Piano Tuning

You should tune your piano about once every six months in order to keep it sounding best.  Pianos are particularly sensitive to changes in humidity.  In Georgia, we definitely see some pretty dramatic swings in humidity from season so season, which makes it even more important to have your piano tuned on a regular basis.  Rod uses sophisticated computer technology to help with the initial tuning, but he also relies on a musician's ear to ensure that the subtle nuances of tuning are taken into account.  Pianos are tuned to A440, which is a term that describes the specific frequency of the middle "A" when the piano is properly tuned.  All other keys are tuned relative to the middle "A".

If it's been a long time since your piano was in tune, I may need to perform a "pitch raise" on it.  A pitch raise simply refers to the case where the pitch of the instrument must be raised a relatively significant amount.  It's problematic because of the huge amount of pressure exerted on the piano's strings.  What happens is that a string that must be dramatically stretched will tend to ease back to its prior tension level, which is to say that it will tend to go slightly flat within an hour or so of being tuned.  When the piano requires such a dramatic adjustment, I typically will do an initial pitch raise, and then return in a day or two in order to do a final tuning to compensate for the tendency of the instrument to "fall flat" after the strings have been stretched.  Doing a pitch raise is more expensive than a simple tuning for the simple reason that there's quite a bit more time required to get it right. 

• Tuning Your Piano / Pitch Raise
• Care and Maintenance of Your Piano