Music Trade Review
Issue: 1954 Vol. 113 N. 12 - Page 37
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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
TT requires plenty of ear training to
divide the octave into twelve equal
semitones. This is exactly what we have
been trying to do in the preceding arti-
cle on equal temperament.
Not all musicians appreciate the value
and what it takes to become a first
class technician.
no mistake on this point.
Our operatic conductors likewise en-
joy the faithful services of fine work-
manship that should embody qualifica-
tions. As a practical working knowledge
of action regulating, tuning and voicing,
he tries to be a perfectionist.
The sightless piano tuners depend en-
complete vibration a second, in any part
of the scale, more often (3) or a third;
and in music the "ear" alone is the ar-
biter without appeal to intellectual sub-
tleties.
A very good tuner can come near the
theoretical division of this temperament,
near enough for practical purposes.
Practical Piano-Tanind u Keu hoard ChcUT
FIRST C
•CLOW MIODLC C
In other words, some extraordinarily
capable technicians cannot tune and vice
versa, nevertheless these technical ex-
perts can do a fairly good job of tuning.
The Jack of all trades has his place,
but not when it comes to satisfying the
most critical, as its stands to reason com-
posers and arrangers of our modern
musical symphonic works use diatonic,
chromatic and enharmonic modulations
as their materials plus creative ability
surely know and thoroughly understand
when a piano is well tuned, and there is
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, DECEMBER. 1954
FIRST C
ASOVC MIDDLE C
tirely on their acute hearing, and they
certainly can be regarded as extraordin-
ary in this achievement.
Regarding tuning by "ear", I am
quoting herewith a few words from
others bearing the subject. I have men-
tioned this in a previous article—"from
A. J. Hipkins, Page 46". It should be
remembered that the mathematical state-
ments of tuning often carried to several
decimals, only exist on paper. The aver-
age musical ear does not distinguish
smaller difference than (2) a fifth of a
Another quotation from The Texture
of Music, by Carl Page Ellwood, Page
18: "In modern music a key consists of
the entire system of 12 musical tones
conceived and manipulated with refer-
ence to some particular tone as center.
This central tone or key-tone (keynote)
is technically known as the tonic. Our
definition of key indicates that all keys
contain the same identical material. The
real difference between two keys lies in
the characteristic relations that exist
(Continued on next page)
37
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
TT requires plenty of ear training to
divide the octave into twelve equal
semitones. This is exactly what we have
been trying to do in the preceding arti-
cle on equal temperament.
Not all musicians appreciate the value
and what it takes to become a first
class technician.
no mistake on this point.
Our operatic conductors likewise en-
joy the faithful services of fine work-
manship that should embody qualifica-
tions. As a practical working knowledge
of action regulating, tuning and voicing,
he tries to be a perfectionist.
The sightless piano tuners depend en-
complete vibration a second, in any part
of the scale, more often (3) or a third;
and in music the "ear" alone is the ar-
biter without appeal to intellectual sub-
tleties.
A very good tuner can come near the
theoretical division of this temperament,
near enough for practical purposes.
Practical Piano-Tanind u Keu hoard ChcUT
FIRST C
•CLOW MIODLC C
In other words, some extraordinarily
capable technicians cannot tune and vice
versa, nevertheless these technical ex-
perts can do a fairly good job of tuning.
The Jack of all trades has his place,
but not when it comes to satisfying the
most critical, as its stands to reason com-
posers and arrangers of our modern
musical symphonic works use diatonic,
chromatic and enharmonic modulations
as their materials plus creative ability
surely know and thoroughly understand
when a piano is well tuned, and there is
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, DECEMBER. 1954
FIRST C
ASOVC MIDDLE C
tirely on their acute hearing, and they
certainly can be regarded as extraordin-
ary in this achievement.
Regarding tuning by "ear", I am
quoting herewith a few words from
others bearing the subject. I have men-
tioned this in a previous article—"from
A. J. Hipkins, Page 46". It should be
remembered that the mathematical state-
ments of tuning often carried to several
decimals, only exist on paper. The aver-
age musical ear does not distinguish
smaller difference than (2) a fifth of a
Another quotation from The Texture
of Music, by Carl Page Ellwood, Page
18: "In modern music a key consists of
the entire system of 12 musical tones
conceived and manipulated with refer-
ence to some particular tone as center.
This central tone or key-tone (keynote)
is technically known as the tonic. Our
definition of key indicates that all keys
contain the same identical material. The
real difference between two keys lies in
the characteristic relations that exist
(Continued on next page)
37
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