The Craft of

Piano Tuning
BY

Daniel Levitan

THE SOUNDBOARD PRESS

NEW YORK
 Contents
Introduction 1

PART ONE : THE TUNER ’ S EAR

FOUR LECTURES ON BASIC AURAL PIANO TUNING 9

Lecture One: Intervals and Beats 11
Lecture Two: Inharmonicity 35
Lecture Three: Compensating for Inharmonicity 67
Lecture Four: Tuning the Piano 91

SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS

A: Partials Above the Sixth 113

B: The Other Temperament Intervals 121
C: More on Difference Tones 124
D: More on Temperament Tuning 126
E: More on Octave Tuning 137
F: More on Unison Tuning 142
G: Intentional Mistuning 145

PART TWO : THE TUNER ’ S HAND

FUNDAMENTALS OF PIANO TUNING TECHNIQUE 153

The Speaking Length 155
The Front String 156
The Tuning Pin 158
The Tuning Hammer 162
The Tuner’s Hand 174
 SUPPLEMENTAL READINGS

H: Why Pianos Go Out of Tune 188

I: Efficient Tuning 193
J: Muting 194
K: Adjusting Pitch 216
L: Minimizing Physical Stress 227
M: Hearing Protection 231
N: Working as a Means of Mastering Craft 233

Acknowledgments 234

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES 237

INDEX 245
 Introduction
The craft of piano tuning is a collaboration between the ear and the
hand: The ear monitors the changing pitch of a piano string as the
hand adjusts its tension.
A tuner’s ear can detect minute changes in the pitch of a piano
string because it has become sensitive to certain aural sensations
produced by two strings vibrating together, sensations that change a
great deal when the pitch of one of the strings is altered slightly. A
tuner’s hand can accurately and stably control the tension of a piano
string because it has become sensitive to the tactile sensations pro-
duced by the string and by the system through which its tension is
adjusted.
Tuners develop these sensitivities of the ear and hand through
practice: The ear imagines how a change in pitch might improve the
sound of a piano, the hand attempts to make that change, and then
the ear judges the results. By repeating this process over and over a
tuner gradually becomes more expert, as the ear becomes more sen-
sitive to the part of the sound of the string that is affected by pitch
change and the hand becomes more capable of controlling that
sound.
If we have an innate talent for piano tuning, we can become
skilled tuners purely through this kind of repetitive practice, with
very little conscious awareness of what our ear and hand are doing.
But in learning to tune, most people find it useful to develop some
analytical skills. Analysis can not only help us to develop sensitivity in
our ears and hands more quickly and to solve problems more effi-
ciently; it can also help us to examine the practices of other tuners, to
understand why certain techniques are effective, to make our tunings
more consistent and accurate, and to develop new techniques.
The aim of the two long essays that form the heart of this
book—Four Lectures on Basic Aural Piano Tuning and Fundamentals of

1
2 INTRODUCTION

Piano Tuning Technique—is to help tuners develop their analytical

skills by describing key aspects of the physical systems that produce
the sensations they experience in tuning. Essentially, the two essays
are manuals of applied science: acoustics for the ear and mechanics
(plus a bit of neuroscience and biomechanics) for the hand. These
are the branches of science that have historically been most useful
in describing the aural and tactile environment within which the
practices of piano tuning have evolved.
But we should keep in mind that these two branches of science
do not completely describe the environment within which we prac-
tice our craft. The risk of learning theories as complete and effective
as the ones presented here is that they can easily distract our atten-
tion from whatever aspects of the tuning experience they don’t
describe. We are much more likely to accommodate those other
aspects as we work if we use our knowledge of theory, not as the
foundation of our practice, but as a tool to enhance it.
For example, piano tuners a hundred years ago had nothing
like our current systematic understanding of inharmonicity, but the
tunings they produced undoubtedly allowed for it even if those tun-
ings didn’t make sense in the light of the theories prevalent at the
time. There are surely other aspects of piano tuning as it is practiced
today that we don’t understand but that tuners a hundred years from
now (if there are any left) will be able to analyze and make a consis-
tent part of their work. Recent advances in the psychology of per-
ception, in chaos and turbulence theory, and in materials science all
seem poised to make notable contributions to our understanding of
our craft.
Science is concerned primarily with theory, so scientists learn
to be comfortable with—indeed, to seek out—situations in which
things don’t work even though theory says they should. Those are
precisely the situations that often lead to advances in science.
But comfort with practices that don’t work is disastrous to craftspeo-
ple. Instead, we learn to be comfortable with—indeed, to seek out—
situations in which things work well even though they make no
sense. Those are the situations in which we advance our craft and,
moreover, in which we are of use to science, because they often indi-
cate potentially fruitful avenues for exploration.
 INTRODUCTION 3

Since the theory of piano tuning does not completely describe

its practice, it can’t completely determine its practice. In other
words, it is not possible for us say that, because of the dictates of
theory, any particular practice in piano tuning is definitively correct
or incorrect. In this book, therefore, I have refrained for the most
part from advocating particular practices, preferring instead to point
out the ones that I have observed to be common among skilled tun-
ers. These practices are important for us to know about, not because
they embody a theory, but because they have proven themselves to
be effective.
Piano tuning resembles piano playing in many ways. Both are a
collaborative effort of the ear and the hand in which the ear imag-
ines a sound that the hand then attempts to produce. Both can be
learned without analysis, yet both have accrued a sizable body of
analytical theory. The theory in both cases is most useful when it is
understood to be descriptive rather than prescriptive—in other words,
to explain why skilled practitioners do what they do rather than to
dictate what they ought to do. Expert piano tuners and expert piano
players, even those who have made liberal use of analysis in develop-
ing their skills, are usually not consciously guided by theory in the
course of their work. And ultimately, piano tuning, like piano play-
ing, is judged not by how well it embodies a theory but by how well
it fulfills its purpose.
But the purposes of piano playing and piano tuning are quite
different: Piano playing is an art, whose purpose is to be musically
expressive; while piano tuning is a craft, whose purpose is to make a
piano more useful to a pianist.
A lack of analytical skills may not greatly impair the career of
pianist, whose success is due more often to a distinctive sound than
to an ability to describe the means by which it is produced. But
piano tuners, who usually need to be able to make a variety of pia-
nos useful to a variety of pianists in a variety of contexts, can benefit
greatly from having well-developed analytical skills. Good analytical
skills give a tuner access to a range of techniques and tactics,
whereas a lack of analytical skills tends to limit a tuner to one style
of tuning.
The pianist’s ear is fundamentally different from the tuner’s ear.
4 INTRODUCTION

The pianist’s ear must be sensitive to the artistic possibilities of

piano sound and so learns to perceive it as an integrated whole.
Pianists often do not distinguish the aspect of piano sound that can be
altered by tuning from its other aspects.
The tuner’s ear must be able not only to experience the sound
of a piano as a pianist would, but also to determine if and how its
tuning could be changed to make it more useful. Familiarity with tun-
ing theory is extremely useful to us when we need to make this sort of
determination, since it enables us to learn more easily from what
other tuners have found to be effective and to advise pianists regard-
ing the style of tuning that might be appropriate for them.
Analysis is especially helpful when a pianist is unhappy with the
sound of a piano, whether before or after it has been tuned. It can
even help us to decide whether that unhappiness has any physical
basis at all. Piano sound is very complex, and it is not at all unusual
for pianists (as well as piano tuners) to hear in it, to some degree,
what they expect to hear. A pianist’s reaction to the sound of a piano
is intentionally subjective and can be affected by, among other things,
the pianist’s emotional state and expectations. A tuning done for a
pianist with a very subjective bent by a tuner who has the pianist’s full
confidence is much more likely to satisfy that pianist than the identi-
cal tuning done by a tuner in whom the pianist has little faith. In the
latter case, analysis may show that the tuner needs to make use of
psychology to improve the sound of the piano for its player.
Even when a pianist’s impression that an instrument is “out of
tune” has a physical basis, it may have nothing to do with the tuning
of the piano, and remediation of the problem may require skills other
than tuning. To be fully prepared to make a piano more useful to a
pianist, a piano technician needs to be able to voice, regulate, and
repair, as well as to be familiar with keyboard harmony, piano litera-
ture, performance practices, recording technology, keyboard instru-
ment history, and many other topics. These subjects have been
thoroughly explored in a number of excellent and widely available
books. I have assumed that most readers will have already been
exposed to some of that material and will therefore have
at least a basic working knowledge of the piano and its nomenclature.
Neither have I included in this book any information about the
 INTRODUCTION 5

use of electronic tuning devices (ETDs). There are many excellent

ETDs on the market today, and their effectiveness as aids in rapid
and consistent tuning, pitch adjusting, minimizing ear fatigue, match-
ing two pianos, research, and for many other uses makes them a valu-
able part of any contemporary tuner’s toolkit. But they do not define
good tuning. Any ETD can suggest a variety of acceptable tunings
for a piano, and can help us to execute those tunings with great accu-
racy; but only a skilled aural tuner can offer an opinion as to the rela-
tive suitability of a particular tuning for the situation at hand.
In addition to the two main essays that form the heart of this
book, I have included a series of supplemental readings containing
useful or interesting information about the craft that I have not seen,
or have seen only rarely, in print elsewhere.
 Four Lectures on Basic Aural
Piano Tuning
Prepared for the 2006 convention of the AIARP, Cavalese, Italy

These lectures are dedicated to my teacher, Bill Garlick,

and to my colleague and friend, Marco DeLellis,
without whom they would not have been written.

Presentations of piano tuning theory typically begin with a description

of general tuning theory that is then applied more specifically to the
tuning of pianos. In these lectures, I have taken a different
approach, presenting the concepts of piano tuning theory to the
reader just as they present themselves to a tuner in the course of
tuning a piano, beginning with setting pitch and ending in the high
treble and low bass.
In the traditional approach, the subject of inharmonicity—an
acoustical phenomenon that is particularly pronounced in pianos
and has a significant impact on piano tuning—is typically addressed
as one of the last factors that modify general tuning theory in the
case of the piano. The approach I have taken has required me
instead to integrate the concept of inharmonicity into the material
from the outset.
By relegating inharmonicity to the end of its presentation, the
traditional approach seems to assume that piano tuners begin their
careers working mostly on large concert instruments, in which
inharmonicity presents relatively few difficulties, and then progress
to tuning smaller and smaller instruments as their skill increases. It
is for the benefit of those whose career paths may take the opposite
trajectory that I have chosen in these lectures to deal with inhar-
monicity right from the start.

9
10

These lectures are, however, quite similar to most other works

on piano tuning theory in at least one way: They spend an inordi-
nate amount of time discussing the theory of temperament tuning.
In a piano tuning that takes an hour, five minutes or less may be
devoted to the temperament; here, the discussion of temperament
tuning occupies all but the last few pages.
I think this is as it should be. A good understanding of the com-
plexities of the temperament in an environment of high and shifting
inharmonicity allows a tuner to set the temperament rapidly and
securely, freeing time for the more crucial, but less theoretically com-
plex, tuning of octaves and unisons.
Tuners have traditionally developed their skills in temperament
tuning for the most part subconsciously, through years of experience
tuning a variety of pianos. Although the analysis of the dynamics of
the temperament in Lectures Three and Four may seem needlessly
detailed, it is simply an explicit description of the complex and
sophisticated, but usually intuitive, thought processes of experienced
aural piano tuners.
 LECTURE ONE

Intervals and Beats

The use of beats in piano tuning—The range of usable beat rates—
Setting pitch with beats—The frequency relationships of octaves
and semitones—The partial series—The pitches of the first
six partials—Virtual strings—Cents and beats—Tuning unisons
using partials—Tuning octaves using partials—The intervals
of basic aural piano tuning—The influence of partials above the
6th—The distinctiveness of 5th-partial intervals
in equal temperament

THE USE OF BEATS IN PIANO TUNING

The piano is a musical instrument, and so most people assume that
piano tuning is a musical skill. Two musical skills that are familiar to
most people and that have to do with determining the pitches of
notes are perfect pitch, an innate ability to identify the pitches of iso-
lated notes, and relative pitch, a learned ability to identify the pitch
relationships among notes. Therefore, most people assume that piano
tuners use these two skills in the practice of their craft.
When we begin to tune a piano, however, we use these musical
skills only if the piano in front of us is unusually far out of tune; for
example, if its overall pitch level is a semitone flat. In that case, if we
have perfect pitch we can bring it approximately into tune by
matching its notes one by one to our inner sense of pitch; or, if we
lack perfect pitch, we can instead tune one of its notes to a standard
pitch and then use our sense of relative pitch to tune the rest by
playing simple arpeggios and scales.
Once the notes of the piano are reasonably close to being in
tune, however, we cease to listen to them in a musical way. Instead,
we begin to play only intervals—two notes struck simultaneously—

11
12 the tuner’s ear

Sound wave 1

Sound wave 2

In phase

Combined sound wave

figure 1.1. When two sound waves of the same frequency combine in phase,
they produce a stronger wave.

and to tune notes by listening for an acoustical phenomenon known

as beats.
Imagine two sound waves, both having the same frequency. If
we listen to them at the same time and their crests and troughs hap-
pen to match each other exactly—if they are in phase—then they
strengthen each other, as shown in Figure 1.1.
If, on the other hand, the crests of one match the troughs of
the other—if they are out of phase—then the two waves weaken each
other, as shown in Figure 1.2.
Now imagine that the two waves have slightly different fre-
quencies. In that case, they go regularly in and out of phase, as
shown in Figure 1.3, alternately strengthening and weakening each
other. This periodic strengthening and weakening of the combined
wave, which we hear as a regular increase and decrease in its vol-
ume, is called beating.
The rate at which two waves beat is equal to the difference in
their frequencies. For example, if one wave has a frequency of 440
 intervals and beats 13

Sound wave 1

Sound wave 2

Out of phase

Combined sound wave

figure 1.2. When two sound waves of the same frequency combine out of
phase, they produce a weaker wave.

Sound wave 1

Sound wave 2

In phase Out of phase In phase Out of phase In phase

Combined sound wave

figure 1.3. When two sound waves of slightly different frequencies combine,
they regularly strengthen and weaken each other.
14 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

cycles per second, or Hertz (Hz), and the other has a frequency of
439Hz, then they beat at the rate of 440 minus 439, or 1, beat per
second (bps).
Notice that the more closely matched two frequencies are, the
slower their beat rate. A wave whose frequency is 440Hz beats with
a wave whose frequency is 438Hz at a rate of 2bps, but at a rate of
only 0.5bps with a wave whose frequency is 439.5Hz.
Notice also that a beat rate gives no direct information about
pitch, since any two notes whose frequencies differ by the same
amount beat at the same rate. Counting beats, in other words, is only
useful for determining the pitch of a note if the pitch of the note with
which it is beating is already known.
Beats offer us a way of adjusting the relative pitches of two
notes with tremendous accuracy, much more than is possible
through the use of either perfect or relative pitch. In fact, listening
to beats allows piano tuners to achieve aurally a refinement and con-
sistency in tuning that closely matches, and at the highest levels sur-
passes, tunings achieved by the most sophisticated electronic devices.
Keep in mind, though, that the ability to hear and manipulate
beat rates is a technical, not a musical, skill. Most pianists do not
consciously isolate beat rates, but instead hear them as one compo-
nent of the overall tone quality of a piano. To please pianists, there-
fore, a piano tuner, whose ear has learned to isolate the beat rates of
intervals, must also be able to perceive piano sound as a musician
does—as an integrated whole.

THE RANGE OF USABLE BEAT RATES

The amount of time an interval on a piano sustains after being
struck limits the amount of time we have to detect, identify, and
alter its beat rate. In the bass, where sustain is relatively long, we
might be able to listen to an interval for as long as five seconds, and
to identify a beat rate of two or three times in those five seconds. In
the high treble, where sustain times are relatively shorter, many tun-
ers restrike intervals several times a second.
Most tuners find that they can most accurately count beats at
rates somewhere between 2bps and 10bps. We can listen to and
compare beat rates more rapid than around 15bps, but at those
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 15

speeds we tend to hear differences in beat rate more as differences

in texture.

SETTING PITCH WITH BEATS

We begin to tune a piano by setting one note in its midrange to a
standard pitch. The note most commonly used for this is A above
middle C. To a contemporary American piano tuner, this note has
various names, the most common being A4. The lowest C in the
piano is called C1; the notes above that are Cଈ1, D1, Dଈ1, and so on
up to the next C, which is called C2. The three lowest notes in the
piano are called A0, Aଈ0, and B0. The highest note in the piano is
called C8.
By international agreement, note A4 should be tuned to vibrate
at a frequency of 440Hz. We tune A4 to that frequency by matching
it to an independent pitch source, such as a tuning fork, which has
been manufactured to vibrate at 440Hz.
Since in virtually all pianos there are three strings on note A4,
we first mute two of the strings so that only one is allowed to sound;
otherwise, the sound of the two extra strings would interfere with
the sound of the string we want to tune. Then we play the unison
formed by our pitch source and the one remaining open string of A4.
If the two pitches are close but not identical, they will beat, as
we have seen, at a rate equal to the difference in their frequencies.
If, for example, our string has a frequency of 439Hz, it will beat with
our 440Hz pitch source at the rate of 1bps.
Notice, however, that if our string has a frequency of 441Hz, it
will also beat with our pitch source at the rate of 1bps. It may be diffi-
cult for us to tell whether the string is sharp or flat to the pitch source
if the two are very closely matched. If we are unsure, we can easily
find out by sharpening or flattening the string, listening for the beats
to increase or decrease in speed. When we hear no beats at all, we infer
that the open string is tuned to 440Hz.
Next we unmute the other two strings one at a time and using
our tuned string as a point of reference eliminate beats between the
first string and the other two. When we are done, we infer that all
three strings of the unison are tuned to 440Hz.
This process of setting pitch by listening to beats is not partic-
16 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

ular to piano tuners. Most instruments, whether they are stringed or

wind instruments, are tuned in this way, and not by the use of per-
fect or relative pitch. A standard pitch is played by a pitch source or
by a member of the ensemble, and then all the musicians play that
same note, listening for and eliminating beats.

THE FREQUENCY RELATIONSHIPS OF OCTAVES

AND SEMITONES
The next note that a piano tuner would typically tune is A3, the note
an octave below A4.
An octave is composed of two notes whose frequencies differ
by a factor of two. To put it another way, raising or lowering the
pitch of a note by an octave is equivalent to multiplying or dividing
its frequency by two. The frequency of A3, then, is half that of A4;
and since the frequency of A4 is, by international agreement, 440Hz,
the frequency of A3 should be 220Hz.
To tune A3 using A4 as a reference, we mute all but one string
of A3 and play the octave A3-A4, listening for beats. The difference
between the frequency of A4 and that of A3 is 440 minus 220, or
220, Hertz; therefore, there should be a beat of 220bps between the
two pitches. However, we have seen that this beat is far too rapid to
be useful in piano tuning. It is so rapid, in fact, that if we perceive it
at all it is not as a beat but as an actual pitch. This phantom pitch at
220Hz is called a difference tone, since its frequency is equal to the
difference between the two component frequencies of the interval.
If the two component notes of the octave A3-A4 are too far
apart for us to be able to hear beats between them, how then can we
tune A3 by listening to beats? Let’s put that question to one side for
the moment and see if we can tune a smaller interval on the piano
by listening to the beats between its two component notes.
The semitones Gଈ4-A4 and A4-Aଈ4 are the smallest intervals in
the piano that have A4 as one of their notes; perhaps they beat
slowly enough for us to tune them by counting beats. We can calcu-
late the beat rate of the semitone Gଈ4-A4 by calculating the fre-
quency of Gଈ4, and then subtracting that number from 440Hz.
The way in which an octave is divided into smaller intervals is
called its temperament, and the region of the piano in which a tuner
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 17

makes this division is called the temperament. Many hundreds of sys-

tems of temperament tuning have been devised over the years, but
by far the most common system used today is equal temperament, the
division of the octave into twelve semitones of equal size.
Lowering a pitch an octave is, as we have seen, equivalent to
dividing its frequency by two. To lower A4 by one-twelfth that
amount—by one equally tempered semitone—we have to divide its
frequency by a different, smaller factor. This factor, divided by itself
twelve times, should produce a quotient of exactly one half—in other
words, the factor that drops the pitch of a note by exactly one
octave. This smaller factor is the twelfth root of two. The number
one, divided by the twelfth root of two twelve times, becomes
exactly one half. This is a mathematical way of saying that lowering
a note by twelve equally tempered semitones is the same as lowering
it an octave.
The twelfth root of two is an irrational number—when written
as a decimal it is always approximate no matter how many decimal
places we use. Approximated to five decimal places it is 1.05946,
which is more than accurate enough for our purposes. If we divide 1
by this number twelve times, we get 0.50002, very close to one half.
To derive the frequency of Gଈ4 from A4, then, we divide
440Hz by the twelfth root of two. Dividing 440Hz by 1.05946, we
get about 415Hz. Subtracting that frequency from A4, we find that
the semitone Gଈ4-A4 beats at about 25bps. That, as we have seen, is
too fast for a tuner to hear accurately, so we can’t tune Gଈ4 to A4
directly by listening to the beat of the interval. Furthermore, any
interval that includes A4 and is larger than a semitone will clearly
beat even more quickly. How, then, using beats, can we tune any
intervals at all from A4? To understand how, we first have to under-
stand the partial series.

THE PARTIAL SERIES

Any time a string that is fixed at either end and held under tension is
set into motion, it vibrates back and forth over its whole length at a
frequency that we hear as the pitch of the string. In addition, the
string spontaneously divides into shorter lengths, each vibrating at a
different frequency. The string divides in half, in effect making two
18 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

strings half as long as the original, each one of which vibrates twice
as fast as the whole string. The string also divides into thirds, making
three even shorter strings that vibrate three times as fast as the whole
string; into fourths, making four strings that vibrate four times as
fast; and so on.
The effect of this spontaneous division of the string into
smaller segments is that when the string is played not just one but a
whole series of higher frequencies is produced, each higher fre-
quency being an integral multiple of the frequency of the whole
string. Each of these many frequencies produced by the string con-
tributes to its overall sound, and so collectively they are called par-
tial pitches, or partials for short.
While in theory this series of partial pitches is infinite, the par-
tial series of a real piano string does not go on indefinitely. The
higher partials of piano strings have progressively less volume and
sustain than the lower ones, and eventually become so short and weak
as to effectively cease to exist. In any case, the limit of frequencies
that most people can hear is around 20,000Hz, so of course any par-
tials above that frequency can’t be heard and therefore make no con-
tribution to the sound of a string. As a consequence, the treble strings
in a piano have many fewer audible partials than those in the bass. It
is quite easy to hear partials up to the 32nd in the low bass of a piano,
quite difficult to hear partials above the 2nd in the high treble.

THE PITCHES OF THE FIRST SIX PARTIALS

We have seen that when two notes are an octave apart, the fre-
quency of the upper note is twice that of the lower note. The 2nd
partial, which is twice the frequency of the 1st, is therefore an
octave above the 1st partial. On our note A4, then, the 2nd partial is
A5. Its frequency should be 2 times 440, or 880, Hertz.
Similarly, the 4th partial, which is twice the frequency of the
2nd, is an octave above the 2nd partial—two octaves above the 1st.
On our note A4, the 4th partial is A6. Its frequency should be 4
times 440, or 1760, Hertz.
The 3rd partial is a twelfth—an octave plus a fifth—above the
1st partial. On our note A4, the 3rd partial is E6, and its frequency
should be 3 times 440, or 1320, Hertz.
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 19

STRING A4
2 3 4 5 6
1

figure 1.4. The first six partials of A4.

The 6th partial is a nineteenth—a double octave plus a fifth—

above the 1st partial, an octave higher than the 3rd partial. On our
note A4, the 6th partial is E7. Its frequency should be 6 times 440,
or 2640, Hertz.
Notice that the pitch of a partial always goes up an octave
when its number doubles. The 2nd partial is always an octave higher
than the 1st, the 4th an octave higher than the 2nd, the 6th an
octave higher than the 3rd, the 10th an octave higher than the 5th,
and so on.
The 5th partial is a major seventeenth—two octaves plus a
major third—above the 1st. On our note A4, the 5th partial is Cଈ7.
Its frequency should be 5 times 440, or 2200, Hertz.
These first six partials of A4 are shown schematically in Figure
1.4. They are the only ones that are isolated and analyzed in basic
aural piano tuning. In ascending order, beginning with the 2nd par-
tial, they will always be an octave, a twelfth, two octaves, a major
seventeenth, and a nineteenth above the 1st partial.

VIRTUAL STRINGS
As we have seen, the 2nd partial of a vibrating string is produced by
its spontaneous division in half. Let’s now expand that idea in a way
that will help us later to conceptualize some of the more compli-
cated aspects of tuning theory.
The 2nd partial of the whole string can be thought of as the
virtual 1st partial of the virtual 1/2-strings formed by the division of
the whole string. Similarly, the 4th partial of the whole string can be
thought of as the virtual 2nd partial of the same virtual 1/2-strings,
20 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

virtual
1/2
strings
1 2 3 4
STRING A4
2 4 6 8
1

figure 1.5. The virtual 1/2-strings of A4.

virtual
1/3
strings
1 2 3
STRING A4
3 6 9
1

figure 1.6. The virtual 1/3-strings of A4.

since it is an octave above their virtual 1st partial; and the 6th partial
of the whole string can be thought of as the virtual 3rd partial of the
virtual 1/2-strings, since it is a perfect twelfth above their virtual 1st
partial. This alternate way of conceptualizing the partial series of A4
is shown in Figure 1.5.
To put it another way, we can think of the whole string not
only as spontaneously dividing in half; we can also think of the virtual
1/2-strings formed by this division as having a complete virtual partial
series of their own, exactly equivalent in their pitch relationships to the
partial series of the whole string, only an octave higher. This virtual par-
tial series is composed of all the partials of the whole string whose
numbers are multiples of 2.
Now let’s picture the whole string as being divided into three
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 21

identical smaller strings, as shown in Figure 1.6. The virtual 1st par-
tial of these virtual 1/3-strings is the 3rd partial of the whole string.
The virtual 2nd partial of the virtual 1/3-strings is the 6th partial of
the whole string, an octave above the 3rd partial of the whole string.
The virtual 3rd partial of the virtual 1/3-strings is the 9th partial of
the whole string, a perfect twelfth above the 3rd partial of the whole
string.
These virtual 1/3-strings, in other words, can also be thought
of as having their own complete virtual partial series, exactly equiva-
lent in their pitch relationships to the partial series of the whole
string, only a perfect twelfth higher. This virtual partial series is
composed of all the partials of the whole string whose numbers are
multiples of 3.
Similarly, we can picture the whole string as being divided into
virtual 1/4-strings, with a virtual partial series composed of all the
partials of the whole string whose numbers are multiples of 4; into
virtual 1/5-strings, with a virtual partial series composed of all the
partials of the whole string whose numbers are multiples of 5; and
into virtual 1/6-strings, with a virtual partial series composed of all
the partials of the whole string that are multiples of 6. To make a
general statement, each partial of the whole string can also be thought of
as the 1st partial of a virtual string having a complete partial series com-
posed of all the partials of the whole string whose numbers are multiples of
the number of the partial.

CENTS AND BEATS

Let’s return now to our unison at A4. The pitch source we used to
tune its first string sounded only the pitch A440, and so it beat only
with the 1st partial of the string. But when we unmuted a second
string and listened to the unison between the two strings, we would
have heard beats not only between their 1st partials, but also between
all their other pairs of audible partials.
Let’s say that the second string was flat relative to the first by
one-hundredth the distance between A4 and Gଈ4. This distance,
one hundredth of a semitone, is called a cent.
What would be the beat rate of this out-of-tune unison? To
know that, we would have to know the frequencies of the two
22 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

strings and find the difference between them. We already know the
frequency of the first string: We set it to 440Hz. Now, in the same
way that we were able to derive the frequency of Gଈ4 from A4 by
dividing the frequency of A4 by the twelfth root of two, we can find
out what the frequency of the out-of-tune 1st partial of the second
string would be by dividing the frequency of A4 by one hundredth
that amount, or one cent. That would be the twelve-hundredth root
of two, which is around 1.00058.
Dividing 440Hz by 1.00058, we get 439.74Hz. This should be
the frequency of the 1st partial of the second string. The 1st partial
of the second string, then, should beat with the 1st partial of the
first string at the rate equal to their difference, about 0.25bps.
As we have seen, for a piano tuner this is a rather slow beat, dif-
ficult to hear accurately. However, the 2nd partials of the two strings
should beat twice as fast. Here’s why: Although the 2nd partials are
also one cent apart, their frequencies are double the frequencies of
the 1st partials, and therefore so is their beat rate. The 2nd partial of
the first string should be twice the frequency of its 1st partial—twice
440, or 880, Hertz—and the 2nd partial of the second string should
be twice the frequency of its 1st partial—twice 439.74, or 879.49Hz.
These two 2nd partials, therefore, should beat at double the rate of
the 1st partials, about 0.5bps, which is much easier to hear.
There is a crucial distinction to be made here between cents
and beats. Cents represent a fraction of a semitone: One cent is
always one-hundredth of a semitone, whether we are in the middle
of the piano, the bass, or the treble. The number of beats per second
represented by one cent of difference, however, changes depending
on the frequencies of the notes involved. The higher notes are in
the piano, the higher their frequencies, and therefore the more beats
a cent of difference represents.
Beat rates double when an interval goes up an octave, and halve
when an interval drops an octave. As we have just seen, at 440Hz, one
cent is about a quarter of a beat; while at 880Hz, a cent is about half
a beat. At 1760Hz, an octave higher, a cent and a beat are roughly
equivalent.
To put it another way, one beat per second at 440Hz, a region of
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 23

the piano where semitones are about 25Hz apart, is equivalent to

about four cents. But that same beat per second at 880Hz, an octave
higher, a region where semitones are about 50Hz apart, is only equiv-
alent to about two cents; and an octave higher still, where semitones
are about 100Hz apart, a beat and a cent are roughly equivalent.

TUNING UNISONS USING PARTIALS

Returning to our unison, if we calculate its beat rate at this higher
level, an octave above the 2nd partial level—in other words, at the
level of the 4th partial—we find that the unison should indeed beat
at the rate of about 1bps: The 4th partial of the first string should
have a frequency of 4 times 440, or 1760, Hertz; and one cent down
from that (1760 divided by 1.00058) is 1758.99Hz, making the beat
between the two partials just about 1bps.
At the level of the 8th partials, an octave higher still, the par-
tials should beat twice a second. All these pairs of partials are one
cent apart, but the higher their frequencies, the greater the differ-
ence between them in terms of Hertz, and therefore of beats.
The presence of all these faster-beating higher partials enables
us to tune our unison with much greater refinement than if we could
only hear the relatively slow beat at the level of the 1st partials.
Eliminating the twice-a-second beat of the 8th partials is much eas-
ier than eliminating the once-in-four-seconds beat of the 1st par-
tials. And, of course, the unison has many additional pairs of higher
partials that beat even more rapidly.
Notice that when we tune this way, listening to beats, our ears
are more often than not focused on pitches higher than those of the
notes we are tuning. If we always tuned using perfect or relative
pitch, our ears would remain focused on the pitches of the 1st par-
tials of notes. Instead, since we listen to beats, our ears are usually
focused on pitches much higher than that.
Listening to beats allows us to tune unisons in the piano with
great refinement, much greater than is the case with almost any
other instrument with the exception of the organ and its relatives.
But in the organ, unisons are tuned for a different purpose. They
are usually tuned between ranks of pipes with different timbres for
24 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

the purpose of creating novel tone colors. In the piano, unisons are
tuned among three strings that are as identical as possible for the
purpose of creating greater volume and richness.
The three strings of a piano unison inevitably have minute dif-
ferences in tone color. These differences come from a variety of
sources, including the density of the hammer felt striking each
string, the precise moment the hammer contacts each string, and
the position of each string on the bridge. In addition, the vibrations
of the three strings influence each other through the bridge. The
large number of higher partials, the long sustain time, and the lack
of vibrato in piano strings mean that these slight variations in tone
will all be audible in the sound of the unison.
The sound of a single piano string is pure and lifeless com-
pared with the sound of a three-stringed unison, which, being much
more complex, helps to give the illusion of life to piano tone. It is
often said that the most important interval in piano tuning is the
unison. This is not just because unisons that have gone out of tune
will be noticed by pianists long before other intervals that have
drifted much more. It is also because the tuning of its unisons deter-
mines to such a great degree the tone quality of a piano.

TUNING OCTAVES USING PARTIALS

Let’s return now to the octave we wanted to tune between A3 and
A4. We have seen that the beat between the 1st partials of these two
notes is too rapid to hear. However, we have also seen that the
whole string A3 can be thought of as being divided into virtual
1/2-strings whose pitch is an octave higher than A3, or A4. Although
we cannot tune the 1st partial of A3 directly to the 1st partial of A4,
we can tune a unison between the virtual 1/2-strings of A3 and the whole
string of A4, as shown in Figure 1.7. We can hear beats between all
the partials of the virtual 1/2-strings and the whole string, just as
when we tuned a unison among the three whole strings of A4. And
although we are not listening directly to the 1st partial of A3, once
we have matched the virtual 1/2-strings of A3 to the whole string of
A4, we can infer that the 1st partial of A3 has been correctly tuned
an octave lower than A4.
Notice that the 2nd partial of A3 has the same pitch as the 1st
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 25

STRING A4
2 3 4 5 6
1

virtual
1/2
strings
1 2 3 4 5 6
STRING A3
2 4 6 8 10 12
1

octave

figure 1.7. The coincident partials of the octave A3–A4.

partial of A4. If there are no beats between these two partials, we say
that the octave is pure at the 2:1 level. Similarly, the 4th partial of A3
has the same pitch as the 2nd partial of A4. If we eliminate beats
between these two partials, we say that the octave is pure at the 4:2
level. The 6th partial of A3 has the same pitch as the 3rd partial of
A4. If we there are no beats between these two partials, we say that
the octave is pure at the 6:3 level.
Pairs of partial like these, whose pitches are close enough to
each other to have the same pitch name, are called coincident partials.
In the unison, all partials are coincident.
In the octave, every partial in the upper note is coincident with
a partial twice its number in the lower note. All these pairs of coin-
cident partials can be expressed as ratios, such as 4:2, 6:3, 8:4, and so
on. If we remove the common factors from these ratios, they all
reduce down to the ratio of 2:1. This ratio, whose numbers have no
common factors, is the fundamental ratio of the octave.
The fundamental ratio of the octave, 2:1, indicates not only
that the 2:1 level is its lowest level of coincident partials, but also
that an octave is tuned as a unison between the virtual 1/2-strings of
its lower note and the whole string of its upper note.
26 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

THE INTERVALS OF BASIC AURAL PIANO TUNING

All the intervals of basic aural piano tuning are tuned in the same
way the octave is tuned: as unisons. Some, like the octave, are tuned
as unisons between a whole string and a virtual string; others are
tuned as unisons between two virtual strings.
Each interval of basic aural piano tuning has a fundamental
ratio, composed, like the 2:1 fundamental ratio of the octave, of two
integers with no common factors. The fundamental ratio of each
interval, like the fundamental ratio of the octave, indicates not only
the lowest level of coincident partials of that interval, but also what
combination of whole and virtual strings form the unison whose
beat we listen to when we tune the interval.
Since in basic aural piano tuning we isolate and analyze no par-
tial higher than the 6th, we can generate a complete list of all the
intervals of basic aural piano tuning by combining the integers 1
through 6 into every possible ratio that has no common factors, as
shown in Table 1.1.

fundamental ratio interval

1:1 unison
2:1 octave
3:2 perfect fifth (P5)
3:1 perfect twelfth (P12)
4:3 perfect fourth (P4)
4:1 double octave
5:4 major third (M3)
5:3 major sixth (M6)
5:2 major tenth (M10)
5:1 major seventeenth (M17)
6:5 minor third (m3)
6:1 perfect nineteenth (P19)

table 1.1. The fundamental ratios of the intervals of basic

aural piano tuning.
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 27

In addition to its lowest pair of coincident partials, indicated by its

fundamental ratio, each interval also has higher levels of coincident
partials, all of which are multiples of the fundamental ratio. If one of
these higher levels of coincident partials does not include a partial
higher than the 6th, then that level is isolated and analyzed in basic
aural piano tuning.
In the following list of the intervals of basic aural piano tuning,
the intervals have been arranged in order of size. For each interval,
the fundamental ratio of the interval is given, along with any multi-
ples of that ratio that use no partial higher than the 6th. For each
pair of coincident partials in the list, the pitch of the coincident par-
tials is given for the case in which A3 is the lower note of the interval.
Unison
Fundamental ratio, 1:1. Six levels of coincident partials have no par-
tial higher than the 6th. In the unison at A3, these partials are coinci-
dent at A3 (1:1), A4 (2:2), E5 (3:3), A5 (4:4), Cଈ6 (5:5), and E6 (6:6).
Minor third (m3)
Fundamental ratio, 6:5. Only one level of coincident partials has no
partial higher than the 6th. In the m3 A3-C4, these partials are coin-
cident at E6.
Major third (M3)
Fundamental ratio, 5:4. Only one level of coincident partials has no
partial higher than the 6th. In the M3 A3-Cଈ4, these partials are
coincident at Cଈ6.
Perfect fourth (P4)
Fundamental ratio, 4:3. Only one pair of coincident partials has no
partial higher than the 6th. In the P4 A3-d4, these partials are coin-
cident at A5.
Perfect fifth (P5)
Fundamental ratio, 3:2. Two pairs of coincident partials have no
partial higher than the 6th. In the P5 A3-E4, the 3rd partial of the
lower note is coincident with the 2nd partial of the upper note at E5
(the 3:2 P5), and the 6th partial of the lower note is coincident with
the 4th partial of the upper note at E6 (the 6:4 P5).
28 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

Major sixth (M6)

Fundamental ratio, 5:3. Only one pair of coincident partials has no
partial higher than the 6th. In the M6 A3-Fଈ4, these partials are
coincident at Cଈ6.
Octave
Fundamental ratio, 2:1. Three pairs of coincident partials have no
partial higher than the 6th. In the octave A3-A4, the 2nd partial of
the lower note is coincident with the 1st partial of the upper note at
A4 (the 2:1 octave), the 4th partial of the lower note is coincident
with the 2nd partial of the upper note at A5 (the 4:2 octave), and the
6th partial of the lower note is coincident with the 3rd partial of the
upper note at E6 (the 6:3 octave).
Major tenth (M10)
Fundamental ratio, 5:2. Only one pair of coincident partials has no
partial higher than the 6th. In the M10 A3-Cଈ5, these partials are
coincident at Cଈ6.
Perfect twelfth (P12)
Fundamental ratio, 3:1. Two pairs of coincident partials have no
partial higher than the 6th. In the P12 A3-E5, the 3rd partial of the
lower note is coincident with the 1st partial of the upper note at E5
(the 3:1 P12), and the 6th partial of the lower note is coincident with
the 2nd partial of the upper note at E6 (the 6:2 P12).
Double octave
Fundamental ratio, 4:1. Only one pair of coincident partials has no
partial higher than the 6th. In the double octave A3-A5, these par-
tials are coincident at A5.
Major seventeenth (M17)
Fundamental ratio, 5:1. Only one pair of coincident partials has no
partial higher than the 6th. In the M17 A3-Cଈ6, these partials are
coincident at Cଈ6.
Perfect nineteenth (P19)
Fundamental ratio, 6:1. Only one pair of coincident partials has no
partial higher than the 6th. In the P19 A3-E6, these partials are
coincident at E6.
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 29

It is no coincidence that these intervals of basic aural piano tuning

are by and large the same intervals that are thought of as consonant
in traditional harmony. But they are not used in piano tuning
because of this fact. Rather, they are used in piano tuning because
their beat rates are convenient. In music, dissonance is as common as
consonance, if not more common. If dissonant intervals, such as
minor seconds and tritones, had useful beat rates in the midrange of
the piano, they would undoubtedly be used in piano tuning just as
commonly as consonances.
Note that the spelling of intervals in piano tuning is a simpli-
fied version of the spelling of intervals in traditional keyboard har-
mony. In piano tuning, every black key on the piano is called a sharp,
never a flat. For a piano tuner, therefore, the interval between D and
the black note that lies between F and G is always spelled D-Fଈ,
whereas in the spelling practices of traditional keyboard harmony
the upper note could also be called G .
The modern practice of equal temperament tuning does not
recognize traditional harmonic distinctions: All intervals are named
solely on the basis of the number of semitones they comprise. For
example, piano tuners always refer to the interval Aଈ-D as a major
third, even though in traditional keyboard harmony this name
would be incorrect, and the interval would properly be called a
diminished fourth.
The only time we need to be aware of the distinctions tradi-
tional keyboard harmony makes among the different ways of spelling
identical-looking keyboard intervals is when we are tuning historical
temperaments. If the spelling practices of traditional keyboard har-
mony are important to the conceptual framework of a historical tem-
perament, then of course they should be retained.

THE INFLUENCE OF PARTIALS ABOVE THE 6 TH

Partials decrease in volume and sustain as they go up the partial
series, and so higher pairs of coincident partials gradually contribute
less and less to the overall sound of an interval. In octaves in the low
bass, the 32:16 pair of coincident partials is clearly audible; in the
highest octaves of the piano, only the lowest few pairs of coincident
partials can be heard.
30 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

figure 1.8. The coincident partials of the P5 A3-E4 and the P12 A3-E5.

And while it is true that a beginning tuner needs to analyze

coincident partials only up to the 6th, we should keep in mind that
these higher levels of coincident partials contribute to the sounds of
intervals as long as they are physically present in the strings and are
not so high in pitch as to be inaudible. Two factors determine the
extent to which higher levels of coincident partials influence the way
we tune an interval: to what extent they are audible, and how the
interval is tempered.
The number of audible coincident partials in an interval is lim-
ited by the physical restrictions of music wire and the physiological
limits of human hearing.
The unison, with a fundamental ratio of 1:1, has the greatest
number of audible coincident partials, since every partial in one
string matches a partial in the other.
The octave, with a fundamental ratio of 2:1, has the next great-
est number of audible coincident partials: Every even-numbered
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 31

STRING A5
2 3
1

virtual
1/3
strings
1 2 3
STRING D4
3 6 9
1

virtual
1/4
strings
1 2 3
STRING A3
4 8 12
1

P4
double octave

figure 1.9. The coincident partials of the P4 A3-D4 and the

double octave A3-E5.
partial of the lower string is coincident with a partial of the higher
string, and all the partials of the higher string are coincident with a
partial of the lower string.
The two intervals with the next greatest number of audible
coincident partials are the P5, with a fundamental ratio of 3:2, and
the P12, with a fundamental ratio of 3:1. The coincident partials of
these two intervals are shown in Figure 1.8. Notice that tuning a P5
is equivalent to tuning a unison between virtual 1/3-strings and vir-
tual 1/2-strings, while tuning a P12 is equivalent to tuning a unison
between virtual 1/3-strings and a whole string. If we assume that a
whole string has about the same number of audible partials as virtual
1/2-strings of the same pitch, we can expect both intervals to have
about the same number of audible coincident partials.
The two intervals with the next greatest number of audible
coincident partials are the P4, with a fundamental ratio of 4:3, and
the double octave, with a fundamental ratio of 4:1, shown in Figure
32 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

1.9. The reason these two intervals are roughly equivalent in their
number of audible coincident partials should now be clear: The vir-
tual 1/4-strings of the lower note form unisons with the virtual
1/3-strings of the upper note of the P4 and the whole string that is
the upper note of the double octave.
The four intervals with the next greatest number of audible
coincident partials, all shown in Figure 1.10, are the M3, with a fun-
damental ratio of 5:4; the M6, with a fundamental ratio of 5:3; the
M10, with a fundamental ratio of 5:2; and the M17, with a funda-
mental ratio of 5:1. The virtual 1/5-strings of the lower note form
unisons with the virtual 1/4-strings of the upper note of the M3, the
virtual 1/3-strings of the upper note of the M6, the virtual
1/2-strings of the upper note of the M10, and the whole string that
is the upper note of the M17.
Finally, the intervals of basic aural tuning with the least num-
ber of audible coincident partials are the m3, with a fundamental
ratio of 6:5, and the P19, with a fundamental ratio of 6:1.
To draw a general conclusion, the lower the first number of the
fundamental ratio of an interval, the greater is its number of audible
coincident partials.
Although the m3 has, along with the P19, the least number of
audible coincident partials of all the intervals of basic aural piano
tuning, it sounds much rougher to the ear than the P19. The reason
is that the ear hears in a m3 the beating of its coincident partials not
only at the 6:5 level, but also at the 7:6 level—in other words, the
beating of the unison formed by the virtual 1/7-strings of the lower
note and the virtual 1/6-strings of the upper note. The 7:6 m3 has a
very rapid beat in equal temperament and contributes a good deal of
its characteristic roughness to the sound of the m3.

THE DISTINCTIVENESS OF 5 TH - PARTIAL INTERVALS IN

EQUAL TEMPERAMENT
This brings us to the second factor that influences the extent to
which we must take into account higher levels of coincident partials
in tuning the intervals of basic aural piano tuning: the way the inter-
vals are tempered.
 INTERVALS AND BEATS 33

STRING C#6
2 3
1

virtual
1/2
strings
1 2 3
STRING C#5
2 4 6
1

virtual
1/3
strings
1 2 3
STRING F#4
3 6 9
1

virtual
1/4
strings
1 2 3
STRING C#4
4 8 12
1

virtual
1/5
strings
1 2 3
STRING A3
5 10 15
1

M3
M6
M10
M17

figure 1.10. The coincident partials of the M3 A3-C࠮4, the M6 A3-F࠮4,

the M10 A3-C࠮5, and the M17 A3-C࠮6.
34 THE TUNER ’ S EAR

The unison is never tempered. It is always meant to be tuned

pure; in other words, all its many pairs of coincident partials are
meant to match perfectly and produce no beats.
The octave and the double octave are also never tempered: All
their pairs of coincident partials are meant to match perfectly and
produce no beats. However, since there are only half as many audible
pairs of coincident partials in the octave as in the unison, octaves are
generally not as objectionable as unisons if both are equally out of
tune. Double octaves, with even fewer pairs of audible coincident
upper partials, are generally less objectionable still.
In equal temperament, the P4, the P5, the P12, and the P19 are
all tempered to a very small degree, around two cents.
The remaining intervals, the m3, the M3, the M6, the M10,
and the M17, are much more heavily tempered: sixteen cents for the
m3 and M6, and fourteen cents for the rest. They are tempered so
much that the beating at their lowest level of coincident partials is
quite easy for the ear to distinguish from the much more rapid beat-
ing at higher levels. This quality of having one rapid and easily dis-
tinguished beat gives the latter intervals a fundamentally different
character from the former.
Notice that all the latter intervals include the 5th partial, while
none of the former do. This means that when we tune an interval
lacking the 5th partial in equal temperament, we ordinarily listen as
much to its texture, to its cloud of beating coincident partials, as we
do to a particular beat rate at one specific level of coincident par-
tials. In contrast, when we tune a 5th-partial interval in equal tem-
perament, we typically ignore the contribution to its texture of its
higher levels of audible coincident partials and hear it as an interval
with a single crisp, clear beat.
We have seen that the P4, P5, and P12 have more audible pairs
of coincident partials than the other tempered intervals of basic
aural piano tuning. Therefore, tempering them makes them rougher
than it makes the other intervals. Perhaps one of the reasons that
equal temperament has become the standard temperament of mod-
ern piano tuning is that it allows the P4, P5, and P12 to be lightly
tempered, at the expense of the 5th-partial intervals.
 Fundamentals of Piano
Tuning Technique
The current widespread use of electronic tuning devices has
revealed a basic truth about piano tuning: It is a skill of the hand
more than it is a skill of the ear. In learning piano tuning, a tuner’s
attention has traditionally been focused on training the ear to hear
beats and on distributing those beats among the intervals of a piano,
while the hand has been left to develop on its own. Yet now that the
visual display of a machine can be readily substituted for the ear,
allowing virtually anyone to produce an acceptable tuning without
any aural skills at all, it is clearer than ever before how crucial good
hand skills are to the practice of the craft.
In a way, tuners have always known this. It is a commonplace
among tuners that one’s skill is revealed by unison tuning. The three
strings of a unison should be, from the standpoint of the ear, the
easiest strings in a piano to tune, since they are all meant to be
exactly the same pitch. In practice, though, unison tuning is capable
of seemingly endless refinement. This is because a tuner’s mastery of
the subtle nuances of unison tuning depends almost entirely on the
finely developed capability of the hand to accurately make minute
and stable changes in the pitch of a piano string.

153
figure 1. The system through which the tension of the speaking length is
adjusted and stabilized.

154
 The Speaking Length
When we tune a piano string, we adjust the tension of one small seg-
ment, called the speaking length. The speaking length lies between
the two termination points of the string—a bridge pin and an upper
termination such as an agraffe or capo bar. The vibrations of the
speaking length are transmitted through the bridge to the sound-
board, producing the sound we listen to when we tune.
But we don’t adjust the tension of the speaking length directly.
Instead, we adjust it by manipulating the tension of the front string,
the portion of the string that lies on the near side of the upper
termination.
We manipulate the tension of the front string by manipulating
the tuning pin to which it is attached.
We manipulate the tuning pin with a tuning hammer.
And finally, we manipulate the tuning hammer with our hand.
The process of stably adjusting the tension of the speaking
length by manipulating the front string, tuning pin, and tuning
hammer is generally referred to as setting the pin. It may seem like an
unnecessarily complex and roundabout way to tune a string, but we
should not be too quick to condemn it. It has evolved into its cur-
rent form over the span of several centuries, and it remains the uni-
versal method for tuning piano strings, numerous patents of
alternative systems notwithstanding. Using this system, a skilled
tuner can quickly, reliably, and accurately make a change in the pitch
of A4 of two tenths of a cent, equivalent to one part in 10,000.
Clearly, this system is well suited to its purpose.

155
 The Front String
The front string has two functions: to change the tension of the
speaking length, and to hold the speaking length at pitch.
The two hallmarks of expert piano tuning, accuracy and stabil-
ity, depend on our ability to control the front string as it performs
these two functions. Accurate tuning requires accurate manipulation
of the speaking length with the front string, and stable tuning
requires a finely developed sense of what tension of the front string
will stably hold the speaking length at pitch.
Lacking the skill to adjust the speaking length with the front
string, a novice tuner often finds it difficult to tune accurately, and
may, for example, move a tuning pin and its attached front string a
fair amount without making any discernible change in the pitch of
the speaking length, only to find that a very slight additional motion
suddenly changes its pitch a great deal. This is because changes in
the tension of the front string only produce changes in the tension
of the speaking length once they are great enough to overcome the
static friction of the upper termination point of the string. Once this
static friction is overcome, the friction at the upper termination
changes to kinetic, or rolling, friction, which for typical piano
strings and upper terminations is much lower than static friction.
This lower kinetic friction allows the tension of the front string to
pass through to the speaking length more easily, resulting in a sud-
den large change in the pitch of the speaking length.
A novice tuner also frequently finds it difficult to tune stably,
and may, for example, put the speaking length exactly at target pitch
only to find that a few forceful blows on the key throw it wildly out
of tune, even though the tuning pin has not been touched again.
To hold the speaking length stably at pitch, the tension of the
front string must be slightly higher than the tension of the speaking
length. When the speaking length is struck forcefully, a shock wave

156
 THE FRONT STRING 157

runs down the string to the upper termination and the tension of
the speaking length increases slightly. The tension of the front
string must be high enough that when the shock wave reaches the
upper termination, the momentary release of static friction there
doesn’t allow the increased tension of the speaking length to pull
some of the front string across the upper termination, thereby flat-
tening the pitch of the speaking length.
On the other hand, the tension of the front string must not be
too much higher than that of the speaking length, or it may pull
the speaking length across the upper termination, sharpening its
pitch. This can happen either spontaneously or as the result of a
forceful blow.
Although in theory there is one ideal tension for any given
front string that will hold a particular speaking length most securely
at pitch, as a practical matter there is a range of tensions for the
front string that hold the speaking length securely. The hand skill of
piano tuning consists to a large extent of determining what that
range is, and then of putting the speaking length at pitch with the
front string in that range.
Of the two hallmarks of good tuning, accuracy and stability,
stability is probably the more important. From a practical stand-
point, it is preferable to leave a string stable but slightly out of tune
than to leave it perfectly in tune but unstable.
 The Tuning Pin
The motions of the tuning pin—The axes of a strung tuning pin

THE MOTIONS OF THE TUNING PIN

A tuning pin is a short, thick section of steel rod, squared off at one
end so that it can be manipulated with a tuning hammer, pierced by
a hole just below the squared-off portion so that a string can be
securely attached to it, and threaded at the other end so that it can,
when necessary, be turned out of its hole in a pin block. The hole,
being smaller than the tuning pin, holds the pin by friction.
A tuning pin mounted in a pin block can move in only two
directions:
First, it can rotate around its long axis. When a rotational force
around this axis is applied to the squared-off portion of the pin, the
exposed portion above the pin block twists, flexing around its long
axis. It can twist only a small amount, though, because at a certain
point the force becomes sufficiently large to overcome the static
friction of the pin block on the threaded portion of the pin, and the
pin begins to turn. The change from twisting to turning begins at
the top of the pin and moves down. Once the entire pin has begun
to turn, it continues as long as rotational force is applied it until it
either comes free of the block again or buries itself completely.
The second way a tuning pin mounted in a pin block can move
is by rotating around one of the infinite number of short axes that
pass through it from side to side—in other words, by tilting: When
the top of the pin moves in one direction, the bottom tries to move
in the opposite direction.
We will assume that these short, tilting axes are located halfway
down the portion of the tuning pin that is gripped by the pin
block—roughly, its threaded portion. Of course, if the pin block has

158
 THE TUNING PIN 159

pin bushings, the tilting axes are higher than they are in a block
without bushings.
Tilting a tuning pin moves it only a limited amount. As the pin
tilts, it flexes almost exclusively in the exposed portion above the pin
block; the wood of the pin block, compressed by the pin, flexes as
well. The more we tilt a pin, the more elastic forces in both it and the
pin block resist further tilting. This means that most of the motion we
produce when we tilt a pin occurs when we first apply force.
Within the ordinary range of forces used in piano tuning, a
tuning pin can be considered to be perfectly elastic: Whether we
flex it by twisting or by tilting, as soon as we release it the pin
immediately springs back to its original, unflexed state.
The same is true of the wood of the pin block: Upon release of
the ordinary tilting forces of tuning, it immediately springs back to
its unflexed state. However, we must take some care in tilting the
pin, since the wood of the pin block can be forced more easily than
the pin past its elastic limit, and be permanently crushed.
Because of its elasticity, the tuning pin is not ordinarily a
source of instability in tuning. The portion of the tuning pin above
the pin block springs into a stable position as soon as we release it.
Nor, I believe, is the portion of the tuning pin gripped by the
pin block unstable. Experiments I have conducted at my workbench
seem to indicate that when a pin is turned and then released, about
three-fourths of the twist in its gripped portion releases. The
remaining twist appears to be quite stable, releasing only when the
pin is moved again.
Two properties of the tuning pin make it a useful way for us to
manipulate the front string.
First, since we can turn a tuning pin to any one of an infinite
number of rotational positions in the pin block, we can set the front
string to any tension we like. For any given tension of the speaking
length, each particular position of the tuning pin directly corre-
sponds to one particular tension of the front string. We take full
advantage of this correspondence when we tune, because in practice
the way that we set the tension of the front string is by setting the
rotational position of the tuning pin.
160 THE TUNER ’ S HAND

Second, since we have two ways of flexing the tuning pin with-
out turning it in the block—twisting and tilting—we have two ways
of temporarily changing the tension of the front string without
repositioning the tuning pin. This increases enormously the facility
with which we can set pins.
In a piano with tuning pins of average tightness, twisting and
tilting usually both produce roughly the same amount of change in
the tension of the front string.

THE AXES OF A STRUNG TUNING PIN

A tuning pin is continuously both twisted and tilted by the tension
of its attached string.
The string leaves the pin at a tangent, so it applies a constant
rotational force around the long axis of the pin. The radius of a tun-
ing pin is roughly 1/8 of an inch, and a typical string in a piano has a
tension of around 160 pounds. This means that the string applies a
constant rotational force to the pin of around 20 inch-pounds. The
pin will not turn under the influence of this force unless its friction
against the pin block is less than that, but the exposed portion of the
pin will always be twisted slightly, exactly enough to counterbalance
the tension of the string.
In addition, because the string leaves the tuning pin from a
spot above its tilting axis, it applies a constant tilting force to the pin
in the direction of the hitch pins, slightly bending the exposed por-
tion of the pin and compressing the wood of the pin block. In an
older piano, one often sees a space developing between the tuning
pins and the pin block on the side of the pins opposite the strings,
evidence of the crushing force of years of continuous tilting.
A mounted and strung tuning pin can be thought of as dividing
three-dimensional space along the three Cartesian axes, as shown in
Figure 2. One of the axes—the vertical, or Y, axis—is the same as
the long axis of the tuning pin. The tuning pin turns around this
axis. A second axis—the X axis—is horizontal and perpendicular to
the string. The tuning pin tilts around this axis toward and away
from the hitch pin. Tilting in this direction has the greatest effect
on the tension of the front string. The third axis—the Z axis—is also
 THE TUNING PIN 161

horizontal, and runs along the line of the string. The tuning pin tilts
from side to side around this axis. Tilting the pin around this axis
has the least effect on the tension of the front string.

Tilting with the greatest

effect on the front string

Tilting with the least effect

on the front string

figure 2. The axes of a strung tuning pin.