How often every one should need to tune their piano

As a professional piano tuner, I have a lot of experience determining how often a piano should be tuned.

I understand that there are varying needs for different people, with different pianos, in different environments.

If your piano is in a poor location in your home (near radiator/windows), then you're better off moving the piano to a better location before you get it tuned.

How often should you tune your own piano?

Quick Verdict…

A piano should be tuned often; Regular tunings at 2-4 times a year to keep the piano in excellent tuning condition year 'round.

The bare minimum is once per year; though the stability/longevity of the tuning of the piano will suffer.

How often to tune a piano chart

This chart describes the type of people who play piano, the way pianos are used, and the age of the pianos.

Where is the Piano Located in the Home?

Do's:

• Place the piano in the centermost room in the house

• Place the piano close to an interior wall

• Close the lid

• Consider installing a Piano Life Saver System

• Control the humidity of your household

• Move it to a better location BEFORE your next tuning

Don'ts:

• Place the piano within arms reach of a window

• Place the piano by a radiator

• Place the piano in sunlight

• Place the piano near a vent

• Use your thermostat to control humidity

• Place the piano near a doorway to outside

Follow these rules to reduce your dependence on frequent tunings!

Expert Recommendations for how often to tune a piano

Piano experts typically recommend tuning your piano 2-4 times a year in order to keep the piano in excellent tuning condition.

Concert pianos are tuned daily, so 2-4 times a year really isn't all that bad.

"Is it okay to have my piano tuned once a year?"

Yes, HOWEVER, it's "okay" at best, but not "good" nor "great."

If you tune it once per year, the piano will sound "out" for parts of the year; this is what increased tuning frequency prevents.

What Main Factors Affect Tuning Frequency?

• Location of the piano

• Age of the piano

• Size of the piano

• Humidity control

• Piano has been recently moved

How often should a brand new piano be tuned?

Brand New Pianos: Tune 3-4 times per year in order to remain in tune throughout the first year. It will take weeks, months or years for the piano to “settle” into its new home environment.

A new instrument will need extra tuning for a variety of reasons:

• The piano’s strings stretch out and adapt to the high tension

• The seasoned wood must adapt to the environment and settle

• The tuning pins are newly inserted into the wood

• The steel strings are strung over the wooden bridge and soundboard, fluctuating with humidity changes

Varying customer needs and tuning frequency

Those who play piano a lot may notice the piano going out of tune more often, which may necessitate more tunings.

Those starting up piano lessons may also require more frequent tuning.

Those who maintain pianos because of sentimental purposes don't need to tune their piano as often.

If the piano never gets tuned, then literally no one will play it for long because it sounds bad.

The most important reason to tune your piano often is because the piano needs the tension to reach a state of equilibrium before a fine tuning can be long-lasting.

A piano’s strings rely on the combined tension from each string, and if not enough of that string tension is spread over the soundboard before the tuning begins, then it will quickly revert back to its original state.

If you wait once a year, your piano is at risk for needing a "pitch raise" which is common for piano tuners and technicians to charge more for the extra work. Long-lasting tunings aren't as achievable when a piano needs a pitch correction.

The piano has a memory of the condition it was in before the piano starts to be tuned by the tuner. This means that it will revert more quickly to how it sounded before, depending on the severity. If it was in really bad shape beforehand, it will more quickly revert to that sound. However, if the piano was already in good tuning shape, then it will likely continue to have great sound quality in so far as tuning is concerned.

The string tension is very important to tuning stability. After a year of not being tuned, the string tension will be lower than where it really needs to be at. Then when it comes time to tune the piano, the strings will be “shocked” into place making it necessary to get another tuning shortly afterwards.

Bottom line: It can take a lot for a piano to get back to the standard pitch of A440. Especially if it has been a long time since its last tuning.

How often should you tune a piano for piano lessons?

As adults, the piano often sounds "good enough" and may make some wonder whether or not you can really tell the difference.

For students, they will develop an "ear" for how the piano sounds and will spend less time at the piano once the piano begins to go out of tune.

It's best to maintain a regular schedule of tunings, especially when the students are taking piano lessons.

How often should serious piano owners/piano teachers tune their piano?

A professional pianist will not tolerate an out of tune piano for very long.

As a piano tuner I hear stories about various piano teachers who stretch out the lifetime of the tunings as much as they can, to save on the expense. I completely understand.

My suggestions is it to work with a local piano technician to schedule regular tunings at a discounted rate.

Old Pianos vs. Lightly aged pianos vs. Brand new pianos

How often should older pianos be tuned?

50+ Year old piano: Old pianos should get tuned each season.

Environmental Factors

Seasonal humidity changes are the #1 reason why pianos go out of tune. Contrary to the commonly held believe that it depends on how much you play, environmental factors like temperature and humidity play the largest role in the longevity of a pianos tuning.

The strings are stretched over the bridge and soundboard fluctuating with changes in humidity. It's best to start monitoring the relative humidity in the room, and then make adjustments to the humidity of the room as necessary.

Direct sunlight is never a good idea for a piano, and should be avoided especially if you want to reduce the amount of piano tunings your piano needs. While pianos handle temperature changes better than humidity changes, direct sunlight significantly lowers the relative humidity in the room to a dangerous level.

High humidity may be better than low humidity because the soundboard is less likely to crack, however, the soundboard can develop compression “ridges” due to high humidity which may help open up a crack when exposed to drier than usual humidity levels.

Pianos can handle high temperature fluctuations much better than humidity fluctuations until it reaches above 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Although, fluctuations of more than 20 degrees in a day will likely result in instability for the piano.

New environment for the piano

Always tune a piano after the piano is moved (but wait a few weeks) because a piano must adapt sufficiently to its new location after being moved.

How do I reduce the number of Piano Tunings?

• Monitor room humidity levels

• Position the piano along an interior wall

• Keep away from any ventilation

• Control the humidity of the room between 35-50% relative humidity

• Keep the cabinet closed

• Cover the piano with a piano blanket for extra insulation

• The key to maintaining a pianos tuning for a long time is to have the piano tuned on a regular basis

• Oddly, having the piano tuned on the same exact day each year has proven to be a great strategy for some pianos.

Do piano humidity systems reduce the need for tuning?

A humidity control system makes a stable humid environment better. So, installing additional humidity control systems will take your humidity management to the next level and reduce how often to tune a piano.

When's the best time of year to get my piano tuned?

1. The best time to get your piano tuned is right before the holidays!! This way your family, friends, and guests throughout the season will be able to play your instrument sounding at its best. You’ll successfully avoid hearing people say “this piano is great, but it should really get tuned.”

2. Once the heat gets turned on and/or once the A/C gets turned on.

3. Each seasonal change.

4. Whenever someone complains about the tuning.

How often should I tune my digital piano?

A digital piano does not need tuning (I have been asked this, and I have a feeling people know the answer but they just want to hear it from the expert!).

Extras!

Can you tell that if a piano is out-of-tune? YES! Otherwise I would not be tuning pianos!! 

The tuning of the piano takes around 1.5 hours. You may also read my article on How long does it take to tune a piano.

An acoustic piano is not quite living, but it’s practically “breathing” the humidity levels in a given room that make the tuning fluctuate.

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