Technical Library TUNING III: Harpsichord Tuning Process Entire Contents Copyright ©2010 CBH

Tuning a harpsichord is not overly difficult, so first of all you must get that idea out of your head. A harpsichord is more akin to a violin or guitar, and, yes, it must be tuned. It has a few more strings than a violin or guitar, but you are equipped to be able to do it, and as an instrument, it has precious little in common with tuning a piano, in fact.

Tuning a fine instrument before a performance is one of life’s great magic moments: It is my time, and my space, and offers the best possibility of coming to know the instrument in its surroundings.

Here are the processes you need to go through to accomplish your tuning:

1. Establish the pitch. For this, you need a reliable source like your tuning fork, or an electronic box. If you are playing with other instruments, you may need to be particularly fussy about the exact pitch of the a'.

2. Set the temperament appropriate to the music you wish to play. This is done on one set of strings (often the front 8´) in the middle of the instrument, following a particular recipe. You can find about Historic Temperaments in the Technical Library. When you’ve done a little poking around there, I’d recommend you look at Kirnberger to begin.

3. When you are happy with how you have divided up the notes of the scale to produce your temperament, you are ready to spread throughout the range, bringing the rest of the instrument into tune with your middle “bearings” area. Many tuners complete the bass of the front 8´ choir by tuning down in octaves, then tune the back 8´ from the bass up to the middle in perfect unison with your front 8´. Then work on the treble of the front 8´, and bring the remainder of the treble of the back 8´ in tune with that, again in perfect unision. Finally, it’s time to tune to 4´, probably from bass to treble, working against your front 8´—or both unision choirs together, if you prefer. Then you are done, and can play some music.

Don’t spend more time than what you have to: Your aim should be to leave the harpsichord in better tune than when you began. If you’re a beginner tuner, don’t spend more than an hour. After that, it’s time to play your instrument. With practice, you’ll build up confidence and speed, and tuning will become second nature.

		Harpsichord Tuning — Time-lapse Time-lapse of Carey Beebe tuning a harpsichord at the Carmel Bach Festival.

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