Piano Tuning, Repairs & Restoration In Northern Ireland

The piano is one of the most versatile of musical instruments. Its unique nature allows it to be played both loud and powerfully or soft and expressively. It can be used to lead a group of musicians in a church or concert hall, or fade into the background providing the ambience to a pleasant meal in a restaurant. It can be enjoyed in a variety of ways – by many people at once, or an individual simply playing in their home for pleasure. In order to maintain its beauty, your piano must be regularly tuned and serviced.

It is recommended that a household piano is tuned no less than every 12 months. Pianos are also commonly located in churches and schools and these pianos generally receive more vigorous playing and the temperature changes are much more radical and frequent. It is recommended that more frequently played pianos be tuned at least every 6 months. If left for longer than these recommended intervals it is possible that your technician cannot guarantee a stable tuning. This is because the strings are no longer used to being stretched and the iron plate inside the piano (which holds the massive amount of tension on a tuned piano) will warp a certain amount after a long period of sitting idle. It is also possible that string breakages may occur (which your technician cannot be held responsible for). In these cases two or more tunings (and possibly additional repair work) may be required to stabilise the piano.

It’s important to be mindful that tuning a piano is only the adjustment of the system of strings and pins that determines the pitch of each string. Pianos also require periodic servicing called regulation, which attends to the mechanical parts that cause the strings to sound when keys are played. Over time deterioration of parts of the action (mechanical workings of the piano) can be seen, and felt, due to the compacting and settling of cloth and constant changes in the wood caused by temperature and humidity variations. Regulation is the adjustment of all action parts to bring the piano back to its optimum playing condition.

There are numerous reasons why a piano goes out of tune such as extensive use, lack of use, variable temperature and humidity. Factors such as frequent humidity and temperature changes within the piano’s environment are what knock the piano out of tune the most. If a piano is uncared for, for example it is left from one season to another without tuning, it is likely that the pitch will be considerably lower than it was originally.
In order for your piano to maintain its tuning stability it is imperative that it be tuned regularly (at least once per year or twice per year for more heavily played pianos). Failure to do so will most likely result in the instrument becoming too unstable to hold its pitch/tuning, which will in turn result in the necessity to have it tuned more frequently for a while to correct this instability.

If you feel as though you have no control over how notes are sounded, particularly when trying to play softly or sensitively, or if a note will not repeat when you attempt to play the same key rapidly, or doesn’t sound at all it requires regulating. Any of these symptoms and more are most likely caused by poor regulation of the action. The Piano Doctor recommends The Piano Technician’s Guild website for further comprehensive information.