AN ESSAY

ON

TEMPERAMENT

IN WHICH THE

THEORY AND PRACTICE

OF THAT IMPORTANT BRANCH OF MUSIC ARE

CLEARLY ESTABLISHED AND ILLUSTRATED

BY

PRECEPTS AND EXAMPLES,

CALCULATED

TO ASSIST YOUNG STUDENTS

IN TUNING, CORRECTLY, THE

PIANOFORTE.

BY

J. JOUSSE

(PROFESSOR OF MUSIC).

LONDON :

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR ;

AND SOLD BY

MESSRS. CRAMER AND CO. COLLARD AND CO. GOULDING AND CO.

CHAPPEL, LONDSALE AND CO. DEAN, PURDAY, ETC.

PRICE TWO SHILLINGS AND SIXPENCE

Entered at Stationers' Hall.

I. THE tuning hammer must fit exactly the pins of the pianoforte ; it must be held perpendicularly, and the pin must be moved very little either way, to avoid breaking the string.

II. In tuning a square pianoforte, which has two strings to each note, one of them must be stopped or damped, by placing a small slip of wood covered with soft leather, or a piece of card, between the upper string of the note to be tuned and the lower string of the note above. When the string is tuned, the damper must be removed, and the second string tuned in perfect unison to the first.

III. In tuning a grand pianoforte, which has three strings to each note, a damper is not necessary ; two of the strings being removed from the hammers by pressing down the left-hand pedal, having previously raised the bracket, or small slip of wood which slides up and down a groove in the key-block, placed at the right-hand corner of the key-board. When the instrument is tuned throughout with one string only to each note, then the second string must be tuned in unison with the first. To do this, first lower the bracket which has been raised, then press the pedal down, and keep it so until the instrument is tuned : afterwards remove the foot from the pedal, and tune the third string in unison to the two others throughout the instrument.

When all the notes of the instrument have been tuned, the upper part should be gone over a second time ; for, when the bass part is tuned, the treble gets a little flatter, owing to the additional tension of the lower strings.

IV. In tuning, do not dwell too long on any note ; because the ear gets tired ; but, if you think that you have tuned a note right, proceed to the next, and frequently strike the common chord of a note, and the sixth and fourth, thus:

By this process, the ear will be refreshed.

V. Most practitioners, in learning to tune, are apt to break the strings, owing to their tuning the fifths or the thirds too sharp : for when once you go beyond the mark, it requires a fine ear to distinguish on which side the fault lised. Therefore, if you are doubtful about a note being properly tuned, let down the string a little. As a further precaution, the learner should set the first note of the bearings rather below concert pitch, until he becomes more expert.

VI. In tuning, make the thirds as sharp and the fifths as flat as the ear will bear : but, as it is impossible to describle the precise degree of flatness or sharpness which these intervals should have, the best way is, first, to tune the third perfect, then to draw up the string a little higher ; but that in so trifling a degree, as scarcely to hear a difference in teh sound : likewise make your fifth perfect ; after which, let down the wire by turning the pin back, but in a very trifling degree.

VII. In tuning each note throughout the instrument, great attention must be paid to the beatings ; for when a fifth or an octave is perfect, no beating is heard ; but, on the contrary, when either of these intervals is in any degree imperfect, a beating is always heard. A slow beating proves a slight deviation from perfection ; on the contrary, a quicker beating shews that the deviation is greater ; and from the equality of the beatings, equal deviations from perfection may be correctly ascertained.

Observe - the pianoforte should be kept constantly at the same pitch ; and, for this purpose, it must always be tuned strictly to concert pitch. From neglect in this respect, the instrument sustains much injury, and will not keep so well in tune.

Directions concerning the Strings.

The strings of the pianoforte are generally of steel for the treble part, brass for the upper notes of thebass, asn steel, covered with copper wire, for the lower notes of the bass*. The size of the strings varies according to the size of the instrument ; for the upper notes of a square pianoforte, No. 10, steel is used, the size increasing to 11, 12 , &c. as the scale descends. When a string is wanting, first select one of the proper size, then make a small eye at one end of it by bending the wire and twisting it between your thumb and fore finger by means of the small hook fixed to the head of the tuning-hammer : this done, place the eye of the string on the hitch pin, then fasten the other extremity to the steel pin, and secure it by turning part of it underneath[] : having fixed the pin it its hole in the block, and placed the centre of the string between the brass pins which are on the bridge, draw it up gently to the proper pitch.

N.B. A new string requires to be drawn several times before it keeps tune, as the tension causes it to stretch.

* Several manufacturers make use of plated copper wire for the bass ; and some instruments of the latest improvement are strung entirely with steel , so that they are equally affected by the change of the atmosphere.

[] The principal manufacturers now use pins with holes drilled through them, so as to prevent all difficulty in fixing the string.

site index