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Tuning Questions

1. When should I have my piano tuned and why?

The standard for the piano tuning is twice per year or every six months. The minimum is once per year if the piano does not get played that much. New piano wire stretches so count on more frequent piano tuning for a couple of years until the piano wires begin to relax.   National touring artists who rely upon an acoustic piano for their performances usually have the piano tuning before every show.

2. How much does a regular piano tuning cost per hour in the United States?

According to a recent survey tuning prices vary between $11.61 per hour (or less) for the lowest 10% of tuners who have less than five years of experience to as much as $52 per hour for the top 10% of piano tuners who have over twenty years of experience tuning pianos in the United States. Typically tuners work independently so the cost to tune a piano increases to cover the cost of transportation, fuel, insurance, payroll taxes, cost of living expenses, plus other considerations such as geographical areas served, market demand, and whether or not the piano will need a pitch raise before attempting to fine tune a piano. The average piano tuning price seems to be a flat rate of $75 to $156 in the United States. Top piano tuners may charge more than $52 per hour for a concert piano tuning including wait time to tune the piano on location.

3. What happens if my piano hasn't been tuned for many years?

A piano tuner may decide to tune the piano to relative pitch and not bring the piano to standard musical pitch A-440 and C-523.3. Relative pitch is a compromise between two check notes A and C after checking each of the A's and C's in the bass section, tenor section, and treble section of the piano. The adjustment is minimal to increase the chances of the piano tuning holding pitch. Some settling occurs after an adjustment if the change in relative pitch is more than than 5 to 10 cents per year. The digital tuner is the measure for determining how far a piano pitch is from standard musical pitch A-440 and C-523.3 in the United States. With the exception of some orchestra's most piano tunings are set to pitch A-440 and C-523.3 in the United States today.

4. What preparation does a professional Piano Tuner go through to get started and how can you help with preparation?

You have a piano that you want to have tuned. When the piano tuner arrives to tune the piano, the first thing a piano tuner will want you to do is help clear pictures, music sheets or books, pencils, paper clips, etc. on the piano top lid and music board or possibly pictures behind the piano that could prevent the top lid from leaning slightly towards the wall when it is raised up and out of the way of the tuning pins. If the boards are removed, then you will need a safe place in the room where the parts can be stored temporarily away from children or walk ways where someone could trip on the boards or pets can walk all over the parts.

5. How is the piano pitch checked and what will the pitch be adjusted to after checked?

Pitch is checked using a digital tuner that can receive sound at a minimum in the frequency range of 4 to 5 octaves in a piano from middle bass to middle treble and with rare exception can be checked with orchestra quality digital tuner with excellent accuracy. The pitch is adjusted to what is the compromise between two check notes "A" and "C" at the right of middle C. Additional sample notes in the bass, tenor, and treble are relied upon to determine the range of pitch measured in "cents" at notes "A" and "C."

6. What does the piano tuner mean when the tuner says your piano is flat or sharp of pitch by "cents"?

A digital tuner has a range of -50 cents to 0 and 0 to +50 cents. The 0 is when the note frequency is right on pitch. The -50 means the pitch has gone flat to almost sounding like the note below the note you are playing on the keyboard. The +50 means the pitch has gone sharp to almost sounding like the note above the note you are playing on the keyboard. There are 100 cents between two adjacent notes when each note is right on pitch. E.g. A-440 is flat by -10 cents. This means the pitch has dropped on average 10 cents since the last time the piano was tuned to standard musical pitch A-440.

7. Piano was tuned to pitch, but now the piano tuner says wait a month because the piano wires are settling. What is going on here?

Piano tuning pins need to be set so when the tuning lever is removed from the tuning pin the note will stay in tune. This adjustment is a skill that takes many hours (and sometimes years) of practice to master. No two pianos have exactly the same pin block made of hard cross laminated maple with the same pin torque for each tuning pin. Adjusting the piano wires slightly in tension is usually not detectable by the human eye, but can be heard as the pitch changes. When adjusting the tuning pin more than a mere tap on the handle, the piano wire has to be pulled tight equally along the pressure points of the speaking length of the piano wire. Pounding the key will help settle the piano wire. If the piano tuner chooses to make drastic adjustments, the speaking length has to be equal in tension from the tuning pin to the hitch. Only one tuning pin can be adjusted at one time. Yet, the string may have two tuning pins to adjust to equal the tension from the tuning pin to the hitch pin. Some loss of effort can occur because of the lapse between the first tuning pin adjustment and the second tuning pin adjustment. Shifting tension from the bass section to the treble section of the piano can further cause settling to occur. So piano tuners will usually have to come back and retune the piano a second, third, or fourth time. Smaller adjustments between 0 cents and 15 cents from bass to treble section of the piano can usually result in a fine tuned piano with one tuning. If the change in pitch is beyond 15 cents in any of the sections of the piano, the piano section will need to be repeated a second time or third time to complete the one piano tuning successfully.

8. My piano is so far out of tune, my piano tuner will only adjust the pitch a little bit sharp, keep the pitch the same, or lower the pitch. Why can't my piano be tuned all the way to pitch?

A piano that hasn't been tuned in a very long time can go flat of pitch for years making it very difficult to tune the piano to standard musical pitch A-440. So consider who will be using the piano. Children? The piano needs to be on pitch A-440. Older pianos typically lose tuning pin torque and this contributes to the loss of effort when tuning the piano. If the pins won't hold the higher tension, it is time to either restring the piano or look for another piano that can be tuned properly to pitch A-440.

9. My band likes to play flat of standard musical pitch A-440. Can the piano be tuned to a pitch lower or higher than standard musical pitch A-440?

Yes. The key notes "A" and "C" to the right of middle note "C" can be adjusted and all other notes relative to the check notes A and C.   Some artists prefer the treble to be stretched but this is totally subjective depending on what the artist likes to hear and the musicians who are going to be playing along with the piano can do with their own instruments. Some instruments simply cannot be adjusted to a lower or higher pitch than what the instrument is designed to do, so review what instruments can be used before making this decision to change the pitch from standard musical pitch.   The adjustment to the sharp side can vary from 0 to 0, 0 to + 5, 0 to +10, 0 to +15, 0 to +20 cents stretching from octave to octave. Lowering pitch should be with the help of the musician's ear who intends to play along with this piano flat of pitch especially when attempting to tune other instruments to the piano pitch. Too much tension on the piano wire and it will break. Lowering pitch has to be done gradually ( e.g. 0 cents to -5 cents or 0 cents to -10 cents flat of standard musical pitch A-440 and C-523.3).

10. Why do some strings seem out of tune even though the piano is tuned to pitch?

False beats in a piano wire can make a note sound out of tune. False beats are bends in a piano wire that cannot be tuned out until the bend is removed. Riding up on the bridge can create additional problems with soundboard bearing. Humidity problems especially around 32% relative humidity or lower can be devastating to a piano's life. More false beats can be heard in the tenor section as well as the treble section of the piano at sometimes the bass section if the crown of the soundboard has changed considerably. The environment needs to be stable around 42% relative humidity to correct the soundboard condition. Then the piano wires may need to be reseated again on the bridges using the proper tools and gauges or the problem may clear itself up. However, a complete piano climate control system is recommended to help stop the harmful effects of humidity extremes on a spruce soundboard.

11. Why does the piano wire break when playing the piano after a piano is tuned?

Rusty wires, bends in wires, and metal fatigue can cause a piano wire to break or not be tunable and wire needing to be replaced. Bass wires can be replaced with matching bass wires from a universal set of wires. Also, the original can be mailed to the string maker for a custom made string replacement made to the original specifications of the bass wire. If the piano player breaks bass strings frequently from heavy handed playing, then the piano manufacturer should be contacted to see if a replacement set of strings is available and possibly increasing the core thickness of the bass wires while maintaining the same thickness of bass wire with a decrease in copper winding thickness around the core wire. New wires stretch so more frequent tuning will be needed and more repeat tuning will be necessary for additional tuning cost to raise the piano to pitch and stabilize the piano tuning in either the bass or steel wire sections of the piano such as the tenor (middle octaves of the piano) and the treble section (right side of the piano.) If the steel wire breaks, then piano wire is usually available at a piano supply company online.

12. I'm thinking of selling my piano. Should I have the piano tuned before it is moved?

Yes. Your piano should be tuned before its moved to be sure the piano can be tuned to pitch A-440 safely and to give the tuner an opportunity to note any defects before selling the piano. The buyer will need to allow the piano to adjust to its new environment for a period of seven to ten days before the piano is tuned again. Why? Because the soundboard made of solid spruce will react causing the piano tuning to become unstable, unisons going out of tune, and piano needing to tuned to its new environment.

13. My tuner says my piano needs repairs or regulation or key tops replaced. Is a repair necessary before tuning the piano?

Before you decide to have your piano tuned, please check all the keys to see if they can play. Can you hear the sound? Do the keys return to the original position or do they want to stay down and not come back up? If your keys are not functional, this makes the tuning of those notes difficult to do, so its best to have a technician do the repairs first, then follow up with a piano tuning once all the keys are functional again. Key top replacements do not usually prevent a piano from being tuned so this work can be done after a piano is tuned if need be.

14. I don't know enough about a piano that I am thinking about buying. Should the piano be evaluated first, then tuned?

An evaluation is the first step in the process of determining if a piano is worthy of your time and investment. Sometimes it is necessary to tune the piano to be sure the piano can be tuned safely and to pitch A-440 and C-523.3. Piano tuners can provide piano evaluations without the expectation of having the piano repaired. Sometimes the piano needs repaired before the piano can be tuned. So have your piano evaluated (and if necessary tuned from a seller point of view.)

15. My piano sounds tinny or dull sounding after the piano was tuned. Can the hammers be voiced to improve its overall sound after the piano is tuned?

Yes. Sometimes the hammers are so worn out that little sound is produced especially in the upper treble of the piano. Tuning depends upon quality hammers to produce the sound that is pleasant to hear. So the tuning can be helped by doing some basic maintenance on the hammers called tone regulation and voice regulation to improve its overall sound after the piano is tuned.

16. If the pitch is adjusted to A-430 instead of A-440, will the pitch change sharp, flat, or be dead on pitch?

By adjusting pitch from A-440 to A-430, the change becomes sharp of pitch A-430.

17. I want to learn how to tune a piano. Where do I go for professional training?

Piano tuning requires professional feedback to know you are learning the proper way to tune the piano, what to listen for, how to use the tuning lever, etc. There are piano tuning schools in the United States today that offer excellent piano tuning and technology training. There are professional organizations that also provide tuning instruction through chapter associations, regional associations, national associations, international associations. Some schools are "hands-on" and some are distant learning. The most common way to learn is "hands-on" with professional feedback on a variety of both vertical and grand pianos in a piano tuning school and sometimes with the professional piano tuner to observe and listen. Piano tuning tests usually include setting pitch with a pitch fork, equal temperament, octaves, unisons, and checking techniques within a given period of time. Some piano tuning tests will allow you to use a digital tuner, but the best way to learn is by "ear" to be sure you can tune a piano properly. Piano tuning requires excellent hearing, manual dexterity, understanding of music theory, some experience playing an instrument helps, adjustable tuning lever and star tips (size 2 and 3, short and long, and angled 10 degrees), rubber mutes, temperament strip, pitch fork for A-440 and C-523.3, and many hours of practice to become very good at tuning pianos well enough to make a living at tuning acoustic pianos. Some semi-retired or retired piano tuners have the time available to share their knowledge and skills so ask around who likes to teach.

( FAQ last updated on July 17, 2009)