Table of Contents Introduction The need and possibility of taking care of your own piano yourself. – Usefulness of this work for amateurs, tuners, craftsman makers, and blind tuners. – Additions to this work. – New tables and plates in this third edition. – Examination of works written about piano tuning. – Instruments or mechanical means invented to facilitate the tuning of the piano. – Sonometer of F. Loulié. – Diapasorama of Matrot. – Chromameter of Roller and Blanchet. – Tuning Guide of Delsarte. – History of temperament. – Necessity of equal temperament. – Table of chapters and appendix of this work. – Conclusion. Chapter 1. – Summary of the elementary principles of music needed in order to understand this book Tones of the scale. – Steps and half steps of the natural scale. – Comma. – Sharps, flats, naturals, double sharps, double flats; chromatic semitone, diatonic semitone; chromatic scale; enharmonic notes; diatonic genre, chromatic genre, harmonic genre; intervals; natural intervals, inversions; consonant and dissonant intervals; major mode, minor mode; accidental signs and key signs; harmonic circle. Chapter 2. – A succinct account of harmony Chords. – The perfect major chord. – The perfect minor chord. – Their inversions. – Modulation. – The harmonic circle in four part perfect chords. Chapter 3. – Pianos of diverse forms; their principal internal parts Square pianos. – Grand pianos. – Upright pianos of various forms. – False soundboard. – Tuning pins. – Pin block. – Hitch pin rail. – Hitch pin nut – Tuning pin nut – Bridge. – Speaking length of strings. – Dampers. – Damper lifting wires. – Action proper. – Principle parts of the action. – Action systems. – Fixed jack action. – Double fixed jack action. – Escapement and double escapement action. – Petzold escapement. – English escapement for grand pianos. – Érard double escapement action for grand pianos. – Various double escapement and repetition actions of Montal for grand and square pianos. – Upright action, the ones most generally used. – English action. – Érard action. – Various Montal actions. – Roller action. – Pianos with double strings. – Pianos with triple strings. – Range of pianos. – Various Pedals, forte, celeste, sourdine, bassoon, shift, expression, jalousie, prolonged tone. Chapter 4. – Layout and labeling of tuning pins; their relationship with the keys of the keyboard Tuning pins placed two by two or three by three. – Relationship of groups to the keys indicated by the letters of the alphabet. – Disposition of these groups in different pianos. – Pianos with quadruple strings. Chapter 5. – Tuning wrench. – Mute. – Tuning fork, how to use it. Tuning wrench. – Ordinary wrench. – Curved wrench. – Wrench with exchangeable shafts. – Mute for square pianos. – Mute for grand pianos and mute for upright pianos. – Tuning fork [diapason]. – Other meanings of the word diapason. – Old Pitch of the Opera. – Of the Comic Opera. – Of the Italian Opera. – Their number of vibrations. – Advantage of a standard pitch. – History of pitch. – Origin of the diapason normal [standard pitch]. – Adoption of standard pitch by ministerial decree. – Its form and number of vibrations. Chapter 6. – Piano to use for the study of tuning Chapter 7. – Exercise to learn to use the wrench and to perfect the organ of hearing, by tuning consonances and the perfect major chord rigorously justly Exercise to learn to use the wrench. – Precautions to take so that the string will stay in tune. – Beats. – Exercise to perfect the organ of hearing. – Tuning the unison, the octave, the fifth. – Means to habituate the ear to find the fifth when setting pitch on new pianos. – Tuning the major third and the perfect major chord. Chapter 8. – Temperament and the perfect major chord suitably tempered Thirty-five tones of the physical scale reduced to twelve. – Major semitone. – Equal [mean] temperament. – Wide interval. – Narrow interval. – Alteration of the major third, the minor third, the fifth and their inversions. – Alteration of consonances. – Excess of the octave over three just major thirds. – Excess of four just minor thirds over the octave. – Ascending fifth. – Descending fifth. – Excess of four just fifths over the just major third. – Excess of twelve just fifths over the octave. – The perfect major chord suitably tempered. Chapter 9. – Partition and Counter–Partition in A Partition. – Example and Advantage of that of the author. – Remark concerning the stability of tuning. – Table A of the partition in A with proofs, in musical notation. – Explanation of the table. – Procedure to execute the partition. – Counter-Partition in A. – Table B of that counter-partition. – Procedure to execute the counter-partition. Chapter 10. – Tuning the treble, the bass, and general verification of the tuning Pianos with double strings. – Precaution to take so as not to break wound strings. – General verification of the tuning. – Pianos with triple strings. – Quicker method for tuning the treble and bass of pianos with double strings. Chapter 11. – Partition and counter-partition in C Usage of this partition in certain countries. – Example and advantage of that of the author. –Table C of the partition in C with proofs in musical notation. – Explanation of the table. – Procedure to execute the partition. – Counter-Partition in C. – Table D of that counter- partition. – Procedure to execute the counter–partition. – Tuning the treble and the bass to complete the tuning of the piano. Chapter 12. – Piano Strings. – How to replace them and the tools necessary for this operation Steel, iron and brass strings. – English strings. – Superior strings. – Viennese strings. – Strings from other areas. – Old Berlin strings. – Brass strings from Nuremberg. – Different systems of numbering. – Series of numbers and half numbers of English and Viennese (called German) strings by order of thickness. – Same for Berlin strings. – Relationship of English strings with Berlin strings. – Approximate relationship of commonly used Nuremberg strings with Berlin strings. – Tool to determine the exact thickness of strings. – Wrapped strings. – Solder and wrapping ends of these strings. – Tools necessary to replace strings. – Procedure for replacing strings. – General explanations. – Indication of string size numbers on the pin block. – Tails. – Different methods for making them. – How to proceed to replace strings. – Means for finding the thickness of strings when the numbers are not marked on the pin block. – Counter-point of the pin block. – Method of hooking the strings, stretching them, rolling them on the tuning pin, bringing them to pitch, and marking them. Chapter 13 How to touch up a piano without tuning it completely Chapter 14 The influence of temperature on piano strings, and precautions to take when raising or lowering pitch by one or many semitones Chapter 15 Tuning many pianos together. – Tuning a piano to other instruments Tuning many pianos together. – Tuning the piano to the oboe and the flute, – to the Bassoon, – to the valved cornet. – Tuning to the clarinet, – to the flageolet, – to the horn. – Tuning the piano to stringed instruments, Violin, viola, bass, guitar, harp, etc., etc. Chapter 16 Pianos of different forms and particular dispositions; how to tune them and replace their strings Transposing pianos. – Roller system. – Montal system. – Grand pianos. – Upright pianos. – Pianino. – Pianos with vertical strings and pianos with semi-oblique strings. – Vertical piano, called cabinet piano. – Piano with action on top. – Pianos with screw tuners. – Pianos with reversed soundboard. – Square Pianos with extended hitchpin rail, in which the groups of tuning pins are two by two in the same oblique line. – Square Pianos with extended hitchpin rail in which the groups of tuning pins follow an irregular pattern. – Pianos with quadruple strings. Chapter 17 Qualities of a good piano Qualities of tone. – What is understood by a large tone and a nervous tone. – Influence on the size of the soundboard on the strength of tone. – Evenness of tone in the different parts of the keyboard. – Character of the treble. – Defects often found in the mid range and treble. – Perfection of the keyboard. – Rapid repetition of the same note. – Actions with single and double escapement. – Precision of the keyboard. – Clarity of tone. – Precision of the dampers. – Pedal function, – Advantage of the expression pedal over the other pedals, – Resume of the qualities of a good piano. – Character of German, English and French pianos.– Qualities of the exterior of pianos. Chapter 18 Solidity of a piano and duration of its tuning Solidity. – Difficulty an amateur experiences in judging the solidity of a piano. – Explanation of solidity characteristics of the case. – Square pianos. – How to recognize if the case is too weak and yields to the tension of the strings. – What is understood by racking. – Means employed sometimes to contribute to the solidity of the case – Upright pianos with vertical, oblique and semi–oblique strings. – Solidity of their frame. – Advantages of flanges, bars and iron hitch pin rails for stability of tuning and conserving the soundboard. – Counter–tension framing. – Advantages of this construction. – Grand pianos. – Advantages of bars and iron hitch pin rails in the construction of grand pianos as well as brass nuts and agraffes on the pin block. – Causes of solidity of the soundboard. – Principal places where strings break, and causes of breakage. – Means to avoid this. – Length of the speaking length of strings. – Blow

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