Professional Piano tuner serving Christchurch, Timaru & Dunedin - South Island, New Zealand

Many conditions can cause pianos to fall out of tune, notably changes in the environment. Changes in humidity, for example, alter the pitch of a piano; high humidity causes the sound board to swell, stretching the strings and sharpening the pitch, whilst low humidity has the reverse effect. Temperature changes can also alter a piano’s overall pitch. In modern pianos, the strings stretch and the wooden pieces compress over time, causing the piano to become flat, but in older pianos, the tuning pins (which keep the strings in tune) can break loose and cause the piano to go flat. A piano may also get out of tune if it is played frequently and hard. As a result, many piano manufacturers advise tuning new pianos four times during the first year and twice a year after that.

Note: As well providing piano tuning expertise, I also specialise in piano removal and piano restoration services.

The act of tuning an acoustic piano involves changing the tension of the strings so that the musical intervals between them are in tune. In the context of piano tuning, the word ‘in tune’ does not merely refer to a collection of defined pitches. Fine piano tuning necessitates an examination of the vibration interaction between notes, which varies per piano, resulting in slightly differing pitches from any theoretical norm in practice. Equal temperament is a modified form of the tuning system used on pianos.

Independent piano technicians, piano rebuilders, piano-store technical employees, and amateurs all do piano tuning. Organizations or guilds, such as the Piano Technicians Guild, offer professional training and accreditation. Pianos should be tuned twice a year, according to several piano manufacturers.

Brian is a fully qualified piano tuner and piano technician with many years’ experience in the industry, having completed a five-year apprenticeship in Timaru in 1993.