Tuning Services
Here are piano tuning & maintenance services I offer.
Piano Tuning
Cleaning & Maintenance
Piano Life Saver System Installation
Minor Repairs
Whether you're using a piano at home for your own entertainment or putting on a concert at a school, regular piano tunings are important to keep your instrument in great playing condition. It is recommended that you have your piano tuned twice per year on average. Please contact me to get a quote and schedule a tuning.
If your piano has been around for years or you recently acquired the instrument, a good solid cleaning and maintenance check may just be what it needs. Over time, rust or grime can build up on the strings. In addition, dust and other items (not to mention bugs and other visitors) can find their way deep into your piano. A good cleaning and checkup will extend the life of your piano and keep it in good condition.
Changes in humidity can affect your piano is devastating ways. The piano life saver system (from Dampp-Chaser) remedies this issue and ensures your piano will stay in good condition. As a certified installer of the piano life saver system, I am committed to the health of your piano. Contact me to set up a visit. Then I'll be able to inspect your piano and determine which system is best for you.
With a lot of use as well as age, things can happen within your piano that keep it from working at its best. When I come to do a tuning and checkup, I can alert you to other issues which may need to be addressed. From there, we can discuss which repairs are needed to keep your piano working well.
Price Estimates
PIANO TUNING: $120 -- $140 USD
CLEANING & MAINTENANCE CHECK: $65 USD
REGULATION & REPAIRS: $40 Per Hour Plus Cost of Parts
*These prices are only estimates. Please contact me directly for a quote.
Why Tune & Maintain Your Piano?
About My Training
In 2017 and 2018, I studied to become a piano tuner and technician through the Piano Technician Academy. While studying, I also put in many hours of observation with experienced piano technicians in the Denver, CO area. With that in mind, you can rest assured that I have taken the time to hone my skills in order to service your piano well.
When thinking about the amount of maintenance needed to take care of a piano, one must consider how the piano is made and what causes it to go out of tune. The average piano has around 230 strings and 88 keys. The lower registers of the piano have one or two strings per key, while the middle and upper registers will have 3 strings per key. The average string usually holds around 160 pounds of tension. This great amount of tension from the strings themselves can be enough to make a piano go out of tune. Other reasons a piano can go out of tune can include environmental factors (heat and humidity) as well.
Pianos are easier to tune, stay in better condition, and maintain their value more easily when they are tuned on a regular basis. Regular tuning also prevents damage that can occur when someone plays on overstretched strings. If a piano hasn’t been tuned for a while, it will be more expensive and time consuming to get the piano back into tune.
When the piano hasn’t been tuned in a long time (causing the pitch to be lowered significantly), a piano tuner might perform what is called a pitch raise. This involves more work pulling the pitch of the strings sharp, even past the point of perfect. This overcompensation will hopefully cause the piano to settle back in tune when the strings naturally stretch over time. If a pitch raise has to be performed on a piano, it is important to have follow-up tunings since the tension can pull the pitch back under where it needs to be.
In order to help ensure the strings on your piano last as long as possible, you should have the piano checked twice per year on average. If the strings deteriorate too much, or if the strings are out of tune and not actively used, then the piano may have to be restrung. This can sometimes cost more than the piano is worth itself.
On average, the cost of a tuning can range from $100 to $140, but in the long run, it takes less money to tune a piano twice a year than it does to repair a piano that hasn’t been maintained for several years.
For those who have purchased new pianos, tunings should happen multiple times during the first year, because the new strings will stretch more and can potentially go out of tune faster. Pianos tuned regularly in the early years of ownership are more likely to stay in tune for longer periods of time during the later years of its life.
The reasons for tuning a piano listed above help the value and functionality of the instrument. However, the most important reasons to tune and maintain a piano are for the development and enjoyment of the people using it! It is important for those learning to play the piano to have an instrument that is in tune so they can correctly learn the pitches. If a person learns to play on a piano out of tune, it can hinder his or her ability to play and learn new music. This is because the pitches will sound off to them when they play on a different instrument. On the other hand, those who play on a tuned piano enjoy a boost of confidence. It can be exciting to play on an instrument that’s tuned and sounds good to the ear. This motivates the player to come back to the instrument more often.
Moral of the story: If you properly care for your instrument, it will enrich your life for years to come.