Pianos should be tuned at least once a year. Some technicians and manufacturers may recommend every 6 months without fail, but in my opinion and experience, most pianos in a normal residential environment will be fine with one tuning a year. If you have several children taking piano lessons at the same time or you are a concert pianist that plays for several hours every day, tuning the piano more frequently may be a better option. But in most cases, once a year is sufficient.

Many factors contribute to a piano’s tuning. The main factors are time (the longer it sits, the more it will go out of tune), use (the more it’s played, the more it will go out of tune), and temperature and humidity flucuations.

Short answer: A pitch raise is the process of raising the collective pitch of a piano so that when a fine tuning is done, the piano stays in tune.

Long answer: Pianos are designed and scaled to sound their best at concert pitch. Anytime your piano falls significantly flat below concert pitch, or A440, a tuner must raise the pitch of the whole piano to attain A440 by making dramatic adjustments to the tuning pins, which causes great strain and tension to the strings, pins, and overall frame of the piano. Because of the physics behind it all, if a tuner were to do a regular tuning to a piano that needed a pitch raise, the piano would go out of tune again within minutes and would still sound terrible. A pitch raise entails tuning the piano slightly above concert pitch. The piano will then by itself fall into approximately in tune, then a fine tuning is done, making your piano sound how it should. It is important to keep the piano at concert pitch to ensure lasting tuning stability. It also makes it easier to play along with other instruments. Playing on a piano at concert pitch also helps with ear training.

Yes. We do a variety other piano services including regulation, voicing, treble and bass string replacement, cleaning, keytop recovery, etc.

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Yes, our expert piano technicians can help you with all your piano’s needs. Click here to find out more about piano service.