Registered Piano Technician
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Tuning your piano not only makes it sound better, it also helps keep your piano in good condition so that it may be playable for many years to come. Pianos are made of organic materials (mostly wood and metal) which are extremely sensitive to and susceptible to environmental changes in humidity and temperature. These elements can cause a piano to go out of tune rapidly, and if left unserviced, can cause a piano become unplayable. The best way to combat this is to have a piano technician regularly service your piano. It's a small price to pay to keep your valuable investment worth every penny you paid!
How often should my piano be tuned?
It depends on how much you want out of your instrument. If you play your piano regularly or have a more sensitive ear, it is recommeded that you have your piano tuned more often than the casual piano player. In high performance situations, I've tuned the same piano more than once in a day! Here in Chicago (where fluctuations of humidty and temperature are frequent and drastic) it is recommended that you have you piano tuned at least twice per year--once during the humid summer climate, and once during the dry winter climate.
How do you tune a piano?
Tuning is done by adjusting the tension of the strings at the tuning pins. The piano technician has a special "tuning hammer" that fits over the pins to make these adjustments. The technician mutes off all but one string of each note--only one pitch at a time can be tuned. Careful attention is given in making sure that the temperament is correct (a series of notes in the mid-range of the piano ususally spanning about an octave that are meticulously tuned so that all intervals and pitches are exactly correct), then the rest of the piano is tuned using the temperament as a reference. After all the single strings have been tuned, the technician then un-mutes the rest of the strings and tunes the unisons, i.e., tunes the remaining strings to match the pitch of the first string. The piano technician also takes special care to make the paino as stable as possible. This is done with a variety of techniques to set the pin.
Do you tune by ear?
No, I tune by hand! :)
Yes. While many technicians choose to use an electronic device to tune pianos, I prefer to tune aurally. I use a tuning fork that has been carefully calibrated to produce the pitch "A" at 440Hz (A440), match the note A4 on the piano to it, and tune the rest of the piano from there.
Is tuning aurally as accurate as tuning using an electronic device?
Yes. Many factors go into tuning a piano correctly, many of which cannot always be correctly predicted and adjusted for with electronic devices. I find that no matter how "perfect" an electronic tuning may be, an aurally tuned piano sounds more musical. While technolgy has produced some amazing solutions to the complications of piano tuning--like adjusting for inharmonicity and stretching--your ear will be the final judge of whether your piano is really in tune or not.
What is "pitch raising"?
Pitch raising is the term technicians use to describe the task of pulling the tension of the strings back to the correct pitch when a piano is extremely flat (or sometimes extremely sharp). Pitch raising is generally necessary when the piano is more than ~4Hz away from correct pitch. Unfortunately, the very process of pitch raising introduces instability to a piano. As each string is pulled up to correct tension, the plate tension shifts and other strings' tension changes, throwing the piano out of tune again. Pitch raising takes several tunings until the piano is close to pitch and stable. This is why you want to keep your piano regularly tuned--so that pitch raising would not be necessary!
How can I keep my piano stable?
Pianos go out of tune no matter what you may try to do to keep yours stable. But here are a few tips to keep it as stable as it can possibly be: Keep your piano in as ambient of an environment as possible. This means that the more stable the environment, the more stable your piano will be. Try to maintain a regular humidity level--run a de-humidifier in the summer, keep the piano away from humid rooms like the bathroom or kitchen. Try to maintain a constant temperature throughout the year. Keep the piano away from bay windows where it would be bombarded by direct sunlight. Cover the piano when it is not in use. Most of all, have it regularly serviced by a professional piano technician.
What do you charge to tune a piano?
My prices depend primarily on your location. The further away you are, the more I'm afraid I need to charge. If you can obtain more work from friends or family in your area I'm able to lower the price (and give you a discount for the referral!)
Call me at (630) 291-5654 or email me to ask for my currect prices.