Piano Tuning – what you should know about it

Having a piano in your very own home can be a very pleasant thing.  Just imagine the beautiful music it brings in the house as your child or anybody else plays the piano.

A piano at home will also ease problems in coming up with ways to entertain guests.  But since pianos don’t come cheap it’s important that it is properly maintained.

As you make sure that the outward appearance of the piano is clean, so you should make sure that its strings are properly tuned.

If you own a piano but you’re not quite sure how to go about its proper maintenance then here are some basic piano tuning information.

• The frequency that the stringed instrument should be tuned would depend on the piano’s condition.  The usual room temperature where the piano is placed, the frequency that it is used and how old it is are factors that determine the regularity of its tuning.  Most often, a piano tuning twice a year would be enough for proper maintenance.

• Once you have decided on having your piano tuned, it very important that you hire someone with the passion for piano and takes the responsibility of piano tuning very seriously.  Choose someone who will treat your piano as if it were his own.  Be prepared to pay 400 – 700  Rand for services from an expert though.  Don’t worry that it seems to be more costly than you expected.  This fee will guarantee that there will be no other additional repairs required afterwards.

• If for some unfortunate reasons that you were not able to pay attention to your piano for some time thus leaving it in a not so good condition, more than one tuning is most likely required.  Tunings done more than once is not a strategy for a piano tuner to charge you more.  Tunings done gradually and several times are important to avoid over stretching and eventually breaking the piano strings.

When you invest on a piano purchase, make sure that tuning is done regularly to ensure that your stringed instrument lasts longer beautifully.