he ever be able to work with great accuracy and expedition unless he has a systematic method of doing the various things incident to his profession. ”

“ Bring the string up gradually as before, and when the unison is reached you will hear one single, simple, musical tone, as though it were from a single string. Never have more than two strings sounding at once. You might go over the entire key-board now and correct all the unisons if the scale is yet fairly good. See which string is, in your opinion, the nearest to correctness with respect to the scale, and tune the other one, or two, as the case may be, to it. If the scale is badly out of symmetry, you will not get very good results without setting a temperament ”

“ The foregoing, while applicable to the whole scale, is not so urgent in the over-strung bass. The strings are so heavy and the tension is so great that they will generally "render" quite freely over the bridges, and it is only necessary to bring them up to pitch, handling the hammer in such a manner as to leave the pins well balanced; but it is not necessary to give them over-tension and beat them down again; in fact it is not advisable, as a rule. At all times, place the hammer on the pin as far as it will go, and strike the key while drawing a string up. ”

“ You can make no chord trials until you have tuned E, an interval of a major third from C.
Having tuned 2E, you can now make your first trial: the chord of C. If you have tempered your fifths correctly, this chord will come out in pleasing harmony, and yet the E will be somewhat sharper than a perfect major third to C. Now, just for experiment, lower 2E until all waves disappear when sounded with 2C. You now have a perfect major third. Upon sounding the chord, you will find it more pleasing than before; but you cannot leave your thirds perfect. ”