Piano Tuning Process

Many people ask, “So just how do you tune a piano?” There are a variety of philosophies and methods used in tuning a piano, so here is a brief, high-level description of Bill’s piano tuning process:

Background

A piano has up to 12,000 individual parts that all work together to produce the beautiful sound you have come to appreciate. There are more than 230 strings in the typical piano. The combined string tension in a piano is between 15 and 30 tons, depending on the piano, and is enough to hoist a 2-car garage. As with any stringed instrument, the piano will go out of tune due to a variety of factors, including humidity and temperature changes, frequency of play, and style of play.

temperament

Bill’s first step is to set the “temperament.” This involves tempering or “shading” the notes in the center section of the piano such that they can be played in all possible musical keys and sound good to the human ear. This is where Bill lays the foundation for your piano’s good sound.

bass AND treble

Next is to tune the bass and treble sections in reference to the center section. There are either between one and three strings associated with every note in a piano and each string that makes up a note must be tuned so that the note has the proper sound.

final checkout

Finally, the piano gets a full test from top to bottom to ensure that all the notes sound good in relation to each other.

style

There are a host of tuning protocols or styles that can be applied to pianos to achieve various sounds. Bill strives to achieve a “bright” piano sound, especially in the treble section. This is, by far, the sound Bill’s piano clients prefer.

time

The amount of time it takes to tune a piano varies, depending on how badly out-of-tune it is and in the overall condition of the piano. The typical “rule of thumb” is 1.5 hours, but if a piano has dropped slightly in pitch or needs a pitch raise, the time can be upwards of 2 hours. Regardless of the time it takes to tune the piano, the goal of both tuner and customer is a piano that is in tune.

stability

How long a piano stays in tune also varies, depending on the environment the piano is in, the general quality of the piano, and how the piano is played. The general rule (and industry standard) is to have the piano tuned every six months and no less frequently than once a year. [Pricing Information]
[Why should I tune my piano on a regular schedule?]