July 4
Tuning Pianos
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Piano tuning is hundreds of years old and as such, we still use some piano tuning techniques that are based in the past.
One of those techniques is opinion.
Before technology, people's opinions were highly regarded. Now if someone makes a claim that seems outrageous, everyone at the party will take out their phone (if it isn't already out!) and start googling this opinion to see if the person knows what they are talking about.
Plato said, "Opinion is the lowest form of knowledge".
This is a brilliant observation. Of course. He was Plato. However, still today, and especially with piano tuning, we still use opinion and often don't give it much of a thought, especially if we are the ones making the opinion!
For a simple example, take a look at this shade of red.
Is this shade lighter or darker than that of a standard stop sign?
Now simply ask yourself, "Is this shade of red lighter, or darker than the shade of red on a standard stop sign.
Now if you are a logical person you will immediately say, "Well what stop sign? How do I know what the shade of the stop sign is? Maybe it's been in the sun for a long time. How do I know what the actual shade of red is that is above? What if my screen brightness is different?"
However, you would be surprised how many people immediately try to say they know. I showed a friend of mine this shade asked him the same question and told him people would guess but that there was no way to know if their guess was accurate, and he said in a very gruff and arrogant tone, "Well I know the answer to that! Obviously that shade is darker than a standard stop sign!"
Imagine. No logic. Not even willing to entertain the fact that the question is rigged because we have no stop sign to compare it to.
Ah, but don't we?
I'm sure as soon as I asked the question your brain went right to a vision of a stop sign. A vision that is inside your head: internal.
This is the internal judgment. I hope I've explained to you how there is no way to know if you are right, even though your brain is screaming "lighter!" or "darker!" depending on your internal vision and the brightness of your screen.
This is what we do when for example we are tuning unisons. We listen to the unison and then compare it to the idea of what a good unison sounds like, which is totally inside our heads; opinion.
So what is a piano tuner to do?
Well, take a look at our shade of red below and at the picture of the stop sign below it.
Is this shade lighter or darker than that of a standard stop sign?
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
It should be obvious by comparing the shade to the actual stop sign in question that the shade is lighter.
The screen brightness is not an issue, and exactly which stop sign is not an issue - it's right there, in front of us, outside our heads; external.
So how can we use external judgment when tuning pianos?
The first step is to realize how often we use internal judgment.
Then, realize how inaccurate it is.
Then realize how vanity drives us to use it often. I mean, who wouldn't want to believe that their ear is so incredibly sensitive that it can hear small things that others can't. (That arrogance refers to another secret for another post.)
OK. So now I realize that I shouldn't be relying on my opinion. But you haven't really told me what to do!
Right. And here it is.
At each step in the tuning, there are ways to use external judgments; ways to know for sure if a pitch is good, without guessing; ways to listen to the piano for guidance on what sounds best. You just need to know what these external ways are.
For example: Tuning Unisons.
Instead of just tuning a unison and listening to it and stopping when you think it is clean, compare it to a sound that you know is a clean unison.
The Single String Test
1) Play the unison.
2) Mute all but one string.
3) Play the single string
4) Compare
If there is a difference in the sound between the unison and the single string, any difference, any difference at all, no matter how small, your unison is not clean enough. Fix it until there is no difference between the sound of the unison and the sound of the single string.
It's as simple as that.
If you would like to read more about how to use external judgments to tune better unisons, enter your email address below. I will send you a PDF that explains Pair-Compare, another great external judgment tool that can help you tune better unisons.
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