Your piano's worst enemy is fluctuation in humidity. During humid months, the soundboard in your piano swells and exerts extra tension on the strings, which makes them go sharp. In the drier months, the soundboard dries out and shrinks, releasing some tension on the strings, causing your piano to go flat. Contrary to popular belief, it is not moving a piano, excessive play, or no play at all that makes it go out of tune.

It all depends on what you use it for. If you are a concert pianist, your piano could be tuned as often as once per week. If you play your piano at home its a good idea to get it done at least once per year. If your budget can handle it do it twice per year, when humidity levels are not too high or too low.

Giving the note a hard tap after the tuning pin has been turned with a hammer equalizes the tension along the length of the string, and prevents it from wanting to return to it's original untuned position.

A number of factors determine the cost of a piano tuning. If a piano has not been tuned for a while, it may need a pitch raising, which gives the strings a good stretch and prepares them for tuning. The piano may require a double tuning. The distance the technician will have to travel to get to the piano's location will factor into it as well. Click here to see my fees for some of the more common piano repair services.

Think seriously about doing it yourself. I always recommend hiring a professional piano mover for many reasons. Remember that an upright piano, especially an older one, can weigh as much as 1000 pounds. It is very easy to injure yourself trying to move something this heavy. I've heard stories of clients who've dislocated shoulders, had hernias, or lost a finger or a toe because the piano fell on them. You can also do a lot of damage to either your property or the piano if it happens to fall during a move. Professional movers have the correct equipment and the knowledge of how to do it without hurting themselves, your home or the piano. Should this happen, they are covered by liability or workers compensation insurance which you wouldn't have if you did it yourself. Remember, these things are heavy and moving them requires complete understanding of how gravity and inertia work!!

The outside of a piano is much like our clothing. It has no bearing whatsoever on the acoustical properties of the piano, as sound is transmitted from the soundboard, not the cabinet. What makes a piano a good instrument is what is happening inside. Think of the piano as if it is a car - a good paint job doesn't change what's happening under the hood!! The only way to be sure that you're also getting a good instrument is to have a qualified piano technician look at it BEFORE you buy it and pay to move it into your home, not after it's too late. Don't buy a piano based strictly on it's appearance - it can be deceiving, especially on the older pianos.