Interested in how pianos are tuned?

[blackstone]

If you are interested in how pianos are tuned, please visit my online piano tuning tutorial at www.blackstonepiano.com/tutorial/tutorial.htm   It's a free online resource for people who are curious and interested in learning more about piano tuning.  It features the full audio recording downloadable as MP3 files, both for individual notes in the temperament section and by bass and treble sections.  If you've ever tried to understand tuning from reading a book, you'll see how important it is to HEAR examples of what is being discussed. 

Enjoy,
Colin McCullough

[richard black]

Thanks for that, Colin, I've had a brief look and it's interesting. I'll be going back for more. And it prompted me to do something I'd been meaning to get round to for, oh, about 30 years and buy myself a proper piano-tuning lever! And a book on regulating. I've no intention of being anything but an emergency tuner but I'm interested in regulation and as a trained engineer I'm not scared of things that adjust with screws, springs and bit of bent wire.

[dan101]

I think that there are a lot of musicians out there that wish that they had taken a piano tuning course in their past. Thanks for the link.

[nyonyo]

I think that there are a lot of musicians out there that wish that they had taken a piano tuning course in their past. Thanks for the link.

Why does anyone who are not in the selling or buying piano wants to learn how to tune a piano? Unless one has many pianos, it can be beneficial. Otherwise it is easier to hire a piano tuner.

When I grew up my mom always said that I need to learn how to fix things such as television, radio etc. I kept telling her no need to learn that kind of thing, it is better to spend our time to do something that can make a lot of money so that we can pay people to do those kinds of things. By the way, I have an electrical engineering degree, but have no interest in learning how to fix house appliances. The same with piano, it is better to spend our time on practicing piano than learning how to tune piano. If one can play piano well, one can make more money than tuning pianos....Less physical work but more money...

[richard black]

Why does anyone who are not in the selling or buying piano wants to learn how to tune a piano?

Apart from the fact that many folks simply find it interesting to know - properly - how these things are done, there are plenty of imaginable situations where knowing at least roughly how to tune can be useful, the most obvious being when you turn up for a gig in the boondocks and the piano clearly hasn't been tuned since last April.

I'm happy to say I can fix almost any kind of machine or appliance, and although it's true I occasionally curse at them while I'm doing it, I find satisfaction in the achievement. In addition, I save money but I often also save _time_ - for example, many car repairs that take me an hour will take my neighbours longer than that by the time they've rung the garage, booked the appointment, driven there, taken the bus home... etc. etc. And if I'm fixing my own car (or whatever) I'll always check a few other things along the way.

Plus my neighbours are reluctant to complain about my piano playing because they never know when they might need me to fix their heater in a hurry, or jump-start their car, or put their kid's birthday present together. And on top of all that I've been known to charge some fairly hefty fees for fixing obscure and expensive bits of hi-fi equipment!

So yes, I'm glad I took things to bits as a kid....

[quantum]

I have a degree in music and I absolutely love tinkering, taking stuff apart and trying to fix anything and everything that is not working.  I may not fully understand how stuff works or how to fix them, but I thoroughly enjoy fixing stuff.  Go figure. 

Addendum...
Ok I will not change the transmission of your car, or add a 5th floor to your house 

[stars1234]

I haven't looked at your site yet, but am happy that you are laying out the fundamentals of how a piano it tuned.  Not many people understand the value of the 12th root of two!

Nor do they know how to set a tuning pin, without lots of practice.

Perhaps the best thing that can be done is to show/hear the differences between temperments, whether you are tunning according to in favor of third/sixths, giving a bit on the 4ths/5ths or visa/versa; do you tune to the partials of the 8va or the double octave? how stretching makes the 8va roll just a little, but that's what has to be done to get it to sound right to our ears.  --It can all get really complicated, fast.  But knowing the basics may help.   
I hope no one just goes out, gets a tuning hammer and tries to set a temperment.  I think, once a musician understands what's going on, then, listen to what is wanted and communicate that to the technician.   Piano tuning is an art of balancing out-of-tune so things sound smooth and good, but not so close to perfect, that you can only play in one key.