Frequently Asked Questions

The short answer: Changes in climate – in particular, humidity – cause your piano to go out of tune. Read on for a more detailed explanation of why this is. 

A piano is largely constructed of wood and metal, each of which physically react to the weather. The wooden soundboard is attached to the bridges, which in turn contact the strings and partly define their speaking length – that is, the length of wire which is free to vibrate and produce sound. 

The length of the string, as determined by its tension, equates to that string’s pitch. The higher the tension, the shorter the string becomes in its speaking length, and the higher the pitch. As summer approaches, the relative humidity rises, and the wooden soundboard absorbs that moisture. In turn, the board expands. Because the board is fixed to the rim of the piano, the only movement possible is up or down. A healthy soundboard is also “crowned,” or higher in its center than at its perimeter. Thus, humidity causes the board to rise, and with it, the bridge. As the bridge rises, it lifts the strings with it, but the opposite end of the strings – anchored by the pin block – remain at their original height. This results in an increased tension, shortened speaking length, and raised pitch of the strings. Because the soundboard is free to rise further at its center than it can near its fixed edges, the strings along the bridge rise to different extents. Thus, the result of a humidity rise is a piano which has not only raised its pitch, but has done so inconsistently, such that the various registers of the instrument have become out of tune relative to one another. This process runs in reverse as the humidity drops in the winter, and the piano will be flat. 

When temperature changes, the cast-iron plate which anchors the tail-end of the string expands (heating up) or contracts (cooling down). This of course causes the strings to increase or decrease in tension, though in a more consistent way relative to each another. 

Yes. You can find ways of controlling your room’s climate, or the climate of the piano itself. 

The former may involve keeping the room at a consistent temperature and incorporating a climate control system into your HVAC. Such systems can be prohibitively expensive. If that is unaffordable, you can have a Piano Lifesaver system installed onto your instrument. This system uses a sensor, heat bar, and moisture source to keep your soundboard at a more stable moisture content. 

Contact us to have a Piano Lifesaver installed if this sounds good to you!

The standard recommendation is that you should have your instrument tuned twice per year – corresponding to the major seasonal shifts. When your radiator or heating units kick on in the winter, your home will dry out and cause your piano to drop in pitch. When your AC kicks on in the summer, this means the relative humidity is likely increasing, which causes your piano to go sharp. (See the answer to “Why does my piano go out of tune” for the details). 

If you consistently have your piano tuned during these shifts, the degree to which the strings need re-tensioning will be less than if you let it go through the seasons untouched. When a piano’s tension is sufficiently far from its optimal point, at least two passes in tuning must be performed – a rough pass to get the tension equal and stable across the soundboard, and a second pass to bring the strings to their proper frequencies. See “Our Offerings” for a description of a pitch correction. 

As pianos age, and especially if they are played regularly, a couple things inevitably happen.

As a mechanical instrument, the piano action largely functions as a system of levers. The keystick as a lever contacts the whippen, which contacts the hammer, and a sound is produced. Within these levers, cloth and wool bushings, metal pins, and leather are found, all in contact with one thing or another as the system is set in motion. Wherever these contact points exist, friction exists, and it is meant to be friction of a certain degree at each point. Age, weather, and wear through play affect these organic materials and change the friction in the piano. For instance, humidity causes wool to swell. At the front of a key, a pin contacts wool in a mortise. If that contact point becomes too tight as the wool swells from moisture, that key will feel sluggish, heavy, or may even appear to seize up entirely.

Further, various mechanisms and materials in the piano wear down through age. Just like us, the organic woods, felts, cloths, glues, and leathers in a piano deteriorate, harden, or otherwise begin to fail. 

Finally, playing the instrument physically strains these materials over time. Think of a concert pianist wailing on the keys in a big hall. The finely regulated relationships between the moving parts in the action will change due to compression of the parts, loss of material, and so on. 

These things can be fixed! This may be a bit of lubrication, a regulation of the parts to bring them back to spec, some minor repairs or materials replacement, or in the case of extreme wear, you can have your action partially or entirely rebuilt. These things can make your piano feel like it used to – or in some cases, even better!

If you think your instrument may benefit from any of these treatments, have us come out and evaluate the piano, and we can help guide you toward the right service to get your piano back in shape!

The two main culprits: Tuning, and voicing. 

The first thing to consider if your piano sounds harsh to your ear is: when was the last time it was tuned? An out of tune piano – even one which doesn’t sound unchromatic or detuned, as if the notes are “wrong” – can cause its timbre to sound jagged, harsh, or too bright. Most of the notes in a piano are two or three strings tuned to the exact same pitch. This is called a “unison.” As each string of a unison begins to go out of tune with the others – even by 1/100th of a semitone! – the note, when played, will have a wave, or phase, or “meow” in it. This can make the tone of the instrument displeasing, even if the instrument sounds “in tune.”

But what if the unisons are great? What if the instrument was just tuned and it still sounds harsh? In this case, we would consider the hardness of the hammers. Age and play can cause the felt hammers to harden and lose their “strike point.” In turn, the instrument sounds hard and harsh. “Voicing” the hammers can help mellow the instrument. This most commonly involves strategically needling the felt to loosen it up and give it its springy quality back. 

Yep! Voicing the instrument doesn’t only mean needling the tone “down” to a mellower tone. It can also mean adding hardeners – lacquer, acetone, plastics – into the felt, which can bring the voice “up,” that is, brighten it. 

Further, voicing can involve aligning the hammers to the strings and leveling the strings so that the hammers strike each unison string at precisely the same time. 

Contact us for a voicing if you are not pleased with the way your piano sounds!

A Registered Piano Technician, or RPT, is a technician who has passed three formal exams, administered by the Piano Technicians Guild. The first exam is written, and tests knowledge about piano history and design, tuning theory, repair techniques, and so on. The second exam is technical, and tests the ability to perform a variety of repairs and regulate the grand and vertical piano action. The third is a tuning exam, and tests the ability to aurally tune a piano.