When your fingers dance across the keys of your piano, and you aren't pleased with what you hear, it could be because you need lessons — or, if you're an accomplished player, the instrument may need to be tuned. Pianos will require tuning over time, and you can turn to an experienced piano tuner in your community who can visit your home and get the piano back to sounding its best. There are a number of things that can put your piano out of tune prematurely, which is the last thing you want to experience. However, you can make some rules that will hopefully prevent you from having to have the instrument tuned prematurely. Here are some suggestions.
Don't Play Too Roughly
You probably treat your piano with care, but if you have children or grandchildren who are drawn to the instrument, they may not take the same approach. While a piano can slowly go out of tune through customary use, the speed at which the instrument loses its tune can be sped up through aggressive playing. This can occur, for example, when a young child sits on the bench in front of the keyboard and aggressively pounds on the keyboard.
Don't Move The Instrument Too Much
Although many piano owners have the instrument set up somewhere in their home and don't move it for decades on end, others may be tempted to relocate the piano. This can especially be the case if the piano is on wheels and is easier to move. Frequently moving the instrument, however, can risk putting it out of tune. When you move the piano, it gets jostled, and this can be problematic. This is especially a concern if you bump the piano down on the ground after lifting it or bang it into the wall during travel.
Don't Allow Extreme Humidity Changes
Significant changes in the humidity of the room in which the piano is located can also speed up the pace at which it goes out of tune. When a room's humidity rises and falls, the wood in the piano reacts. In dry environments, for example, wood will customarily shrink, which will alter the interior shape of the instrument and affect the tension of the piano strings. It's ideal to keep the humidity consist, which you can accomplish through the use of a humidifier and/or a dehumidifier, depending on the humidity in your climate. You can always talk to your piano tuner for specific tips on achieving the correct humidity.
Contact a company like Steve Nichols Piano Tuning for more information and assistance.
