Most people don’t know. That’s OK. It’s not one of those memorable dates on the calendar.
The thing to remember is that regular tunings can extend the life of your piano and increase its tuning stability. By spending time with the piano on a regular basis, the technician can find small problems that can be fixed with minor adjustments before excessive wear turns what was merely an adjustment into a much more expensive repair job. There are an estimated 5,000 parts to a piano, many of which wear with use and with exposure to the environment. In addition to over 220 tuning pins, there are 6 major adjustments to the action for each note, thats 528 possible points to go out of alignment. The better the technician knows your instrument, the better they can care for your instrument. Anyone who has tuned a guitar knows how often a guitar string can go out of tune. They may even be aware of how much humidity and temperature can affect intonation. There is a general impression that pianos, since they are so much bigger and heavier, don’t go out of tune that easily. Unfortunately, that is not quite true. The intonation of a piano is constantly changing. Generally, however, it is more or less homogenous in the way that it changes, everything mostly changes in the same way, making it less noticeable. Over time, these fluctuations leave more and more differences behind, accruing and multiplying until the instrument becomes noticeably out of tune. The bigger the fluctuations, the bigger the differences that are left behind. The smaller the fluctuations, the longer it takes for the smaller differences to accumulate and become noticeable. This is the general idea behind tuning stability. By tuning the piano regularly and keeping the fluctuations small, the more stable the piano becomes over time, keeping it more in tune longer between tunings. An average piano lifespan is about the same as a human, more or less. Just as regular checkups and care can affect the quality and duration of your life, so can it be said for tunings and piano care for your instrument’s life. In northeast Ohio, it is highly recommended to do biannual, seasonal tunings. The extreme differences in humidity between the summer and winter season can cause wide variations in intonation. Schedule regular tunings with your technician, or ask your technician to schedule regular reminders by mail, e-mail, phone, or text.
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David Spondike, Ph.D.Piano Technician, Theorist, Composer, Bassist Archives
September 2021
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