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Music has a standard pitch (A440). It allows a pianist to play along with a guitarist, the radio, or Spotify. From the day the piano is manufactured, the strings are pulling against the pin holding them in place. This causes a minute unravelling of the string. The soundboard and bridge also sway with humidity stretching the strings. This unravelling, and stretching changes the speaking length of a string.
A shift in the speaking length of a string creates a variation in pitch. At first this shift in pitch is mild, and creates what some describe as a chorus effect. Now, if the strings remain close to each other, the sound is still pleasant, however, the further away they are from each other the more noticeable the difference.
When you notice unfavorable waiving between notes, it is time to tune your piano! (Or when the pitch starts to drop less than -5 cents from A440)
After many years of suggesting “wait 2-3 months” I now have a more comprehensive answer.
- If the piano was tuned regularly before moving and sounded good, then wait 3-6 months, no more.
- Should the piano sound very out of tune, say you purchased it from a private seller who was not playing for multiple years. In this case, go ahead and get it tuned straight away if it’s stopping you from playing, and get it tuned within the next 6 months. It may not stay in tune as long, but now you can play straight away.
Regular tuning
- Tuning to A442
- Unsticking a few keys
Pitch-raise tuning
- Tuning to A442
- Pitch correction
- Unstick keys
- Required after 2+ years
Tuning
With regular tuning you can ensure your piano sounds clean, clear, and responds correctly.
Regulation
Regulation is the process of adjusting the moving parts to make the keys respond as they would new from the factory, or if the piano is older, as close as possible.
Voicing
Voicing is the process of softening or hardening the hammers, to make them more pleasing to the ear. This service can be carried out after the piano has been tuned.
Tips for making your tuning last
Humidity
By maintaining a constant humidity in your home, you can help your piano stay in tune for longer. It may be worth running your AC unit reflecting humidity more than simply heat. If you use a Hygrometer, you can measure the amount of humidity in a room, some more modern devices can keep a record for the rooms humidity over time, avoid high fluctuations!
Tuning after climate shifts
Have your piano tuned after the climate in your city shifts from season to season. As the piano will adjust a few weeks to a couple of months into a temperate change.
Install a lifesaver system
A lifesaver system is a device that reads the humidity and adjusts the environment inside the piano automatically. If the humidity shifts higher than a healthy amount a heat bar dries the air inside the piano. If the humidity drops, water is evaporated safely into the piano. It will help adjust larger swings, however, does not eliminate humidity change entirely. Professional institutions regularly install these as the large rooms are expensive to run AC units constantly. They can be installed at home too!
Some of our clients
Marmo restaurant, Charles Hausmann (UH music lecturer), Birdy (British alternative singer), The Mercantile Montrose (restaurant), Levy Purchasing (working on behalf of Texas A&M)
Roberts Piano provided an Awesome service to my piano tuning and restoration! They are definitely an honest and legit business, Especially Evan is professional ,very knowledgeable and patient with high quality expectations! 100 percent referral to my friends! –
Excellent service. Piano well tuned upon arrival and double checking all before leaving the piano with me.
