Why does my piano keep going out of tune?
Does your piano go out of tune quickly after being tuned? Even without temperature and humidity fluctuations, a piano will go out of tune as the piano strings stretch. Here are a couple of things that could affect the stability of the pianos pitch.
Loose tuning pins
Piano tuning pins need to be tight in order to hold the huge amounts of tension that piano strings create. The pins are set in a piece of wood called the wrest plank, or pinblock, and with the temperature and humidity changing throughout the year this piece of wood warps slightly. Combined with the tension of the string attempting to pull the pin loose, over time these tuning pins start to lose their grip. This can often be resolved by hammering the tuning pins in further, however there is a limit to how may times this can be done.
String stretching
When a piano has brand new strings fitted, heat and pressure is applied to the strings and the piano is repeatedly tuned until it is stable. However this string stretching will continue on for the rest of its life as the metal string slowly relaxes and loses tension. This should only happen in small degrees and so this won’t affect the tuning as much as the loose tuning pins, but over time the piano will need tuning again because of this.
Central / underfloor heating
If your piano is next to a radiator or on top of underfloor heating, the wood will warp much quicker than just the heat from the seasonal changes. This will also cause long term damage to our piano that may be irreversible, so make sure your piano is in a room with a stable temperature and humidity, and away from any radiators. If you have underfloor heating you can find custom made heat blocking mats that will keep your piano safe.
Frequent / intensive use
The more the piano is played, or the harder the strings are hit, the faster the piano will go out of tune. The more the string is vibrating, the more energy is going into displacing the tuning pin and stretching the strings.
If your piano keeps going out of tune and you don’t know why, we can help you identify the problems and recommend solutions for each problem, just drop us a line!
