WHY PIANOS GO OF TUNE.

Humidity changes are the main cause. In humid weather, the piano’s soundboard absorbs moisture and drives the pitch up; in dry weather, the reverse is true. These changes do not affect each string to exactly the same extent, so your piano doesn’t just shift to a higher or lower relative pitch—it goes out of tune.
The great lakes region is particularly prone to seasonal humidity fluctuations. This not only affects the piano's pitch, but can also significantly shorten the life of a piano. It is impractical for most homes to maintain a perfectly stable level of humidity, though keeping the piano away from heat sources, direct sunlight, outside walls, draughts and out of basements will prevent the worst effects. The installation of a humidity control device in the piano itself can protect it from the changes in the surrounding air and is generally cheaper than controlling the environment in an entire room or house. Ask me about prices for installation in your piano.

Tuning
I tune by ear. Aural tuning, as it is called, is and age-old art which uses the ear’s natural capacity to gauge the interference between two closely related sounds. This concrete information is weighed against the tuner’s musical sense. Tuning the piano is not a simple matter of finding the “right” note, because the exact pitches which will work best vary from piano to piano. They are also, to some extent, a matter of personal taste. Whether or not an electronic tuning aid is used, the ear is the final judge. However your piano is tuned, it should sound good to you, and it’s a good idea to find a tuner who can please your own musical taste.
Regular tuning stabilizes the piano at the correct pitch and ensures that each tuning lasts longer—the piano sounds better all the time, even between tunings.
Pitch Adjustment is simply the extra tuning required when a piano has not been tuned for a significant length of time. Changing the pitch a large amount means changing the tension of each string. This has a cumulative effect of changing the shape of the soundboard slightly—which in turn changes the tension of the strings—so that by the time the last string has been tuned, the first string is out of tune again. Often several quick tunings are necessary before fine tuning can be done.

Humidity changes are the main cause. In humid weather, the piano’s soundboard absorbs moisture and drives the pitch up; in dry weather, the reverse is true. These changes do not affect each string to exactly the same extent, so your piano doesn’t just shift to a higher or lower relative pitch—it goes out of tune.
The great lakes region is particularly prone to seasonal humidity fluctuations. This not only affects the piano's pitch, but can also significantly shorten the life of a piano. It is impractical for most homes to maintain a perfectly stable level of humidity, though keeping the piano away from heat sources, direct sunlight, outside walls, draughts and out of basements will prevent the worst effects. The installation of a humidity control device in the piano itself can protect it from the changes in the surrounding air and is generally cheaper than controlling the environment in an entire room or house. Ask me about prices for installation in your piano.

Tuning
I tune by ear. Aural tuning, as it is called, is and age-old art which uses the ear’s natural capacity to gauge the interference between two closely related sounds. This concrete information is weighed against the tuner’s musical sense. Tuning the piano is not a simple matter of finding the “right” note, because the exact pitches which will work best vary from piano to piano. They are also, to some extent, a matter of personal taste. Whether or not an electronic tuning aid is used, the ear is the final judge. However your piano is tuned, it should sound good to you, and it’s a good idea to find a tuner who can please your own musical taste.
Regular tuning stabilizes the piano at the correct pitch and ensures that each tuning lasts longer—the piano sounds better all the time, even between tunings.
Pitch Adjustment is simply the extra tuning required when a piano has not been tuned for a significant length of time. Changing the pitch a large amount means changing the tension of each string. This has a cumulative effect of changing the shape of the soundboard slightly—which in turn changes the tension of the strings—so that by the time the last string has been tuned, the first string is out of tune again. Often several quick tunings are necessary before fine tuning can be done.