Dowell Piano
Quality Piano Service.
Phone: 262-914-8079
Making the Piano Sound and Play Better
All pianos need regular, careful service to be useful as musical instruments. Thousands of parts make the piano very complex, and thousands of pounds of tension on the piano's strings add up to mean that, no matter the piano, it needs basic, consistent service. Below are a few of these basic services.
Tuning
The most common (and most fleeting) service pianos need is tuning. Tuning is the act of setting the pitches of all 88 notes to their correct relationships. Why do pianos need tuning? How often should a piano be tuned?
Pianos go out of tune because parts of the piano's structure move, even though they don't move much. For example, the strings of the piano are attatched to the soundboard, a large, thin piece of wood that amplifies the sound of the strings. Because the soundboard is made of wood, it expands and contracts with changes in relative humidity, sometimes in somewhat random ways. This disrupts the very fine tuning that was put on the strings, as they rise, fall, and move with the soundboard.
Troubleshooting
Pianos need more than a good tuning to play well. Things will break, wear out, or simply loosen and move in the instrument. Some of these issues have symptoms, such as a sticking key, a buzz, rattle, or click.
Many pianos will develop some of these symptoms in-between tuning visits. Some symptoms are signs of larger problems. Many times, though, they are usually not serious, and easily fixed. Usually tightening the correct screw, realigning the shifted part, or loosening the correct bushing will solve the problem. Pianos can fall out of regulation, needing a touchup of certain parameters.
Also, pianos are tend to collect dust, dirt, and sometimes little furry critters. It is usually best to clean out pianos. Sometimes, the dirt or dust may be hindering the performance of the piano. It is usually not healthy to have a buildup of dust or other things in your home. I can clean the piano for you, or I can show you how to clean the piano yourself. It usually isn't difficult, but it can be delicate and time consuming.
There are other areas that move. Most parts of the piano's structure are made of wood, which again moves with the changes in moisture, shifting the strings slightly. It also seems that the cast iron plate, as solid as it seems to be, can flex as well.
Because so many parts can move the strings, pianos can go out of tune fairly quickly. Sometimes piano tunings can be very stable, perhaps from being made of wood that isn't affected by it's environment as much as other woods. Some pianos, especially newer pianos, go out of tune after only a few months.
If a piano has not been tuned for sometime, it may need what is commonly called a pitch raise, or pitch correction. This means that the piano is too far out off pitch, or out of tune, to be accept a fine tuning. It requires raising (or less commonly, lowering) the tension of the strings quickly, so that a fine tuning can be executed. The piano will move quite a bit during a pitch raise, as some pitch corrections will restore hundreds, or perhaps thousands of pounds of tension back onto the piano.
The key having a piano in tune is to have it tuned regularly. Most manufacturers recommend that a piano be tuned 2-4 times per year. This may or may not be what your piano needs. The best advice I have heard on the tuning frequency it to have a piano tuned when you percieve it as out of tune, or one year after the last tuning, whichever comes first This maintains the tension on a piano, legnthening its life, and keeping it in an enjoyable state at all times.
