Tuning

Piano manufacturers recommend that a brand new piano be tuned four to six times in the first year. The piano is supporting between 15 and 25 thousands pounds of pressure from the tension put on the strings! The piano wire continues to stretch for some time after the initial tension is placed on them and this causes the pitch to change. After the tuning wire, the wood, and the metal of the piano have settled and become stable you should have your piano tuned at least once a year, preferably in the same time of year.

After the initial settling of the piano, seasonal changes in humidity and temperature will continue to affect the tuning of your piano. The piano is mostly wood and therefore expands and contracts with changes in humidity. As the wood expands it places more tension on each string, and as it contracts it removes tension from each string. Tension determines pitch and therefore a change in tension results in a change of pitch. Heavy use, or problems in the instrument may accelerate this process.

Before a tuning can be done it is sometimes necessary for a technician to perform a “pitch raise” or a type of tuning before a tuning. This will be necessary after a piano’s strings have fallen significantly bellow their prescribed tension and must be brought back up to standard pitch. This is important because the piano is designed to operate under a specific tension, one that results in a specific desired frequency for each note (A above middle C vibrates exactly 440 cycles per second). Operating for too long, significantly under the prescribed tension, may render an instrument incapable of sustaining normal tension. Also, leaving your piano below pitch will prevent you from playing with any other musicians and will be detrimental to your ear training. (back)

Voicing

The hammers that strike your piano’s strings are made of felt. It is the contact of this felt against the metal piano wire that determines your piano’s “voice”: the relative hard or soft quality of tone produced by your piano. After striking a string hundreds of times, the wool of a hammer becomes compacted and hard. This wearing is not always even, resulting in inconsistency throughout the range of the piano. This can make musical voicing, evenness of chords, and dynamics frustratingly inconsistent. A variety of techniques can be employed to counteract these negative affects.  (back)

Regulation

The action is the part of the piano that transfers the force of your fingers on the keys to the hammers striking the strings. Over 9,000 moving parts are involved in this transfer of energy throughout the piano. These parts are made of wood, metal, felt, and buckskin. As you can imagine, over time, the compacting, settling, swelling, contracting, and jostling of these parts changes their relative positions, which in turn will change the timing of connections necessary for the action to function properly. A variety of adjustments can be made to these mechanical parts to compensate for these changes. Bringing these adjustments to exact specifications results in your piano’s optimal response to your musical commands. All pianos require periodic regulation as part of a maintenance strategy.  (back)

Humidity Control

A humidity control device installed directly in your piano can virtually eliminate the negative affects of climate placed on your piano. By supplying year round consistency of temperature and humidity within your piano you will extend the life of your piano and decrease the frequency of need for tuning and regulation.  (back)

Buying and Selling

You wouldn’t buy a car without getting it checked out by a mechanic first. As with any major investment, whether buying or selling, a qualified technician can save you from disaster.  A piano technician will prevent you from buying a lemon or can equip you with the knowledge necessary to get a fair price for your piano. Even a short consultation could help make you aware of which strategies may be most appropriate for your circumstances.   (back)

Finding a Piano Technician

Finding that one piano technician with whom you will build a lasting relationship is a daunting and time-consuming task. All technicians have personal strengths and weaknesses but it is most important that you find someone you can understand and trust. As is true when we seek that one special auto-mechanic, real-estate agent, doctor, or dentist, taking the time to shop around for your piano technician can save you hundreds of dollars and immeasurable heartache. Yes, you want a technician who uses vast experience and in-depth technical knowledge to effectively perform a task that you yourself can not perform. This is basic! Good technicians will also take it upon themselves to keep you actively involved in understanding and maintaining your piano. They never tire of listening and responding to your questions and concerns in an effort to cultivate the best understanding of your needs. They will enthusiastically share their hard-earned knowledge, and not rest until you both feel that the most informed decisions have been made to fit your budget and personal needs.  (back)

Protecting Your Investment

Owning a piano is money in the bank! If properly maintained, a piano will retain more of its value than almost any other commodity in your home. There is no reason that  a well-maintained piano purchased for $20,000 can not be sold for very nearly that same price after 20 years of regular use. Compare this to a car purchased for $20,000, which will require much more to maintain annually, and if it survives 20 years of constant use, will have lost at least half of its value. In essence, a piano gives you unlimited use simply for the cost of its maintenance. While there are no guarantees, if you choose to sell a well-maintained piano after decades of use, you will generally regain 70%-100% of your purchase price. If you choose to keep it in your family it can be passed down three or more generations before losing its value or requiring major refurbishment. It only costs between $100 and $300 a year to dramatically extend the life-span of your investment.

In addition to the strictly economic incentives for piano-maintenance, there is the more personal incentive that a well-maintained piano sounds better and is much easier to play. It seems like common-sense, but the fact is often overlooked that you and your family will practice more, and thereby benefit more from your piano-investment, if the instrument plays easily and sounds good.  (back)

For more information please visit the piano technician's guild.