Basic Curriculum: Tuning
Tuning I (1st Quarter)
Prerequisites: none
Course Length and Type: 10 weeks, 1.5 hours/week in class; combined lecture, demonstration, and hands-on (lab); significant outside practice required
Other Text Resources:
Elementary Harmony: Theory and Practice by Robert W. Ottman,
published by Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Tools Required: tuning lever, assorted rubber mutes, temperament strip mute
Tools Required: tuning lever, assorted rubber mutes, temperament strip mute (felt), strip mute insertion blade
Course Description:
At End of Course, Student will know and be able to demonstrate
knowledge of:
- an understanding of basic Music Theory and nomenclature (pitch names; half-steps and whole-steps; use of sharps, flats and naturals; enharmonic spellings, etc.)
- correct names of all intervals within a twelfth (an octave-plus-a fifth)
- inverted intervals
- correct spelling of any interval (within an octave) from any given starting note, in both directions (going down as well as up)
- key signatures of all major keys
- the Circle of Keys (also known as the Circle of Fifths)
- identification of the correct interval name of two notes when played on the piano
- ability to sing (or hum) the second note of a requested interval from a given starting pitch
- how to hold the tuning lever for various piano types
- how to “set” both the string and the tuning pin for maximum stability
- hearing “beats” in unisons, octaves, fourths, fifths, major thirds and major sixths
- tuning 2-string unisons to within a tolerance of less than 1 cent
- tuning a beatless, expanded octave (single strings) using elementary test intervals
- tuning a pure fourth and an expanded fourth, using the proper test intervals
- elementary test intervals used in tuning the Temperaments
- rudimentary ability to tune Equal Temperament
- using an Electronic Tuning Device (ETD) to check aural tuning of unisons, octaves, and temperament intervals
- pass a written exam covering topics presented this Quarter
Tuning II (2nd Quarter)
Prerequisites: 1st Quarter Curriculum, or placement out
Course Length and Type: 10 weeks, 1.5 hours/week in class; combined lecture, demonstration, and hands-on (lab); significant outside practice required
Text Requirements: none
Other Text Resources:
Temperament: The Idea That Solved Music’s Greatest Riddle by Stuart Isacoff, published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York. ISBN: 0-375-40355-8
Tools Required: tuning lever, assorted rubber mutes, temperament strip mute (felt), strip mute insertion blade
Course Description:
At End of Course, Student will know and be able to demonstrate
knowledge of:
- basic physics of sound (waves, patterns, cycles, frequency, etc.)
- the difference between cents and Hertz
- partials and overtones in musical sounds (aka “the Overtone Series”)
- coincident partials in intervals (3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 8ves)
- how coincident partials produce “beats”
- different octave types (2:1, 4:2, 6:3, etc.)
- the Pythagorean comma and its effect on tuning
- what temperaments are, and why they are necessary
- what Equal Temperament is and how it differs from the Historical Temperaments
- the phenomenon of Inharmonicity in pianos
- intermediate ability to hear beats in 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 10ths and 12ths
- the ability to distinguish the beat speed of a given interval as being faster or slower than the beat speed of a second given interval
- intermediate ability to tune Equal Temperament
- rudimentary ability to tune the midrange of the piano
- the four types of triads (major, minor, diminished, augmented) and how they differ from each other structurally
- ability to distinguish / identify the four types of triads when played on the piano
- pass a written exam covering topics presented this Quarter
Tuning III (3rd Quarter)
Prerequisites: 1st and 2nd Quarters Curricula
Course Length and Type: 10 weeks, 1.5 hours/week in class; combined lecture, demonstration, and hands-on (lab);significant outside practice required
Text Requirements: none
Other Text Resources:
The Piano Shop on the Left Bank: Discovering a Forgotten Passion in a Paris Atelier by Thaddeus E. Carhart, published by Random House (March 2002) ISBN: 0375758623
Tools Required: tuning lever, assorted rubber mutes, temperament strip mute (felt), strip mute insertion blade, an A440 tuning fork (or other pitch source)
Course Description:
At End of Course, Student will know and be able to demonstrate
knowledge of:
- correct names of all notes on the typical piano keyboard (A0 through C8)
- correct names (spellings) of all intervals within a 3-octave range
- ability to tune A4 to a 440cps tuning fork, within a tolerance of 3 cents
- ability to pitch-raise while tuning
- advanced test intervals used in tuning the Temperaments
- advanced ability to tune Equal Temperament
- ability to “trouble-shoot” problems in the Temperament
- intermediate ability to tune the midrange of the piano
- test intervals used in areas outside the midrange (bass, treble, high treble)
- use of the “ghosting” technique for isolating beat speeds
- ability to tune the entire piano (pitch, temperament, midrange, bass, treble, unisons)
- use of Electronic Tuning Devices (ETDs)
- pass a written exam covering topics presented this Quarter
Tuning IV (4th Quarter)
Prerequisites: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Quarters Curricula
Course Length and Type: 10 weeks, 1.5 hours/week in class; combined lecture, demonstration, and hands-on (lab);significant outside practice required
Text Requirements: none
Other Text Resources:
The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason, published by Vintage Books, a Division of Random House, New York. ISBN: 0-375-41465-7
Tools Required: tuning lever, assorted rubber mutes, temperament strip mute (felt), strip mute insertion blade, an A440 tuning fork (or other pitch source)
Course Description:
At End of Course, Student will know and be able to demonstrate knowledge of:
- Student will have tuned at least one piano per week for 10 weeks
- general experiential knowledge of tuning in the field brought to class for discussion and resolution
- advanced ability to tune Equal Temperament
- improved ability to “trouble-shoot” tuning problems in any section of the piano
- ability to tune the entire piano (pitch, temperament, midrange, bass, treble, unisons) within 3 hours
- various alternative Patterns for arriving at Equal Temperament
- ability to tune a generic Well Temperament
- can pass the CSPT tuning exam with a score of 70 or better in each section
- pass a written Final Exam covering topics presented in all 4 Quarters