Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
PRACTICAL PIANO TUNING
By ALEXANDER HART
Formerly with Steinway & Sons Tuning Department, Instructor in
Piano Tuning, Teachers College, Columbia University, N. Y.
Registered Member of the
National Association of Piano Tuners
Notes of Interest on Tuning
ONALITY is the keynote for those
wishing to advance along the road
to become better tuners.
To understand this all-important
means of scale building, tonality is the
principle of organization which subor-
dinates the other degrees of the scale to
the tonic or keynote, and assigns to
each a functional importance.
An interesting phase relative to the
musical side of tuning is to know what
key stands for, and is thus explained.
A diatonic scale of which the notes
bear certain relations to one principle
note, from which they are all, in some
respects, derived, and upon which they
all depend, is termed a key; and the
principle note is called the keynote or
tonic.
T
MIDDLE
c
Important
Every scale in which the two diatonic
semi-tones are found between the third
and fourth degrees, and between the
seventh and eighth degrees, ascending
from the tonic, is termed the major
mode of that key; because the interval
between the tonic and its third (or
mediant) consists of two tones; that is
of the greater third.
The only series of this mode among
the natural notes is that which com-
mences with C; and hence, the key must
be taken as an example of all the major
scales. Before we leave our musical
terminal—C Major.
If we want to have a fine balanced
temperament each tonic must serve har-
moniously for any key, as we proceed
for example on C-, it must serve,
whether in the major or minor mode)
in the key of C major and C minor, B b
major and B b minor, also A b major and
A minor, G major and G minor, like-
wise F major and F minor and E b ma-
jor and E minor, also D b major and C#
minor. If you try to memorize these
primary beginnings, half the battle is
won.
Sometimes we act as if we were alone
in the world fighting a solitary battle
against an immovable foe; as a matter
of fact, there is no unseen foe. and the
24
CHORDS CAN BE CLOSELY MATCHED, THUS FORMING A GOOD BRIDGE BETWEEN
THE AUGMENTED CHORDS. THE TUNING CAN BE CHECKED CLOSELY AT EVERY
POINT AND THE CONSTANT ENHARMONIC CHECKS WILL NOT ALLOW THE ERRORS
OF JUDGMENT TO ACCUMULATE
only battle is with ourselves.
To avoid a lot of puzzlement in the
second procedure is to lower A b a ma-
jor third from middle C and listen for
the tremolos or beats. I prefer the use
of the word tremolo, one can imagine a
sparkle in the interval.
The test can be proved with the use
of various intervals apart, viz—let us
try out what we have just mentioned
about "C" serving in other keys; A b -C-
E b is a test, and a good one.
Remembering that we have a minor
third to the right of C, and a major
third to the left, another major third
A b -C- and testing C-E-G to the right of
our basic triad of C major we can ex-
tend the rest to C-E-G below middle C
because the inversions have already
(Turn to Page 25, Col. 3)
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, JUNE, 1952