Why does my piano go out of tune?
Written by Joel Lane
MARCH 2, 2020
One question that I get asked often is, "Why does my piano go out of tune?"
One of the most important factors is having a good piano technician who can stretch the strings and set the hundreds of tuning pins properly for each specific piano with each piano exhibiting different factors to consider, which takes a lot of experience and mindfulness to provide a good tuning.
In our climate, here in California, most pianos that are stable at pitch should be tuned 1-2 times per year.
While there are plenty of reasons a piano goes out of tune, it is often simply due to the nature of the piano being an acoustic instrument, made of wood and metal, which expands and contracts with temperature and humidity.
Acoustic pianos need consistent maintenance and tuning to keep them stable at pitch. Piano strings are constantly under an enormous amount of tension and that tension is supported by a number of things, including: the cast iron plate, the tuning pinblock, the tuning pins, the soundboard, the piano's frame and the bridges.
Piano tuning pins go through the cast iron plate into the pinblock.
Often, in older pianos, the pinblock, which is the block of wood just beyond the cast iron plate that holds the rotational force of the tuning pins, contracts or cracks from humidity and temperature changes over many years, making the tuning pins loose.
Once the tuning pins are loose in the pinblock, some tightening methods may be required or the tuning pins will need to be exchanged for larger pins or the pin block may need to be replaced. The tension of the strings should never cause the tuning pins to be loose, but in the case of loose pins, a piano could go out of tune immediately or over the course of time.
Also, playing the piano will cause the piano to go out of tune and depending on how hard or loud or how often the piano is played will determine how fast the piano goes out of tune.
New Piano Strings?
When a piano has new strings, it takes multiple tunings to get the strings to be stable at pitch, as the strings often stretch when they are new.
Or, if the piano has never had multiple tunings in it's lifetime, the strings are more prone to stretch, back out of tune, than strings that have been tuned regularly and are stable at pitch.
Therefore, a piano that has been tuned consistently will have a better chance at being stable or closer to pitch, for years and years.
A piano that has been tuned regularly, will be more stable!
Final Thoughts
In summary, all acoustic pianos are subject to many factors that cause the piano to go out of tune and depending on the piano tuner, the condition of the piano, the location of the piano (determining the temperature & humidity), the use of the piano and the piano owner's personal expectations, will determine how often each piano should be tuned.
Please be sure to contact me with any piano related questions or topics.
I'd be happy to connect.
-Joel Lane, United Piano
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