FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

It depends on how sensitive you are to out-of-tuning condition, how sensitive your piano is to the humidity changes that cause a piano to go out of tune, the climate you live in, how much you play, and your budget. For most people, two to three times per year is the right way to keep the piano at concert pitch. Professional musicians and teachers may require more frequent service. Concert pianos are generally tuned (or the tuning touched up) before every performance.

Mostly due to subtle differences in humidity between the new and old locations will cause the piano to go out of tune. Very inexpensive pianos that are structurally inadequate may go out of tune because of the handling of the piano, but this is not a big factor for most instruments. The tuning of vertical pianos may be affected by unevenness in the level of the floor, or differences in the level between the old and new locations (Grand are usually not affected by these issues).

Pianos are among the most durable of personal possessions. Admired for their fine cabinetry and treasured for their beautiful sound, pianos usually lead a pampered life in the best room of the house. They’re often thought of as permanent family fixtures, passed down to children and grandchildren. Their large size and weight give them the illusion of being able to last forever.

While pianos do last a long time, remember they’re really just large machines made of wood, felt, and metal. Over the years, seasonal changes take their toll, stressing the wooden parts and straining glue joints. Felt hammers are pounded flat after thousands of collisions with the piano’s strings, and metal parts corrode and weaken. Years of friction wear out the one thousand felt bushings in the action. How long a piano will last varies greatly, depending upon maintenance and repair, usage, climate, and quality of manufacture.

Mostly due to subtle differences in humidity between the new and old locations will cause the piano to go out of tune. Very inexpensive pianos that are structurally inadequate may go out of tune because of the handling of the piano, but this is not a big factor for most instruments. The tuning of vertical pianos may be affected by unevenness in the level of the floor, or differences in the level between the old and new locations (Grand are usually not affected by these issues).

Pianos are among the most durable of personal possessions. Admired for their fine cabinetry and treasured for their beautiful sound, pianos usually lead a pampered life in the best room of the house. They’re often thought of as permanent family fixtures, passed down to children and grandchildren. Their large size and weight give them the illusion of being able to last forever.

While pianos do last a long time, remember they’re really just large machines made of wood, felt, and metal. Over the years, seasonal changes take their toll, stressing the wooden parts and straining glue joints. Felt hammers are pounded flat after thousands of collisions with the piano’s strings, and metal parts corrode and weaken. Years of friction wear out the one thousand felt bushings in the action. How long a piano will last varies greatly, depending upon maintenance and repair, usage, climate, and quality of manufacture.

First Year

The pitch of a new piano drops considerably, as the new strings stretch and the structure settles. If the piano receives the manufacturer’s recommended three to four tunings during this time, it will stay at the correct pitch, allowing strings and structure to reach a stable equilibrium. Without these important first tunings, any later tuning will involve a large pitch raise, leaving the piano unstable.

Two to Ten Years

The pitch stabilizes, assuming regular tunings (and additional climate control devices if needed). The mechanical parts of the piano’s action wear and settle too. This causes two changes: first, the touch of the piano becomes less responsive as the parts go out of adjustment. Secondly, the tone changes as the hammers flatten and grooves develop from repeated collisions with the strings. Periodic regulation and voicing, important parts of a complete maintenance program, correct these changes.

Ten to Thirty Years

Wear of action parts continues, the extent depending upon how hard and how often the piano is played. Normal regulation and voicing will maintain good tone and touch if usage is moderate.

If the piano suffers wide temperature and humidity swings, it will begin to show permanent deterioration during this time: loose tuning pins, rusty strings, soundboard cracks, and aging of the finish.

Thirty to Fifty Years

After years of playing, the hammers and other action parts will be quite worn. Years of seasonal changes cause bass strings to sound dull and treble tone to lose clarity. Eventually, adjustment alone will not correct these problems, and some parts will need replacing to restore the original tone and touch.

Over Fifty Years

A few geographic areas with mild climates have older pianos still in good condition. Well-built, well-designed pianos can still be playable at this advanced age if they’ve had good care and moderate use.

However, at some point in a piano’s life, an important decision must be made: Should the piano be replaced? Is its life over? Should it be reconditioned or rebuilt (made functionally new again)? Should it continue to limp along with an ever worsening tone and touch?

The needs of the pianist are the real variable in judging a piano’s useful life. Good performance requires a piano in good condition.

Older, high-quality instruments can often be rebuilt to like-new condition for less than the cost of a new piano. Even economy grade instruments can often be dramatically improved by judicious reconditioning. Your piano technician can help you make this decision.

Eventually, it becomes less and less practical to continue maintaining a very old piano. The undeniable end of a piano’s life comes when the repair cost exceeds the value of the repaired instrument. Medium quality old uprights reach this point sooner than do high-quality large grands. Rare and historically important instruments may never reach this point unless totally damaged in a fire or other disaster.

Happily, almost any piano that has received reasonable care will have served the art of music for decades by the time its days are over.

The first noticeable difference would be the appearance. While an upright piano usually sits against a wall with the “action” and strings concealed by the board of wood directly in front of the player’s head, the grand piano extends out from the pianist with the strings visable to the pianist when the top lid is open. The sound does tend to be more powerful from a grand piano than an upright piano as the soundboard is exposed from the bottom and the top (if the piano lid is open). The difference in playability is that the “action” of a grand piano is more complex than an upright with a system of extra parts that allows quicker repetition of notes. Certainly the grand piano is the most flexible piano however it is not necessary to make this the first piano purchase you make. An upright piano will fulfill all the learning needs of a beginner.

Renting a piano can be avoided If you can trust the advice of your competent piano technician, purchasing a piano will always be a better investment than spending money on rentals. A good used piano will still retain its value when it comes time to sell, if properly maintained. Also it should be noted that when you approach the topic of “learning piano” with the idea to rent opposed to buy – you are setting a timeline of commitment that can be a discouraging factor to anyone. At the same time, most rental pianos are pianos that are often not properly cared for and have an uneven touch and tone across the keyboard which can discourage aspiring pianists.

It really depends on what you want out of a piano. While electronic keyboards can be fun with all their extra buttons and options to enhance a musical experience, they can never offer the true touch or sound that an acoustic piano will provide its owner. From an investment point of view – an acoustic piano will always retain its value if properly maintained while an electronic keyboard will not. A broken note in an acoustic piano can often times be repaired inexpensively as something has come loose or needs to be adjusted in the piano “action” while in an electronic keyboard the repair may cost more than the actual value of the overall piano due to the expertise needed to find the electrical problem.