Q Why does my piano go out of tune?
A The tuning of a piano is greatly affected by humidity and temperature, although useage and moving do have their effects. As humidity and temperature increase the wooden soundboard swells putting pressure against the strings, which tightens the strings, thereby increasing the pitch of the strings. The reverse happens with a reduction in humidity or temperature. Unfortunately, not all strings will receive equal increases in tension and, thus, will be out of tune with each other. Above all, the degree to which a piano goes out of tune for any reason is dependent on the tightness of the tuning pins. If the pins are tight the changes in pitch will be less in relation of environmental changes.
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Q How long does it take to tune a piano?
A The time it takes to tune a piano is dependent on the condition of the piano, the degree to which the piano is out of tune, and the skills of the tuner. That said, most pianos can be tuned in 1 1/2 to 2 hours. It is rare for a tuning to take less than 90 minutes. A complete job is just not being done if the tuning takes only an hour or less. The longer it has been since the last tuning the longer the tuning will take.
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Q Why can't my old piano be tuned to concert pitch?
A Some older pianos can't handle the strain of concert pitch due to age or design. This means that the piano will be tuned "down", "flat" or "low". This simply means that the piano overall will have a lower pitch and lower tension on the strings and frame, but the piano will sound perfectly fine as all keys will be tuned relative to each other. It is common to tune older pianos down one semitone, meaning that if you strike a C key it will actually make the sound for a B at concert pitch, if you strike a G key it will make the sound for an F# at concert pitch, etc. The only drawback to this is that although the piano can be played and sound fine, it cannot be played with other instruments that are tuned to concert pitch, A440, as those instruments will be out of tune with the piano.
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Q My piano will not hold a tuning. Is it junk?
A No, there's still hope. When the tuning pins (pins at top where strings attach) become loose to the point that the piano can't be tuned, there are usually options. One option is to use a "pin tightener" mixture which when injected into the pinblock swells the wood around the pins making the pins temporarily tighter. This method is outdated and has been found to deteriorate the pinblock even more, and therefore, is not recommended. If you have only a few loose pins then a shim can be placed in the hole of each tuning pin to tighten it. The best option for a whole piano is to either replace the pinblock or simply replace all the pins with larger pins. Either option will require new strings but will ultimately fix the tuning potential of a piano.
