Thursday, December 18, 2014

The Piano Tuner's Toolbox

With Nancy J. Farrier

Christmas time brings memories and stories of family and friends gathered around the piano singing carols. The camaraderie and joy would encourage even the most reluctant to join in with the gaiety. I wanted to take a look at the history of piano tuning, and what tools a piano tuner might have in his toolbox.

Before the advent of the piano, instruments were tuned by the individual who owned them. Most were a single string per note, so it was expected of the person playing to make sure their instruments sounded good.

In the early 1800’s, when the square pianos began to be popular, tuning became a problem. First, the factory producing the piano needed to have them in tune before they shipped them to their new home. Second, the pianos needed to be kept in tune, and the owners wouldn’t have the skill, tools or experience to do this. Thus, professional piano tuners were needed.

One of the major problems in the early tuning process of any instrument was the lack of a standardized pitch. The A pitch, in the 18th century, varied from 415 to 430, which is quite a difference in sound. For example, it is said that Handel’s tuning fork has the A pitch at 422.5, but Mozart’s piano was tuned to 421.6. Pitch created much controversy until in 1939, at an International Conference, the pitch for A was established at 440. Now, there would be a common pitch for tuning.


A few years ago, we became owners of a piano tuner’s toolbox. The box dates back to the early 1900’s and carries an interesting assortment of items. I'd like to explore these items with you. Many of the tools are a mystery to me as to how they are used, but the pictures are interesting. 
The box is made of wood, and these first two pictures are the lid of the box. You can see some long tweezers, a wooden rod, pliers, a tuning fork and a ruler among other tools I couldn't identify. The wooden rod in the lid is a prop to hold something open, for instance the lid of the piano or the box. The box is shaped like a small rectangular suitcase. There are four narrow drawers that slip into the box after the lid has been opened down. Below are pictures of the drawers with some of their contents. I am amazed at the number of items this box could hold.




The bottom picture also has a small shelf that holds some files and a brush. The drawers have everything from sandpaper to wrapped razor blades to a small jar of resin. There are some felt spacers and many mystery tools. Many of the tools were handmade by the tuner, items he designed to help with his work. This was common for people to do at this time.

The piano tuner who owned this box had many containers to hold items that he used. These containers were of interest to me for their historical value. Let me show you some of them.

These are some talc tins that held powder that he used to to make the felt slip when he needed it to. Talc can also be used to help if your hands are sweaty as you work or play.


This is a Penrod Buddies box that once held handmade mild tobacco. This piano tuner used the box to hold round paper punches used to level the key bed. They are in different colors with each color being a different thickness.


This wonderful little metal box says something on the bottom about Ink Control. I'm not sure what that means, or its original use. The tuner used the box to carry various screws and small metal pieces. The picture on the box is a commemorative of the famous seaplane, the China Clipper.


This is one of the tuning forks with a homemade case. This is an A 440 tuning fork. A friend checked this and after all these years it is still in tune. Pretty amazing.


This picture shows a small box that held razor blades, a precision tool that I believe is to gauge the size of strings and pins. The measuring stick has a leather holder and opens out. It was used on player pianos. The tuner would match the holes and see which note was off to make an adjustment. 


This last picture shows a box that once held Egyptian cigarettes, but the tuner, once again, used it to carry small items. This container holds buttons to replace stops that have been lost. The round tube next to the box is an old pitch pipe. It can be turned to get the different pitches desired. The sound is still lovely and very pure.

These are all fascinating bits of history. I wish I had the time and space to show every piece in the box and discuss its use. Did you see something you are familiar with? Please feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you know. Meanwhile, when you hear a piano and sing your Christmas carols, think of the work and talent used to keep that piano in tune. Merry Christmas. 


Nancy J Farrier is an award winning author who lives in Southern California in the Mojave Desert. She loves the Southwest with its interesting historical past. Nancy and her husband have five children and one grandson. When Nancy isn’t writing, she loves to read, do needlecraft, play with her cats, and spend time with her family. Nancy is represented by Karen Ball of The Steve Laube Literary Agency. You can read more about Nancy and her books on her website: nancyjfarrier.com.







11 comments:

  1. Wow! Great post, Nancy. I have greater respect for the tuner who kept our family upright in tune for my father. He sang bass in a quartet and led music in our church. Since our move from Texas to Colorado, our Kimball Spinet sounds tiney and off-key. I've put off having it tuned, but your post has inspired me to get it done. Thanks!

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    1. Thank you, Linda. Yes, I get my piano tuned faithfully. I do not like to play an out of tune piano. This box of tools fascinates me so much. I'd love to go back in time and talk with the piano tuner and watch him work.

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  2. Fascinating. Thank you for this informative post and sharing your photos. My father played a baby grand piano he owned when I was a little girl. So loved the sound. Kathleen ~ Lane Hill House [Clair de Lune and Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans? are personal favorites of mine; and Tea for Two; Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered; Elmer's Tune ~ funny, the titles that come back to mind that he enjoyed playing]

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    1. Kathleen, those memories are so wonderful. I recall a lot of the music my parents loved and those songs bring a smile. Thank you for sharing.

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  3. My piano tuner is blind. He arrives at the house with one tuning fork in his pocket. And he's amazing.

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    1. Stephanie, how wonderful. I would love to listen to your piano tuner.

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  4. Liked the small metal box with the PanAm China Clipper. We had a friend who flew those planes. We sold our piano last year when we retired. I had it professionally tuned after each of our moves, and there were many. Sm wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Sharon, I can't imagine making a lot of moves when you have a piano. I'm so glad you kept up the tuning though. That is so important. Thanks for sharing.

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  5. Lovely interlude, Nancy! The tins are my favorites, too. I collect old tea and coffee tins.

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  6. I just did a little online searching, and I learned that Panama Clipper tin may have originally housed a typewriter ribbon!

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    1. Susan, you are right. I forgot to mention that on the bottom of the box it says that it contains typewriter ribbon.

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