Piano Tuning
What!? You tune pianos!?
I apprenticed with the piano tuner/technician and electronics wiz Paul Williams while I was in college. I subsequently tuned pianos for about a year for side income, but the demands of school, my musical interests and increased opportunities to generate income through playing the piano led me to stop tuning. Before I stopped, the highlight of my brief tuning career was tuning the grand piano and Rhodes electric piano for Luther Vandross’s concert at what was then the Summit (now Lakewood Church). That was a unique experience and my first glimpse of what life on the road as a musical superstar was like.
Since I stopped tuning back then, I’ve relied on local tuners, but several years ago I decided to pick up my tuning hammer again for touch up tunings. This has led to tuning my piano myself. I’ve decided to make my services as a piano tuner available, in part to encourage parents who are reluctant to do so to get their kids’ pianos regularly tuned.
How much does tuning cost?
I am not certified with the Piano Technician’s Guild, I should disclose, but with my training under Mr. Williams and my decades playing the piano, I can do a good job. Although I’m not wishing to undercut other tuners, my lack of certification means I don’t feel justified charging the same fee, so I do charge less. My fees are as follows:
- Regular tuning $120
- Pitch raise $200 (includes initial tuning and follow-up tuning 3-4 weeks later)
There are many minor repairs I can do, as well, most of which would not incur an extra charge.
If you would like me to tune your piano, please email me at music@kevinguess.com
How often should a piano be tuned?
Pianos should be tuned every 6-12 months. For consistently being in tune, 6 months is ideal, but for health of the piano, 12 months is okay. Regular longer intervals can shorten the life of the piano.
The conditions in which they are kept is the biggest factor for a piano’s health. Fluctuating temperature and humidity cause the wood to expand and contract. This is damaging over time to the body of a piano, especially the sound board. A cracked soundboard is pretty much fatal to a piano’s sound, and fluctuating temperature and humidity are the number one cause of this.
But that’s something that happens over a long period of time and requires fairly extreme fluctuations. Tuning is more immediately and obviously affected. The strings are stretched between the brass frame (the piano “harp”) and the tuning pins. The pins are what a tuner turns to adjust the pitch. These pins are set in a big block of very hard wood, which provides enough pressure to hold them in place while not holding them so tightly that they can’t be turned. As a tuner’s hammer can turn them, so can the hammers of the pianos’ action striking the string when the piano is payed turn them over time. But when the wood of that wood block is expanding and contracting with changing temperature and humidity, the pressure on the pins changes and the pins can turn, even when not being played.
Thus, consistent temperature & humidity is important. There is a range that’s healthy for the piano, which is between 68° & 78° temperature and 40%-60% humidity (ideally on the lower end of that range). The most important issue, though, is consistency, as it’s frequent changes in temperature and humidity that cause problems and tuning irregularities.
With that in mind, it’s best to keep pianos away from windows, particularly those that receive direct sunlight, as both temperature and humidity will fluctuate daily with the rise and fall of the sun.
It’s very difficult to keep the conditions a piano is in absolutely consistent, however. Thus, if a piano goes for 2 or 3 years or more without tuning, the tuning is likely to drop considerably in pitch. When this happens the pitch must be raised. This requires an initial tuning and then a follow up tuning after a few weeks. This is because the pins will have to be moved so much to raise the pitch that they will not get securely set in the wood block and, thus, will begin to slip in a relatively short time. The follow up tuning will set them securely.