Regular tunings are an important part of maintaining the quality of your piano. Tuning your piano on a regular schedule not only keeps your piano in top sound condition it helps to locate potential problems and fix them while they may be a simple adjustment instead of a major repair.

If you are looking for a piano technician to come and tune your piano, please visit our

Piano Technician's Page

to locate our preferred qualified Piano Technicians, learn more about tunings, regulation, voicing, cabinet finishing, and many frequently asked questions regarding the care and maintenance of your piano.

The following items are best practices when having a technician come over to your house.

• - Remove any pictures, music, or other items from the top of the piano.
• - Clear a space around the piano so the the technician may work.
• - Pianos can gather a significant amount of dust over the years, if you want to dust the piano please inform your technician so that they can provide you access to the deep, dark corners of your piano
• - A quiet environment is crucial for a proper piano tuning, please do not vacuum, have parties, have your carpet cleaned at the same time, perform yard work outside the window while your technician is tuning the piano. The noise can make it impossible to hear the soft 'beats' needed to accurately tune your piano.
• - Getting your carpet cleaned can add a lot of humidity to your home. Your piano will absorb some of that humidity and will go out of tune. Please provide at least two weeks after a carpet cleaning before getting your piano tuned. This will allow the humidity in the home and room to stabilize resulting in a more solid tuning.

What is a piano Tuning?

Piano tuning is  the physical manipulation and movement of the approximately 230 tuning pins which will in turn alter the tension of the wire which is attached to each tuning pin, in order to alter pitch, either higher (sharp) or lower (flat). Each note is “set” at a place which contributes to an overall formula for the distribution of frequencies and beat rates that we find most pleasing to our ear.

If a piano has not been tuned on a regular schedule it may require a 'Pitch Raise' in order to stay in tune.  A pitch raise is needed when a piano lacks the proper tension, from the strings, on the soundboard this may physically change the shape of the soundboard from the original design.  As a piano is tuned it adds tremendous tension to the piano's structure, with each string being tightened the additional load causes the pitch of previously adjusted strings to change.  It becomes impossible to calculate the amount of movement before the tuning, thus making it necessary to complete a pitch raise (sometimes more than one) before the final tuning.  You can expect to pay an extra fee if a pitch raise is necessary.