October 2020

Moving into a new home is stressful enough, and the last thing you want to worry about is the condition of your piano once you’ve finally started unpacking. However, whether we realize it or not, the process of relocating your instrument can have a large impact on its ability to retain sound. Therefore, it’s important that you have an understanding of why your piano needs tuning after a move and the factors that affect its playability.

Changes in Temperature

When your piano changes locations, it’s also often put through a change in temperature. This causes its wooden components to expand or contract, which changes the amount of tension in its strings. Though this stretching is rarely severe enough to damage the piano as a whole, it does result in the strings losing their tune.

Fluctuations in Humidity

Humidity also plays a key role in a piano’s ability to maintain its tune. As with temperature, increased moisture in the air makes the wood expand, putting extra strain on the position of the strings. The strings will stretch, and their sound will suffer, meaning it’s always a good idea to get your piano tuned if you’re moving to an area with higher humidity.

Stressful Transportation Conditions

Another reason why your piano needs tuning after a move is the stress it experiences while being transported to your new home. Though we hope that our precious instruments are treated with care on the road, it’s very likely that the driver will hit one or two bumps along the way. This rustling of components can cause damage to the piano’s strings or even bend a few tuning pins, which will throw the soundboard into disarray. So, you’ll need a professional to help get everything back in playing order after your piano arrives at its new home.

Assurance of Proper Reassembly

Ultimately, you may want to get your piano tuned after moving just so you can rest easy knowing everything is in its proper condition. As we previously stated, the transportation process exposes acoustic pianos to a series of different hazards. Therefore, it’s often in your best interest to get it checked out anyway. Even if you don’t notice any issues on the surface, it’s still possible that your piano could’ve sustained internal damage that will need to be addressed.

At Chicago Piano Tuners, we’re well-acquainted with the various conditions that cause acoustic pianos to fall out of tune. Because of this, we seek to not only provide affordable piano tuning services, but also the knowledge on how to keep them in peak performing condition. This way, you can rest assured that you will always have access to the resources to properly care for your instrument.

Your piano’s tuning pins are essential to keeping all its strings in proper alignment. As such, when some of them inevitably loosen over time, it can have a serious effect on the way your instrument plays. For this reason, it’s vital that you know how to identify when some of our pins are looser than others and can perform a few basic techniques to reattach them. These are a few tips for fixing loose tuning pins effectively.

Test the Resistance of Your Tuning Pins

Before you even begin the process of tightening your tuning pins, you must first pick out the ones that actually need maintenance. While the entire piano will experience the swelling and contracting that comes with exposure to certain weather changes, various parts of the instrument will do so differently. So, just because one or two pins are loose, it doesn’t mean that all the others are as well. To identify which pins you will need to fix, place the head of your tuning lever over the pin and note how much effort it takes to turn it. If it moves with very little force, it likely needs some additional attention.

Apply Only Thin Glue Products

Upon discovering which pins you will need to retighten, the next step is to pour a small amount of glue into the pin hole. This will return the opening to its proper size and create the right amount of seal against the pin. The important thing to remember about this step is to only use thin glue products. Using anything thicker can accidentally fill the hole entirely and dirty the surrounding pins.

Drive the Pin Further Into the Pin Block

If this still doesn’t reestablish the proper tension, another tip for fixing loose tuning pins is to push the pin further into its wooden base. Since you’ll be driving it down into new wood, this process will naturally create the seal you’re after and keep the pin and its string taut when struck. However, make sure you only hammer after placing the tuning lever head over the pin to protect it. Otherwise, you could risk damaging that pin to the point that you will need to replace it.

For more information on how to properly fix and maintain your piano’s tuning pins, reach out to our team at Chicago Piano Tuners. Our piano tuning company has over 18 years of experience restoring, tuning, and fixing pianos. This makes us confident that we can assess your specific issue and resolve it in a timely manner.

Piano tuning is an intricate process that requires not just an experienced ear, but a capable hand as well. From adjusting hundreds of small screws and hammers to isolating sounds and pinpointing the source of a sour note, there’s no shortage of things to twist, turn, and move. However, what we don’t often think about are the tools that allow us to perform these tasks in the first place. After all, many of these components are far too small to adjust with your bare hands. These are some of the different types of piano tuning tools and what function each of them brings to the piano tuning process.

Tuning Lever

The piano tuning lever, otherwise known as a tuning hammer, is integral to the success of the tuning process. This is the tool that makes it possible for a professional to turn a piano’s tuning pins and either tighten or loosen the strings wrapped around them. It often consists of a long steel shaft and a sturdy handle that provides the right amount of torque. Tuning levers are also manufactured in a T-shape to assist in removing faulty pins when needed.

Mutes

Mutes are also incredibly important to piano tuning, as they allow the technician to freeze specific strings so they don’t produce any sound. This helps by allowing them to isolate certain tones and clarify how much that string needs to be adjusted. Mutes come in various shapes and sizes to accommodate several adjacent strings. Having a few different models on hand will ensure success.

Lever Tip Wrench

Another type of piano tuning tool to be aware of is the lever tip wrench. Since pianos use several different types of screws and pins, professionals need to switch out the heads of their tuning levers. Lever tip wrenches allow them to do just that. By inserting the wrench into the head and cranking it either clockwise or counterclockwise, they can loosen or tighten the tip.

Tuning Fork or Electric Tuner

Piano tuning professionals also often use either a manual tuning fork or an electrical tuner to test whether the pitch of the strings is correct. These devices are set to specific keys and designed to produce sounds mimicking the one the technician is trying to recreate. This lets them know whether the string is properly tuned or whether it needs further adjustment.

For more information about the piano tuning process, reach out to Chicago Piano Tuners. As experienced piano tuning technicians, we understand the inner workings of acoustic pianos and what’s required to keep them performing properly. We’re always equipped with the tools listed above and more in order to service the instrument you love.