Can i tune a piano yourself

I first learned myself by tuning several times over several months an old piano that I had inherited but I had already a piano that was recently tuned by a professional in the same location and I had a prior experience of tuning violins by ear.

In the video lessons I took, a C fork was suggested, and the old man gave the reason he uses an A. When someone is reviewing your work, they will say "How's your A" and it is less common to say "How's your C". Of course if you are on your own it does not matter, and it is personal preference.

Well, this is kind of late, but, no, you can not learn to tune a piano in a day. You can drop the tuning hammer and chip the keys. There is other damage that could be done just by being careless. Hope that answers your question. You left out the percentage of attemptees who, like me, ended up bewildered, enervated, mumbling and scarred for life after trying to tune a piano. A half-tuned piano is a useless, dangerous thing like a half-felled tree or a semi appendectomy.

You may have a golden ear, the patience of an eiderdown stuffer and the manual skills of a byzantine mosaic master, but if you don't have the aptitude you, like me, will suck to the greatest extent that things that suck do and the world will know of the botchery and butchery you have laid on an innocent piano. Shudders — Areel Xocha. You had a poor understanding. Anyway, these are percentages of my students.

You are correct in every respect, and probably a few more. Rock Rock 21 1 1 bronze badge. G Ball G Ball 11 1 1 bronze badge. Are you the same person as "Rock" who posted a similar answer two years ago? Your identicon suggests you used the same e-mail address, so you could revive that account and edit the old answer if you wanted to.

Does improvement mean that you can achieve an acceptable tuning faster, or that the tuning itself is closer to perfect, or both? I am very concerned with creating the best methods that reduce the piano tuning learning curve. Music howtotunepianos. I would suggest a different approach, than the most guys here.

If your piano sounds horrible, go for it, you won't make it worse. At that point a monkey could tune a piano.

Marakoss Marakoss 2 2 bronze badges. You can very easily make a very expensive break in your piano — Neil Meyer. NeilMeyer says someone who basically posted few answers up that only blind persons could tune a piano. Like saying that only Gay people will dress you good. I do understand the craftmanship.

But this whole thread is overhyping the procedure so guys like you could keep their work. People will still search for your service even if you admit, that a handy person doesn't need you. Because people are lazy and don't want to learn a thing.

But those who do, absolutely should! If you don't understand me, then you are part of the problem. It's entirely possible to learn, but you're really trivializing lever technique.

It's just not that easy to get the tuning pin and string to go where you want it to. Mark Cerisano Mark Cerisano 1. Neil Meyer Neil Meyer This is simply untrue. The vast majority of piano technicians today do not have vision impairment. It is true that piano tuning was historically one of the better career options if you were blind, but then that has changed.

Thanks to modern technology a lot more options have opened up. See for ex. This is what happens when people answer these questions by guessing, with absolutely zero experience whatsoever in the field. I am a registered piano technician and I routinely go to the PTG convention for piano technicians.

In fact, we occasionally have to tune pianos "under" pitch. Many have gone out of business. The chance that anyone could find a school in their area is virtually zero. I am offended.

Sign up or log in Sign up using Google. Sign up using Facebook. Sign up using Email and Password. Post as a guest Name. Email Required, but never shown. Featured on Meta. Now live: A fully responsive profile. Version labels for answers. Linked 3. Related Hot Network Questions. To tune a string the pitch needs to be accurate and stable.

Setting a string is skill that takes a long time to develop! The steps are:. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for all the notes in the middle octave C4-C5. You may need to look up an equal temperament tuning chart if your tuner only spits out frequencies. Finally, you need to tune the other octaves by comparing them to the notes of the middle octave. For example you may compare A4 with A5 and use steps 1 and 2 to tune it.

If you do, the farther out from the middle octave you go, the more out of tune your piano will sound. You should tune your piano once or twice a year. Is it damaging to not tune your piano? With enough love and money any piano should be tunable unless it has serious structural issues.

This takes time; technicians may charge more. In addition, an out-of-tune piano will slip out of tune quicker than an in-tune piano. So after tuning it, you may need to tune it again within the next several months. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

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Where is it? Pianos like a stable, dry environment. If it's by a radiator, window, fireplace, or anything that will cause the temperature and humidity to regularly fluctuate, it's likely to have problems with tuning and regulation, and perhaps damage to the soundboard and bridges. Does it work? It may seem obvious, but check that all the notes play and repeat properly. Any that don't can probably be repaired, but if there are a lot that don't work it might not be economical to repair.

If you notice that a patch of keys are particularly out of tune compared to the rest of the Piano, that's a major red flag, suggesting a problem with the pin block, a likely fatal issue for the Piano. Are there any cracks? Take off the top and bottom doors and make sure you have a torch handy. Check over the iron frame for any cracks, and on the wooden sound board for any cracks. If there are two of you, one person can look for any light coming through from the other side.

Older Pianos are often not designed for modern homes with underfloor heating and even radiators. Cracks in the soundboard can seriously damage the tone and the tuning stability of a Piano. Although a faded or dented cabinet may not impact the playability of the Piano, it's often a good indicator to how well the Piano has been cared for throughout it's life.

On the inside of the Piano, have a look and see if everything looks nicely spaced and aligned, as anything out of place may cause problems down the line if not immediately. If you've done everything mentioned above and feel confident that you're getting what you want, you can hopefully purchase the Piano and arrange delivery make sure you use a professional Piano movers though!

If you have any concerns at all, make sure to contact a local technician or myself and ask for advice or for the technician to go and see the instrument. I would always recommend trying to buy a Piano through your local dealer, such as Millers in Cambridge or Cookes in Norwich. It might cost a little more, but you'll have at least a two year guarantee, and know that the Piano has been properly worked on by a skilled Technician such as myself.

How much tension is in a Piano? Acoustic Pianos are very heavy - varying from kg to kg. The majority of this weight is due to the cast iron frame. A Piano needs this frame to withstand the tension of the strings; there are over strings in every Piano.

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January 2, January 8, , Piano Care , Piano , piano care , tuning , 1. Have you ever wondered if you could tune your own piano? Upright pianos typically have a hinge that allows the top of the piano to open up. Your electronic tuner will ensure that you avoid tuning the note too sharp or too flat. Contact Ogden Piano Gallery for Piano Tuning Specials By properly maintaining your piano, you create long-term tuning stability and ensure proper ear training.

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