While professional piano tuning fees vary by region, a basic piano tuning may cost US $75 to $150. Obviously, fees can add up quickly for a piano owner who wants a well-maintained piano. Naturally, this may lead a piano owner to wonder if tuning it themselves is an option. Actually, it is possible for some piano owners to tune their piano, however there is a lot to consider before making that decision.

A piano really needs regular tuning to sound consistently good, and to maximize its lifespan. How often a piano should be tuned depends on many factors, including climate, style of the pianist, and specific characteristics of the piano. The biggest factor is changes in humidity. Changes in humidity make the wooden soundboard expand and contract. This action makes the strings slip out of tune. In most home settings, a piano should be tuned shortly after the beginning of the heating and the cooling season, about twice a year. The piano may be tuned less often in a climate-controlled home; on the other hand, it may be tuned more often if the climate experiences more frequent or larger changes. If a piano is moved to a new home it will need a new tuning. A professional pianist may want it tuned even more often.

Saving money is not really a good reason to tune your own piano. Piano tuning is not as easy as it may appear, as we will explain. No matter how good an ear you have, you will not match the skill of a professional tuner, who has years of practice and training. In fact, you might make things worse. Don’t attempt to tune a valuable or cherished instrument; let a pro handle it. Rather than to save money, explore piano tuning if you want to understand more about this wonderful instrument, are excited to learn a new skill, or professional tuning is not available. Let your motivation be pure!

Here are some important truths to understand before you attempt piano tuning. Piano tuning is a great deal more complicated than pounding a key and turning a pin. Before you begin, you will need to purchase quality piano tuning tools. The act of tuning requires precise use of those tools. Of course, you will need a sensitive ear to hear the small distinctions in sounds involved in tuning. Poor procedure and low-quality tools will result in an inferior tuning that will quickly slip back out of tune, or, even worse, result in broken strings, bent pins or a damaged pin block.

The actual tuning procedure has certain basic steps. Tune the notes in the middle octave for starters; this middle octave is called the temperament. Each note in that octave has three strings. Mute two of them. Tune one of these strings to an outside source, such as tuning fork or a chromatic tuner. Now, match the remaining two strings to the first string. Repeat this operation until all the keys in the middle octave are tuned. Tune the other octaves by comparison to the middle temperament octave and to other adjacent octaves that have already been tuned.

Understand that this really is only a brief synopsis; books have been written on the details. For example, a professional tuner will use a tuning fork once on the very first note, then tune the rest by ear. If you do decide to try tuning, go slowly. Do not expect to tune a complete piano right away. Work on just a note or two at first; use that to learn the sound and feel of tuning. Do more as your skills and confidence build over time. A professional piano tuner needs years of experience to perfect his or her technique. However, everybody has to start somewhere. With research, care and patience, you can tune your own piano.