How often should your piano be tuned? A change in relative humidity is the main reason a piano will go out of tune. Here in the Northeast USA, summers are extremely humid, while in winter the air becomes extremely dry. As a result, pianos tend to go sharp in the summer and flat in the winter. Usually, pianos in homes should be tuned at least twice a year to keep sounding their best.
What do piano manufacturers say?
"Your Steinway piano has been designed and built so that in normal use and under normal conditions it should need only periodic tuning. We recommend that your tuner be called at least 3 or 4 times a year. You, however, are the final judge and should have the piano tuned as often as you think necessary. To put the matter of tuning into perspective, remember that a concert piano is tuned before every performance and a piano in a professional recording studio, where it is in constant use, is tuned 3 or 4 times each week as a matter of course."
Baldwin: "In the first year, the National Piano Manufacturers Association recommends that you have your piano tuned four times. This is a period of environmental adjustment for a new instrument and proper attention is important. After the first year, the piano should be tuned at least twice each year depending upon the frequency of use and atmospheric conditions."
"During the first year Yamaha recommends that your piano should receive four (4) tunings/service visits. Afterwards, Yamaha recommends a minimum of two (2) tunings/service visits each year."
"All pianos need to be tuned regularly. The amount of time between tunings for a fine instrument depends on many factors, especially the stability of the temperature and humidity and the amount of use the piano receives. In general, Kawai recommends 2 to 4 tunings per year. However, your piano technician can best recommend the appropriate interval for your specific environmental conditions and use."
"Changes in temperature and humidity, the amount and type of use it gets, and the musical requirements of the owner will determine how often your Pearl River piano will need service. In general, Pearl River recommends that your new piano be serviced four times the first year and twice a year by a qualified piano technician. Regular service by a qualified technician will assure the continuing pleasure that comes only from a properly tuned and regulated piano. We recommend two to three tunings the first year and a minimum of two tunings per year thereafter. Avoid placing your piano where it will be exposed to extreme hat or cold, moisture, or direct sunlight, all of which can cause unstable tuning, warpage and finish damage."
What is a "pitch raise?" A pitch raise is essentially a "pre-tuning" that must be done on a piano that is very out-of-tune, such as one left untuned for several years or more. When a piano us left untuned for a long time, so many strings become out of tune that the tension across the entire soundboard changes. In this condition, tuning one string will affect the tuning on other strings. Previously tuned notes will lose their tuning every time a new note is tuned, like a dog chasing its tail. To correct for this, the tuner will use a pitch raise procedure, where the every string's tension is adjusted in one pass, to bring the tension on the entire soundboard close to specifications. The tuner may now do a precise tuning of individual strings without affecting the others.
Piano Manufacturers and Distributors
Here's a partial list of pianos and piano types I'm familiar with: Acrosonic, Aeolian, QRS Pianomation, Pianocorder, Baldwin, Bechstein, Behr, Bluthner, Boston, Brambach, Cable, Carlisle, Chase, Chase Hackley, Chickering, Ellenburg, Gulbransen, Haines, Hammond, Hardman, Harrington, Hazelton, Heinzman, Howard, Ivers & Pond, Janssen, Kawai, Kelly, Kimball, Kingsbury, Knabe, Kohler & Campbell, Kranich & Bach, Lester, Lindeman, Ludwig, Lyon & Healy, McPhail, Mason & Hamlin, Mehlin, Melodigrand, Mendelssohn, Miller, Packard, Schulz, Steck, Steiff, Steinway, Sterling, Story & Clark, Vose, Weber, Winter, Wurlitzer, Yamaha, and York.
I usually do not work on player pianos except for QRS Pianomation and Yamaha Disklavier.
My New Jersey service area now includes: Bergen County, Essex County, Morris County, Passiac County, Sussex County and Warren County, including Allendale, Alpine, Bayonne, Belleville, Bergenfield, Berkeley Heights, Bernardsville, Bloomfield, Bogota, Caldwell, Carlstadt, Cedar Grove, Cedar Knolls, Clifton, Cliffside Park, Closter, Cresskill, Demarest, Dumont, East Hanover, East Rutherford, Edgewater, Edison, Elizabeth, Elmwood Park, Emerson, Englewood, Englewood Cliffs, Fairfield, Fairview, Fanwood, Fair Lawn, Florham Park, Fort Lee, Franklin, Franklin Lakes, Garfield, Glen Rock, Hackensack, Harrington, Harrington Park, Hasbrouck Heights, Haworth, Hillsdale, Hillsboro, Hoboken, Ho Ho Kus, Irvington, Jersey City, Kearny, Kenilworth, Leonia, Lincoln Park, Little Falls, Little Ferry, Livingston, Lodi, Lyndhurst, Millburn, Montville, Montvale, Morristown, Mahwah, Maplewood, Maywood, Midland, Midland Park, Montclair, Montvale, Moonachie, Mountain Lakes, Mountainside, North Caldwell, Nutley, Newark, New Barbados, New Milford, North Arlington, Northvale, Norwood, Oradell, Orvil, Oakland, Old Tappan, Palisades, Palisades Park, Paramus, Park Ridge, Passaic, Paterson, Princeton, Rahway, Ramsey, Ridgefield, Ridgefield Village, Ridgefield Park, Ridgewood, River Edge, River Vale, Rochelle Park, Rockleigh, Roseland, Rutherford, Secaucus, Saddle Brook, Saddle River, Scotch Plains, Short Hills, South Hackensack, Summit, Teaneck, Tenafly, Teterboro, Totowa, Upper Montclair, Upper Saddle River, Union, Union City, Verona, Waldwick, Wallington, Warren, Washington, Watchung, Wayne, Weehawken, West Caldwell, Westfield, Westwood, Woodbridge and Woodcliff Lake.
My Rockland County, New York service area now includes: Airmont, Bear Mountain, Blauvelt, Clarkstown, Congers, Garnerville, Haverstraw, Hillburn, Monsey, Nanuet, New City, Nyack, Orangeburg, Palisades, Pearl River, Piermont, Pomona, Ramapo, Sloatsburg, Sparkill, Spring Valley, Stony Point, Suffern, Tappan, Thiells, Tomkins Cove, Valley Cottage, West Haverstraw and West Nyack.
My Connecticut service area now includes: Darien, Greenwich, Noroton, Norwalk, Pemberwick, Rock Ridge, Rowayton, Roxbury, Springdale and Stamford.
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