As an acoustic piano owner, you want to keep your instrument in good condition. This protects the value of your instrument and ensures you get maximum enjoyment when you play!
Most pianos need to be tuned twice a year, although there are some exceptions. Pianos in very stable environments may only need one tuning a year. New pianos, or pianos that have just been restrung, require more frequent tuning in their first year.
Why does a piano go out of tune?
The pitch of a piano string is dependent on the length and tension of the string. The length is built into the instrument, but the tension changes over time. Frequency of use has very little effect on the string tension. A piano’s strings are much more affected by climate and time.
Changes in humidity
Pianos are mostly made up of wood. When the humidity goes up, the wood absorbs water from the air and swells larger. The opposite is also true. When the air is dry, it sucks moisture out of the wood and the wood shrinks.
These subtle changes in the wood of the piano’s soundboard pull on the metal piano strings. On first thought, it seems like metal would hold its exact shape. It is a very strong material! But, each string on the piano is under more than 100 pounds of pressure at all times, so they do actually stretch.
The wood on the piano doesn’t expand and shrink exactly evenly, so as the piano shifts with changes in humidity, the pressure on each string changes slightly. Then, the piano strings stretch unevenly and are no longer in tune with each other.
Time
The immense pressure on each string also causes stretching over time. This is why instruments that have not been tuned for years tend to settle flat.
How can you combat changes in humidity?
It’s lucky that climate is the greatest factor in a piano going out of tune, because it is a factor that we can control. A piano is the healthiest when the relative humidity is between 40 and 60%. Even within that range, the fewer humidity fluctuations, the less the piano will go out of tune.
If your piano is in an enclosed room, you can control the climate of the room with a humidifier and dehumidifier set-up. You probably won’t need both set up at the same time, I switch mine out with the dry and wet seasons.
A simpler solution is to install a piano life-saver system. This climate control unit attaches directly to your piano and can make finer adjustments to the humidity levels than a whole room system while using less electricity.
The cheapest way to protect your piano from environmental factors
Take care when you are choosing where in your home to place your piano. You are trying to find a place with the most consistent conditions and the least temperature fluctuations.
To achieve this, your piano should be placed away from direct sunlight, radiators, and air vents. Don’t put your piano too close to an exterior door or a window that you like to open.
Generally, an interior wall is a good place for your piano. Growing up, my piano was well-positioned in my home and as a result it only needed to be tuned once a year. The tuner even gave us a discount, because it was never far out of tune which made his job easier!
Simple steps like this not only reduce the need for tuning, but in the long run it will also improve the longevity of your piano.
When is the best time to tune your piano?
Generally, you want to follow the seasons when you schedule your piano tunings. If you live in a climate with large seasonal changes, it is a good idea to have your piano tuned in the spring and fall.
If you were to get your piano tuned when it is very dry or excessively humid, your piano would have to undergo two major shifts a year.
Instead, tuning in the spring and fall when the humidity is closer to 50% will allow your piano to about the same place every tuning. This increases the stability and also means that the piano won’t go as far out of tune.
If you’re not going around with a humidistat measuring your daily humidity, an easy rule of thumb is to follow your heating system. When you turn your heat on or off for the season, go ahead and schedule your tuning for 3 weeks out. The 3 weeks will give your piano time to settle before the tuner gets there.
If your piano has a humidity control system, you are less bound by the weather and you should schedule your tunings whenever you notice the instrument going out of tune.
How often should you tune a new piano?
The strings on a new piano are still stretching. For the first year after purchasing a brand new piano, you should have it tuned every 3 months, or 4 times total for the year.
In the second year and beyond, you can shift to twice yearly tuning.
Why should you have your piano tuned regularly?
Proper maintenance of your instrument is the only way to ensure that it will make a beautiful sound for years to come. A well-maintained piano should remain enjoyable to play for a minimum of 50 years.
What happens if you don’t tune your piano?
First, it will go out of tune and not sound good when you play it.
A piano has multiple strings per note, so when it goes out of tune the note doesn’t just go up or down. The 2 or 3 strings that are supposed to sound one pitch together can shift away from each other and give the note a fuzzy sound.
Across the piano, strings will lose harmonic resonance with each other, so the tone will get less full.
A piano that has not been tuned for a long time will also fall in pitch as the strings stretch. The result is that it will take multiple tunings to bring a severely out of condition piano back into shape.
I have a piano that hasn’t been tuned in a long time. What do I do?
First, you should have your piano evaluated by a qualified technician. They can let you know what needs to be done to bring your piano into good working order.
If you have a very out-of-tune piano, be aware that it might need more than a tuning. Your technician should check the pin block to make sure the instrument can still hold a tune. No amount of tuning will make a difference if the tuning pins don’t hold tight after the tuner walks out the door!
Pin blocks can be replaced, but the process is expensive, because it requires a full restringing of the instrument. A qualified piano technician is capable of doing this work and can give you a quote. This can be worth it for higher quality instruments and those with sentimental value. Otherwise, it might be better to find an instrument in better repair and consider this piano “totalled”.
Make sure to also ask if your piano would benefit from any action regulation. Chances are, if piano hasn’t been tuned on a regular basis, it has also not received periodic regulation. Regulation keeps the feel of the keys even and makes sure that no notes stick out when you play them.
Should you tune your piano when you move it?
Yes! A piano’s tuning is not overly affected by being physically moved, but because every home is different, the climate in its new home will be different. Your piano can go out of tune as it adjusts to its new location.
You want to make sure the instrument has a chance to settle before you have the tuner out. Schedule your post-moving tuning a few weeks after your move your piano into a new environment.
How much does it cost to tune a piano?
Costs vary, but expect a piano tuning to cost somewhere from $100-$150, depending on the cost of living in your area.
For many people, it is a worthwhile price to have a beautiful instrument in their home. If it seems like too much, though, you can always consider a digital piano, instead. Digital pianos don’t offer exactly the same playing experience, but they do stay in tune all the time, which is an important consideration!
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