LESSON IV.

~ACTION OF SQUARE AND GRAND PIANOS.~


ACTION OF THE SQUARE PIANO.

Up to about the year 1870, the square was the popular piano. The grand
has always been too expensive for the great music-loving masses, and
previous to this time the upright had not been developed sufficiently
to assert itself as a satisfactory instrument. The numerous objections
to the square piano forced its manufacture to be discontinued a few
years after the introduction of the improved new upright. Square
pianos that come, at the present day, under the hand of the tuner, are
usually at least fifteen years old, and more frequently twenty or
more. However, in some localities the tuner will meet numbers of these
pianos and he will find them a great source of revenue, as they are
almost invariably in need of repair.

Compare the three cuts of actions in the study of this lesson.

The main constituent parts of the square action are similar in
appearance to those of the upright; in fact, most of the parts are
the same in name and office. However, the parts are necessarily
assembled very differently. In the square action, the hammers strike
in a vertical direction, while in the upright they strike in a
horizontal direction; the motion of the key being the same in both.

Of the three types, the square is the simplest action, as many of the
parts seen in the upright and grand are entirely absent in the square.