Importance of Piano Tuning

Pianos are unique instruments for many reasons. One of these unique features concerns the way in which pianos have to be maintained. Most other instruments are cared for by the musician that plays them, but because of the complexity of the design and their highly mechanistic nature, all piano owners have to employ the services of a skilled technician to carry out regular servicing on their behalf.

Depending on usage, pianos will need servicing, this is known as regulation, roughly every 2 years. The most important maintenance task however is tuning and this is typically carried out 3 times per year. Piano tuning is a highly skilled operation with professional tuners training for around 3 years. The tuner must skillfully adjust all 230 strings so they sound in tune with each other across 7 and a quarter octaves. The 230 thick steel strings produce around 20 tons of tension across the soundboard and bridges, the tuner must carefully adjust the tuning pins so that each string sounds in tune, with accuracy up to 1000th of a semi tone. He must also accommodate for the changes in tension produced by the tuning itself. This process is part science and part art. Tuners must develop highly skilled hands and ears to achieve a good result. Piano owners must understand that as well as giving the piano it's sweet tone, the tuning process plays a vital role in maintaining the correct amount of tension across the cast iron frame. If tuning is neglected the life of the instrument will be cut short and wooden parts are likely to split or warp. Owning a piano involves lifelong expenditure.

If tuning is neglected the piano will end up as an unplayable heap of junk within a few years.

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• E-book containing step by step instructions
• Video presentations illustrating the book
• Interactive sessions per hour - Skype or FaceTime