question about piano tuning?

Question

I am just trying to do some research on Bach Well-tempered Clavier. I am just wondering about tempered tuning and how they used to tune pianos when they first came out (IE harpsichord, Clavier). Basically the history of piano tuning. Thanks

Answer 1

This is a HUGE subject and one which has fascinated me since I realised that equal temperament was not the only one to have existed, nor the only one used today (all string players, for example, 'bend' certain note according to the key and a note's function in that key).



I have started you off with some links below but if you type-in "musical temperament" into a search engine you will find several very interesting articles on the subject.



Good luck - I think you will be surprised and delighted at what you discover.

Answer 2

I'm not really sure how you would "spot" a good piano teacher. You can talk to people you know find reviews for piano teachers in your area to try and find one best suited for you. If you're just starting out, and you need all the basics, you might want to look for someone who is more patient, and very probably works with many children and beginners, who will introduce you to every aspect of playing the piano, and make you want to embrace the piano, not run away from it. If you're at a higher level, you might want to look for someone who specifically teaches, or teaches mainly higher levels, and it doesn't really matter as much if they're super patient or all that, because at that point you're really going to want someone who will teach you and nurture your talent, but also push you to the limit to make you the best you can be. In the end, pick a teacher you think you would like, try it out for a while, and if you feel fulfilled, stick with it, and if you're not feeling it, find another teacher; different teachers a suited for different students, especially in a one on one environment. As for the piano tuner, that's just weird. You should definitely contact them to ask them what the deal was, and ask them to either send someone to re-tune the piano properly, or give you a refund. All pianos, when tuned to the correct frequency using specific tools and a tuning fork, should sound the same. Of course, with time, your piano will most likely fall a few cents flat, or some notes may play a few cents sharp, but the basic note should sound the same as every other piano, even if there are waves in the sound. You could always use an electric tuner to test the pitch of each note on an octave of your piano; it's very possible that your piano is in tune just fine, and the guy just didn't know what he was talking about. Either way, I wish you the best of luck with your piano studies, and with your plight to have a properly tuned piano!

Answer 3

Wow. I'll bet you didn't know what you were getting into here. :-) As the other responses have said, this is a GIGANTIC topic.



The standard book on the topic is "Tuning and temperament; a historical survey," by J. Murray Barbour. It's not an easy read, by any stretch of the imagination. But if you're really interested in this topic, you've gotta read this book.

Answer 4

This is a huge topic. the best book to read on the topic is

"tuning the historical temperments by ear"

the book has a detailed explanation of about 26 different tunings that have been used, where those tunings were used, who used that particular tuning, their origins, and how to do them.