come under the observation of the author so frequently that
he deems it advisable to mention them here; there are incidents also
that happen once in a life-time which must be treated in their time
with tact and good judgment, and which it is impossible to describe
here, as each tuner, in his special field, will elicit new
developments. Occasion often requires the tuner to summon all his wits
and tact in order to dispose of questions put to him, both by pianos
and owners.

Among the perplexing things that come to the tuner are the terms used
by musicians and piano owners to express certain qualities of tone and
certain discrepancies of the instrument. We will define a number of
these.

~Brilliant.~--The sense in which this term is used is astonishing to
one who is accustomed to using words according to their dictionary
meanings. We have heard persons say their piano was too _brilliant_;
or, that it was not _brilliant_ enough. They mean this term to apply
to what we are pleased to call the voice of the instrument. When the
hammers are hard, producing a sharp, penetrating tone, they call it
_brilliant_; when the hammers are soft and produce what a trained ear
would accept as a soft, sweet, musical tone, some persons will say
that the instrument lacks brilliancy. Persons of a different taste,
and, we would say, a more cultured ear, call the tone _harsh_ when the
hammers are hard, and they usually desire the tuner to _soften_ the
tone, which he does by softening the hammer ends as has been described
in Lesson VII. This operation, which we call voicing, is a very
delicate piece of work, and the tuner should exercise care and pains
in doing it; so we will deviate from the trend of the discourse and
offer a few directions here, as the previous instructions are hardly
complete.

Insert the felt pick (which should contain only one point, and not
three or four, as they usually do) in the point of the hammer and give
it a rotary motion, so to speak, loosening up the felt and giving it
its original elasticity. Do not pick up the felt at the point. This
method, which is resorted to by many tuners, is injurious to the
hammers and really does no permanent good. Another method which is
very good, and a very easy one, is to take your parallel pliers and
squeeze the felt slightly at the point. Apply the pliers at right
angles with the hammer (if the action of the upright, your pliers will
be in an upright position) and catch the hamm