Quick Tip on Tuning Trouble Bass String Unisons

The next time you run into funky bi-chords and tri-chords in a piano's bass section that just won't go into tune, this quick tip can help you deal with them.

This trick is for bass strings that have partials that just won't go into tune. Instead of playing the note and trying to weed through a stack of partials, let's isolate the one you actually want to tune. I find that in the bass section it's the 4th partial that works best. If you've got Tunelab or another ETD that you can select the 4th partial, just tune each string to the machine.

If you tune aurally, you can use your finger to activate the 4th partial (or any other partial that helps). While playing the note, lightly touch the strings and search for a partial that's a double octave. The piano in this photo is about 5ft long so the spot is behind the dampers but on a concert piano it would be in front.

Once you've got it, tune the unison by listening to the partial. If you get the partial sounding good but the unison doesn't sound good, look for another partial like the 5th. The idea is to single out the partial that's going to help you get as clean a unison as possible.