Corrette on Stringing and Tuning

by Edgar Hunt
Michel Corrette's Le Maitre de Clavecin is devoted
mainly to instructions in accompanying from the
figured bass, but at the end there are two chapters
which may be of particular interest to harpsichord
makers, for Chapitre XXI concerns the gauges of
strings which should be used for harpsichord and
spinet, while Chapitre XXII gives instructions for
tuning the harpsichord and organ. The following is
a free translation from the French:

Chapter XXI
The gauges of the strings which should be
used for Harpsichords and Spinets The basses are strung with yellow strings and from
The choice of strings does much for the resonance the C (marked E), and with red ones as far as the
of the harpsichord in so much as they are sounded last key of the ravalemens. If one had to string the
as open strings, making the sounds more sonorous whole harpsichord with white strings, the C
and brilliant — something which other instruments (marked E) would be 8 foot long, and for the FF of
can't do. If the strings are too slack they give a dull the ravalemens the harpsichord would need to be
sound: too thick, and they are liable to break. So at least 12 foot long. This would be an
they have to be proportioned according to the pitch embarrassment without being an improvement.
of the instrument. I will explain what is known of When the high c'" (A) is only 5 inches, the
the proportions of the harpsichord as follows: The harpsichord must be strung with yellow strings
best strings used for harpsichords come from such as those of Geronimo, de la Couture, Roze.
Germany, the cities of Niirnberg, Hamburg etc. For the Jacquets, Denis, Barbier, Dufour, Dumont,
Quite good ones are also made in Geneva. Those Richard, Rigault, Dastenet, Verjure, Rastoin follow
on bobbins, numbered according to gauge, are the in a few ways the same proportions as those of the
most convenient and of these there are three kinds: skilled makers of this century. The same applies to
red, yellow and white, the red ones being for the spinets of the same pitch.
ravallemens, yellow for the basses, and white for When the harpsichords are not long and the G
the middle and upper registers. One can see from (G), A (H) and B (L) do not sound well with red
the table below that the same gauge serves a strings or these do not go up, we use spun strings,
number of notes. There are some nervous people which are good enough on the clavecins brises of
who use No. 10 for the upper notes of the (8') lower Marius, of Galand and the little harpsichord with
and upper keyboards, and No. 11 for the upper two strings to a note of Bellot, and for the
notes of the octave (4'). One should not use No. 10 harpsichords of Mrs Vater, Goujpn and Hemsch
unless No. 9 won't go above e", which is rare when they are good enough without this help.
the proportions have been well worked out. As for
No. 11 — it's only fit for making wigs.
 In England I have played harpsichords and
Good strings are joined without flaws and silver-
gilt (vermeillesl). To take care of them, they
should be kept in a dry place.

One begins with the key of the F clef (A) (one

organs which go up to G. Mr. Handel has could equally well begin with some other note)
composed organ pieces in which the high f" is then the upper octave above this F and then the C
used — see his 5th book. a flat (foible) fifth (B) above the F. After that the
octave above the C. The G a flat fifth from the C
(C), then the octave below G. Then the D as a flat
Chapter XXII fifth from the G (D) and, after the octave above the
D, the A as a flat fifth from the D (E). At this
How to tune the Harpsichord and Organ point one makes a first trial of the A and the F
which should make a major third (F). If this third
Most harpsichordists don't know how to fit a is too sharp (forte) it shows that the first four
quill, put on a string or to tune, and it seems to fifths have not been made small enough, in which
me ridiculous to play an instrument without being case one has to go over the tempering again until
able to adjust it when necessary — one cannot the third from the F (F) is satisfactorily in tune.
always get hold of a technician, particularly in Then tune the lower octave from the A, and the E
the country — and through lack of knowing how a flat fifth from the A (G). This E must make a
to adjust it, the poor harpsichord is put away in a major third with the C (H) which is the second
cupboard where rats can play with it as they like. test of the tempering. After the octave above E,
This does not happen if one learns how to tune tune the B as a flat fifth from the E (I) which
in a few months. It is true that up to now must make a major third from the G with which
something of a mystery has been made of tuning. I you make the third test (K). After the lower
am going to give you the tuning which artists octave from B tune the F sharp as a flat fifth
call temperament (partition) which is the most from B, and this F sharp with the D gives a major
used among skilled makers for over 200 years. third, which is the fourth test (M). Then after the
Father Mersenne gave us almost the same in 1646, lower octave from F sharp, tune the C sharp a flat
but he omitted to mention that the fourth 5th fifth above it (N). Then you can make the fifth test
should make a major third with the first note (A), by playing the major third A and C sharp (P).
which is useful to test to see if the temperament Continue tuning the octave of C sharp and G sharp
has started well. The temperament is established as a fifth from C sharp (P), make this a little more
in the middle of the upper manual — it cannot be in tune than the preceding ones and test the major
done as well on the side of the lower notes, nor on third from E to G sharp (the 6th test) and go on
the side of the higher ones. This temperament to tune the octave below the G sharp. Here one
consists in tempering 11 fifths, eight of which stops and tunes the B flat below the F (R). One
are made a quarter of a comma smaller, the ninth a must make this fifth a little sharper than the others,
little more exact and the 10th and llth a little then make the seventh test of the major third
stronger (plus forte) than the others. As for the between B flat and D (S), and then after you have
octaves, they must be in tune. The word 'Tempera- tuned the octave above B flat you can tune the E
ment' means to modify, diminish or alter the flat below the B flat as a fifth, also better in tune
intervals. than the others. Finally you can make the 8th
test, sounding the major third
E flat and G. It must be said that this third is a
little sharper than the others and that the fault of
this temperament falls most often on the fifth
between G sharp and D sharp (X) which one
seldom plays. Then tune the rest of the keyboard
in octaves above and below, and after that play
the lower octaves against the upper ones to test
the temperament before tuning the lower manual
(8') to the upper one, and then finish with the 4'
which players sometimes inappropriately call the
'little octave' (petite octave) since it is equally in the
proportion of 1 to 2 like the lower octaves. One
must tune the strings up or down gently, and The d means a flat (foible) fifth, and F means a sharper (forte)
avoid hitting the keys more than once or twice while fifth. The octaves in tune (juste)
the strings are vibrating. One can then raise the
fifths in tune before lowering them a little, more This is followed by Chapitre XXIII which is a
easily after the ear has been gradually trained. dissertation on a new temperament in which all
For the greater perfection in tuning the fifths are diminished equally by a quarter of a
harpsichord one must keep the octaves of the comma...but all practitioners in Paris and abroad
upper notes a little sharper than the others and follow the old temperament as among them tuning
the opposite for the ravalemens below, although had its perfection: we must follow our old ones
this would be imperceptible. This skilled makers as they had as good ears as we have.
observe very well. As for the quills which one
fits to the jacks one uses only the tips of the wings
and the tail of the crow, and for the return spring
of the tongue one uses the hair of a boar; and a
small piece of cloth which is generally scarlet is © The English Harpsichord Magazine
fitted to the head of the jack to damp the sound. Vol. 2 No5 1979
This same temperament is also used for the
Manicordion (? = clavichord) which is a kind of Reproduced with permission.
muffled spinet. The British Harpsichord Society
www.harpsichord.org.uk

The Temperament ofKeller: an

English author
Rules for tuning a Harpsichord or Spinett. Tune the C
sol-fa-ut by a Consort pitch pipe or Flute.

Observe all the sharp thirds must be as sharp as ye

ear will permit, and all fifths as flat as the Ear will
permit. Now and then by way of Tryall touch
Unison third and fifth & eights and afterwards
unison fourth and sixth.
One can only remark in reference to this laconic
author that the tempered tuning depends more on
tiriirtirF- than nn Hppn Hi<;rii<;<:irm<: