How Often Should my Piano be Tuned?

How often should my piano be tuned?

This is a question that has caused much debate over the last century.

Most piano manufacturers and technicians recommend tuning your piano twice a year to compensate for seasonal humidity and temperature changes. For professional recordings or heavy daily use, 3 to 4 times a year is ideal. The absolute bare minimum is once a year to prevent the pitch from dropping permanently.

Our recommendation is that your piano should be tuned twice a year.  If that’s not possible for your situation, once a year for your tuning would be the minimum.

Factors That Affect Tuning Frequency

• New Pianos: new instruments require 3 to 4 times a year during their first year as the strings and wood stretch and settle.
• Environment: pianos placed near drafty windows, air vents, or outside walls will experience more drastic climate changes and require more frequent tunings.
• Heavy Playing: frequent, vigorous playing causes strings to stretch faster, necessitating more maintenance.

Why Regular Tuning Matters

• Pitch Stability: pianos are made largely of wood and felt, which expand and contract with the weather. Letting a piano drift too far from standard pitch places uneven tension on the plate and strings making it much harder (and more expensive) to bring back into a stable tune.
• Preventive Maintenance: a technician can spot failing strings, worn hammers, or action issues before they turn into major repairs

Another question that we hear often is, “I’m not playing my piano right now so does it still need to be tuned?”  The answer is yes.  Even when a piano is not played, the humidity changes from summer to winter will cause the piano to go out of tune even if no one is playing it.  ‍

One last item we would like to address. Some people will say, "you are just trying to have me tune my piano more often so that you can make more money." Please know that our concern is what is best for your piano. We will work with you to find a schedule that fits your needs and will never try to oversell you on anything your piano doesn't need.

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