Some Important Things To Know About the Care of the Piano

by Newton Marsden

Twenty-one broken strings twisted in and out of the action, hammer felts worn off so that wood struck the strings, damper felts nothing less than moth beds, the rust so thick on the strings as almost to make them appear as a sheet of rusty iron, keys which would rattle like dice in a box, the remaining strings from a quarter to a whole tone Mat, enough dirt and dust inside the piano to excuse the dustman if he wanted to take the piano in mistake for the dustbin, not a bit of felt or skin on many of the vital portions of the action—wood clicking against wood, rusty, weak, broken, and missing springs, numerous flies in the spiders' parlors, and—"The master says as how he hopes that you will make a good job of it this morning, as the piano is wanted this evening!"

There is absolutely no exaggeration in thus describing the condition of a piano which I recently examined. This was, at the least, a seventy hours' job, and yet the piano was played upon every day whilst in that condition!

Care of a piano, yes, it was wanted here. A thoroughly good instrument, most shamefully used, or rather misused. If you wish your piano to have an affinity with you, you must care for it. Why stifle it with those photo-frames, Japanese idols, cups and saucers, and large flower pots with "aspis" in on the top. Clear everything off, then when the air is dry, winter or summer, or when you have a fire or the gas alight, you might think to open the top to let the air pass right through the piano. Keep a piano from damp draughts. Stay in the room for a little while whilst the tuner is there (he should be a regular caller twice, thrice, or four times a year), and when he comes, watch' him, and be sure to notice the "Action" of the piano.

Defects—Their Signs and Their Remedies

Much dust might disclose the fact that felts and skins are wearing. Ask the tuner to dust the action. If reddish spots remain on the small wood sections, then there is dampness. Ask him to rub the strings as a test for damp, though very often this is quite obvious, as the rust will settle on the tuning pins.

If hammers stick over,or will not repeat easily, it may be a sign of a tightness at the hammer butts, at one or other of the flange centers, or of worn-out springs.

If the keys stick clown, it will no doubt be due to the damp having caused the key wood or the key-bushing to swell, and easing is required. When the felts and the skins, which are on the different sections, wear, there is sure to he an effect on the "Touch."

If there is a rumble as if the "Damper" (or right hand) pedal is continuously down, then perhaps the pedal has been ill-used and the springs have lost strength, or the damper felts are ineffective, owing to mice, moths, or long resting on the strings. The damper wires can be regulated, new springs can be fitted, or perhaps it will be possible to case up the felt of the dampers. It may be best to have new felt fitted.

A side-to-sidc wobble and rattle of the keys indicates key wear at the holes just under the finger-touching position. This may be remedied by a change from round pins to cricket-bat shaped ones, the holes rebushed, or if bat-pins are already in, then they can he regulated accordingly.

If you are able to depress the keys some distance before you feel any resist ance, it will be because the cloth over the regulating screws at the inside end of the key, or the skin on the lower side of the hammer butt, is worn. Regulating or new material is then required.

If the hammers "plop" on the strings, the key-bed felt washers may have "gone home" with the moths or the mice. Again, other portions of the action felts may be worn.

If the hammers "slap" on the strings. the centers will be found to be loose, and you would find out that there is a very free sideward movement of the hammer at the butt.

Sometimes the. tone becomes "hard" or "twangy," then the hammer felts need (1) toning, (2) re facing1 and toning, or (3) if cut deep by much use, new felt is required. This can easily be seen when the tuner removes the action. If you see canal-like cuts running down the noses of the hammers you must think of having them seen to. I have met many people dissatisfied with a tuner's work when really the hammer felt wanted attention. The ragged noses interfere with the vibrating strings, therefore the sound waves are ragged.

All pianos are built to stand a specific strain between tuning pins and bitch pins, and this strain determines the pitch at which the piano will give its best tone. A raising of the pitch tends to make the tone shrill, and if a piano is allowed to get much below its original pitch it loses its sonority, and the tone becomes dull and lifeless, especially the lower octaves.

If the piano will not stand in tune, the fault is at the wrest- (or tunig-) pins. Perhaps the holes in the plank have become too large to hold the pins tight. Perhaps the plank is of unseasoned wood, that is. not dried sufficiently, in which case it will be an endless bother. As for the pins, it is nearly always possible for the tuner either to "set" them, or to insert new ones of a larger size.

Sometimes the coils of the springs round the tuning pins become separated, and perhaps the bottom one presses on the plank against the lower edge of the hole, thus causing an outward spring of the wire. The coils must be lifted, and brought close together, then the pins set.

Tuner and Teacher

Let the tuner know that you look upon him as a physician and surgeon. There arc divisions as in the medical faculty. There are (1) tuners, (2) repairers, and (3) tuners and repairers.

If a tuner suggests a repair, do not think that he is asking you for money. He may be a real live piano mechanic, he may be a musician, he at least knows that if your piano is in imperfect condition a satisfactory interpretation of any work is impossible.

A player and a teacher should understand Tune, Tone and Touch, but it is really to their ignorance of the last named that most piano ills are due.

It is a teacher's bounden duly to understand the mechanism of an instrument, and therefore the care of it. I suggest that teachers should become possessors of a model action, that is, one section complete from key to string, and should deliberately rub away the skins and the felts, particularly noting the effect on the touch of each shade of wear and tear. How can you expect to have an affinity with the piano if you allow its body to decay?