eckless way, taking no thought as to time and
labor-saving methods.

In spite of any instruction that can be given, the beginner in piano
tuning will not be able to take hold of his work with the ease and the
grace of the veteran, nor will he ever be able to work with great
accuracy and expedition unless he has a systematic method of doing the
various things incident to his profession.

In this lesson, as its subject implies, we endeavor to tell you just
how to begin and the way to proceed, step by step, through the work,
to obtain the best results in the shortest time, with the greatest
ease and the least confusion.

MANIPULATION OF THE TUNING HAMMER.

It may seem that the tightening of a string by turning a pin, around
which it is wound, by the aid of an instrument fitting its square end,
is such a simple operation that it should require no skill. Simply
tightening a string in this manner is, to be sure, a simple matter;
but there is a definite degree of tension at which the _vibrating
section_ of the string must be left, and it should be left in such a
condition that the tension will remain invariable, or as near so as is
possible. The only means given the tuner by which he is to bring about
this condition are his tuning hammer and the key of the piano, with
its mechanism, whereby he may strike the string he is tuning.

The purpose of the tuning hammer is that of altering the tension. The
purpose of striking the string by means of the key is twofold: first,
to ascertain the pitch of the string, and second, to equalize the
tension of the string over its entire length. Consider the string in
its three sections, viz.: lower dead end (from hitch pin to lower
bridge), vibrating section (section between the bridges), and upper
dead end (from upper bridge to tuning pin).

When placing the hammer on the tuning pin and turning to the right, it
is evident that the increased tension will be manifest first in the
upper dead end. In pianos having agraffes or upper bridges with a
tightly screwed bearing bar which makes the strings draw very hard
through the bridge, some considerable tension may be produced in the
upper dead end before the string will draw through the bridge and
increase the tension in the vibrating middle. In other pianos the
strings "render" very easily over the upper bridge, and the slightest
turn of the hammer manifests an alteration of pitch in the vibrating
section. As a rule, strings "render" much m