Piano tuners! Tuning the high treble?

Question

Most recently when I tune the high treble, usually on older pianos, the B7 and C8 strings break. This especially sucks when i am working on a spinnet. Normally, it's because the strings are old, but I have trouble hearing when I get the notes in tune and I pull the strings too tight.

What have you all done to help with this in your early careers?

I have a Sanderson strobe tuner. That's not what I was asking though. I tune all the middle strings to the tuner, the rest is done by ear. I sometimes find it difficult to tune the high treble.

Answer 1

Several things crowd into a tight space here. Normally speaking the final octave only becomes very hard to do well (assuming the instrument is otherwise in fine condition) when the tuning overall is not as secure as it might have been. Because you propagate the temperament you've first laid down at the centre, downwards and then upwards from that centre, any minor beat discrepancies you may have incurred on the way will accumulate to form a very awkard 'comma' by the time you reach the top octave, precisely there where the unisons become tough to hear. If this is happening regularly, it's worth checking our foundation-laying, and the accuracy of propagation we're setting down, early on. (I was taught using a single tuning fork and swear by it, so I'm no enthusiast for electronics at the best of times and using tuning aids outside the laying-down of the foundation octave is a complete no-no. I would have been sent packing with a sharply delivered boot in the rear by the craftsman I learnt from. )

Ignoring elderly and otherwise fatigued strings, working on the uppermost octave and a half, check that you are actually moving the entire string *in full* before even beginning to move for a settle. Broken strings anywhere, but particularly in this register, most often occur when unwittingly only part of the string is in movement between the pin and the bridge. (You can hear this is happening as the string will 'ping' while in movement, and the movement itself will be jerky.) As a result, firstly, disproportionately high tension arises on only part of the (already short) length of string available, and it easily snaps, and secondly, the moment you think you've got a settle, the tension evens out, over the actual full length of the string, of its own accord, leaving the unison unstable and our confidence in our own hearing impaired. The more often this happens (together with any minor fraction of a 'comma' that will always catch us up, up there), the worse it gets...

Finally, particularly in that register, rely on the leverage of the tuning hammer to do the work for you. (Check your hammer head has proper purchase on the pin and swap heads if needs be.) As you mention 'pulling' -- normally only done anywhere in more drastic circumstances -- check that your tuning arm has support and your 4 fingers 'en bloc', sometimes backed up by the wrist and if needs be just the weight of the forearm, are the ones delivering the energy to just the outer 2-3" of the tuning hammer, maximising the length of lever to do the proper business for you. It's almost impossible to 'pull through' a string, overpitching or snapping it accidentally, that way, unless it's already fatigued, rusty etc.

My $0.02... :-)

Answer 2

Just my humble opinion.....Though I'm not a piano tuner, I do have perfect pitch and I've worked as a professional musician for many years. For the longest time I was not too happy with the way my piano was tuned by anyone! I finally INSISTED that the last tuner use an electronic tuner for the whole piano. It really helped because everyone seems to tune it differently otherwise. When a person wants to play with other musicians, it pays to have it uniform with what others are doing. Even though I have perfect pitch, I would not trust myself to tune the upper register of a piano without a tuner!

Answer 3

There are electronic aids for tuning that might be worth looking at. Check with your local tuner supply company to see what they sell that might make your job easier independent of your hearing skills.

Here is one company that sells them through the Internet. http://www.pianosupply.com/tuners/

I am sure any one local carries it too. The place I used to use around here in Somerville Mass has either gone out of business or is lacking a web site so I can't get details from anyone local. I know they had it in their printed catalog and I always found it tempting but pricey (since I was not a pro).

Answer 4

Just remember

You can tune a piano but you cant tune a fish.