July 2020

How to Take Care of Your Piano

Pianos are beautiful, strategically crafted instruments that leave us captivated by their harmonious sounds and enchanting musical capabilities. However, these wonderful devices can’t produce the sounds they do if they aren’t well-kept. In order for them to continue looking and performing well, their owners must practice the proper level of care and diligence. Therefore, if you wish to keep your own instrument sounding just as lovely as the day you bought it, make sure you know how to take care of your piano.

Store It In a Controlled Environment

Pianos are traditionally crafted from the finest maple or spruce wood fibers found in nature. These materials not only make the instrument look gorgeous in your home, but they also are partially responsible for quality sound production. As such, keeping these surfaces in good condition is key to your piano’s overall performance. Unfortunately, as strong and durable as wood is, it’s incredibly susceptible to the moisture in the air and the surrounding temperature. In fact, extreme fluctuations in either can cause the materials to expand, contract, and break as a result. Because of this, you should place this instrument in a room with low humidity levels and a regulated temperature.

Keep Up With Cleaning and Maintenance

Taking proper care of your piano also involves keeping up with its required cleaning and maintenance schedules. Cleaning should occur once a month if your instrument receives heavy use, and your piano should undergo standard maintenance every few months. When cleaning, gently dust the piano with a dry, soft cloth while giving extra attention to the strings and adjustment pins. To remove any grease stains or fingerprint smudges, a slightly dampened soft cloth works well on both the keys and body of the instrument. On the other hand, maintenance should consist of replacing any faulty parts or readjusting components that may have loosened with time. The need for piano maintenance may vary depending on the model you have and its age.

Get It Tuned Regularly

Finally, no piano can be at its best without getting properly tuned on a regular basis. As the strings stretch with use, they can change in tone and create entirely different sounds than what’s expected. This makes it impossible to play a piece to its fullest potential. For this reason, it’s recommended that you get your piano tuned by a quality piano tuning service at least twice a year. Doing so keeps the instrument’s sound from changing too drastically and hindering its presentation. You can also talk with your tuner about certain techniques for keeping your piano in tune and how they would best go about maintaining its condition.

Caleb CrockettHow to Take Care of Your Piano
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Understanding How Piano Tuning Works

If you currently or have ever owned a piano, you’re probably aware that the tuning process is one of the most important components of maintaining it. Not only does tuning your instrument keep it playing well, but it also helps to preserve its value and charm. However, having your piano tuned can be a tedious and complicated process for those who are unfamiliar with it. As such, piano owners must understand how piano tuning works to best appreciate how beautifully this device plays.

Defining the Tuning Process

The first step to understanding how piano tuning works is knowing what the process entails and what it means for your performances. Piano tuning is the act of adjusting the amount of tension placed on each string—therefore, changing their frequency of vibration when struck by a key. This frequency of vibration, otherwise known as the string’s pitch, produces a sound that should fall into harmony with the other strings around it. This is, ultimately, how pianos produce their melodious music.

How a Piano Is Tuned

When tuning piano strings, the first essential step is to become familiar with the pitches you want it to produce. When you know what the chord should sound like, you can continuously adjust the strings until you find a sound that matches. The string tension is honed by carefully turning the piano pins attached to them—loosening or tightening the string with each turn. Once the reference notes are in tune on each fourth of the keyboard, the tuner then repeats the process with the rest of the strings in between. This procedure requires someone who’s very skilled at identifying sounds and knows the deep complexities of music theory.

While the initial steps may not sound too difficult, piano tuning is an incredibly complicated process that requires the hand a professional piano tuning technician. For those who are not as experienced in the art, it’s very easy to accidentally over or under tighten strings, leading to damages that could cost hundreds to fix. It’s also important to note that, while pianos hold their tune for a while, they can fall out of tune in certain temperatures or levels of humidity. Because of this, piano owners should consider getting their instruments tuned at least twice a year.

Caleb CrockettUnderstanding How Piano Tuning Works
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