Pianos

• Keep your piano in tune.  It was specifically designed to be tuned to the international pitch standard of A-440 cycles per second. Your piano will sound its best and give you and your family the most pleasure when it is tuned regularly and kept in proper playing condition.

• Keep your piano clean.

• The maintenance of the inner working of the piano and regulation should be left to a qualified piano technician. Resist dusting the inside of your piano, oiling the moving parts, or using moth or insect repellents. Your piano technician will take care of all internal problems.

• Try to maintain a fairly consistent temperature and humidity control in the room where your piano is placed. It's important to keep your piano away from a heating register in winter, an air conditioning vent in the summer, a fireplace, a frequently opened window or outside door, and direct sunlight.

• Play your piano regularly. You'll get the most enjoyment from it and also reach your potential much faster. A disadvantage to idle pianos, assuming they also suffer a service lapse, is that a detrimental condition or environment can't be identified, and an escalating problem can result in damage that might not have occurred with regular service. 

• Keep all drinks and standing liquid containers off the piano. Should spilled water reach the action, notify you piano technician immediately. In many case, once liquids are spilled, the damage is irreversible which is why prevention is the safest rule to follow.

• Select a piano technician with care. It's not only important that the service person be competent to perform tuning, regulation and repairs, but also that the person be someone you feel comfortable calling with questions concerning your piano's performance. Hiring a Registered Piano Technician who is committed to comprehensive service for your piano, and not just an occasional tuning, is your best assurance. Find a Registered Piano Technician.

• Do not perform repairs yourself. Though a problem may appear easy to solve, a qualified technician will have the proper tools and parts to make repairs quickly and correctly. It's important to remember that unsuccessful amateur repairs are usually much more expensive to fix than the initial problem and may decrease the value of your instrument.

• Use only a professional piano mover to move your piano. You will avoid injury to yourself, your instrument, and your home.

One question we get asked a lot as Technicians is how often should my piano be serviced?

The Piano Technicians Guild recommends tuning your piano at least twice a year, with additional tunings as needed; however, every piano requires a different level of maintenance, depending on the quality of materials used, the design, and the level of craftsmanship. Manufacturers can provide general advice on tuning frequency, but a technician can offer specific recommendations tailored to your usage and locale. 

 A little more information: Pianos contain materials such as wood and felt, which are susceptible to changes in climatic conditions. Thus, these climatic changes can cause materials to swell or contract, affecting tone, pitch, and action response (touch). Regular servicing by a qualified technician will preserve your instrument and help avoid costly repairs in the future. 

*** Your piano will perform best under consistent conditions - optimally at a temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit and 42% relative humidity.

A standard tuning appointment will take 1 to 2 hours.

A standard tuning is a 1 to 2 hour block for $200 (short inspection to start. 

If a pitch raise is needed (when a piano is severely out of tune) it may take 3 hours plus as at least 1 additional turning will be needed. For this it is $100 more ($300). 

I accept cash, check, all major credit cards, and Venmo. 

Complete piano service should include periodic regulation and voicing in addition to tuning. Your technician can consult with you to recommend a maintenance schedule customized to your instrument. 

We also recommend that you clean your instrument periodically. We offer two cleaning options: a light cleaning, which is 30 mins for $75, or a deep cleaning, which is an hour plus for $150 (unless there is evidence of mice).

Looking for more information about how to clean and take care of your piano? Drop us a note or give us a call; we're happy to schedule a cleaning for you.

If you instrument displays a lack of sensitivity or a decreased dynamic ranges, it's a candidate for regulation. If you notice that the keys are not level (some higher or lower than the rest), the touch is uneven or that the keys are sticking, the need for regulation is indicated. However, a sluggish action or deep grooves in the hammers indicate the need for reconditioning or repair. Ask your technicians to show you what needs adjustment on your piano.

No amount of practice can compensate for a poorly maintained action. Poor legato touch, chord playing where all notes of the chord don't speak clearly, a gradual loss of subtlety in phrasing and an inability to execute quick passages or note repetitions evenly may be the fault of the piano -- not the player.

• • Your piano may benefit from voicing if:

  • Your piano sounds different than when you purchased it.

  • You don't like the sound even after it has been tuned.

  • Tone varies radically from note to note.

  • You cannot achieve a range of tone (mellow to bright) at different volumes.

  • The piano has lost its ability to play softly.

Before deciding if a new piano needs voicing, make sure it is well-tuned and well-regulated. Then, play a wide variety of music on it. Most voicing procedures are long-lasting, so give yourself some time to explore the sound of a new instrument before deciding to change it.

How often voicing is needed depends upon the piano's usage and its intended audience. Pianos in concert halls and recording studios often receive minor refinement of the voicing before each performance. A home piano may need some initial voicing to customize it to the owner's taste, then once every one to five years to maintain its tone.

Your piano and your musical needs are unique -- your own schedule for periodic voicing is a matter for you and your technician to decide. To find out how voicing might improve the tone of your piano, ask for a demonstration on one or two notes.