How often should my piano be tuned or serviced? Three main factors affecting the performance of a piano need periodical attention:
Pitch - the pitch will drop if the piano is not tuned on a regular basis. The stability of its environment will very much determine how often it needs to be tuned. Twice a year is a good rule of thumb for an average piano in a domestic situation. Some old instruments m
ay require more regular tuning. Touch - the quality of the instrument, amount of use, and changes in its environment, will determine how often the piano action should be regulated. On average this is required about every five years. Voicing (toning) - here again, this is subject to the quality of the piano, and particularly the hammer felt. Unevenness of tone can be remedied by skilful voicing of the hammers to give a good overall balance. On concert and musician's pianos this is done on a regular basis. Regularly servicing your piano helps it perform well. Servicing is different to regulating or tuning. So, what is the difference? This is done onsite and involves cleaning the instrument inside, removing string marks on the hammers, decreasing friction on moving parts and much more. The time required does depend on the type of piano and its condition. REGULATION. This is the adjustment, alignment and matching up parts of the mechanism (action & keys) pedals and strings. This will normally follow a full service. As felts, leathers and baize wear down through use, the action will need adjustment to compensate for this. As above, time depends on the instrument. This is the most common task which a customer will request. It involves the adjustment of the strings to get the best sound a tuner can get from the instrument.
