How Often Should I Have My Piano Tuned?
To summarize the previous post (Why do pianos go out of tune?):
When the wires are developing their bends they go flat.
When the tuning pins slip a little under tension the strings go flat.
When the wood expands or contracts with humidity changes the strings may go sharp with higher humidity or flat with lower humidity.
Due to the first dynamic, when the piano is brand new or has been restrung, you will probably want to have the piano tuned four times in the first year. After that, the piano will be much more stable.
To maintain the stability, you will probably want to tune the piano often enough that the strings don’t go so flat that they need to develop new bends after being brought back up to pitch. This happens when the piano slips 25 cents or more. (The pitch change in a semitone is 100 cents.) Once a year to maintain a stable condition is generally sufficient.
The effects of the third dynamic are seasonal fluctuations. For this reason, many piano manufacturers recommend tuning a home piano two or three times a year to keep it sounding good.
And that is, of course, the main point of the piano…to sound good. If you want to tune more often to keep your piano sounding great, then you are in great company….the company of performance, recording and concert venues. It’s not uncommon for concert pianos to be tuned twice a day…once before the rehearsal and again before the performance!
Cheers!
Amy
