Tuning

Pianos are instruments of often great size and weight, but delicacy and sensitivity are also found there. They are largely made up of wood, which is a material at the mercy of shifts in temperature, swelling and contracting, depending on the heat and cold. Other factors affecting the tuning include humidity, frequency of play, and the way in which the piano is played. Therefore, it is generally recommended that a piano be tuned once every six months so as to ensure the pitch does not alter too much. Pianos do not enjoy large pitch movements!

The strings contained in a piano, stretched over a cast-iron frame, from the thick copper-wound ones found in the bass section, to the thinner, shorter steel ones found in the tenor and treble sections, are under tremendous tension. Each string has a tension of 160 – 200 pounds, resulting in a total string tension of 35,000 pounds! Tuning involves making adjustments to this tension, so as to arrive at a desired pitch, through vibrations in the string caused by the strike of the hammer. This pitch can vary, depending on the desire of the individual e.g. concert pitch, baroque pitch etc. The technician will then, through the use of a specialized tuning lever and wedges used for string isolation, manipulate the tuning pins in tiny, incremental movements, until the desired pitch (or unison between the strings of a single note), is reached.