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Buyer's
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How to Tune a Piano
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Consumer Guide
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How to Tune a Piano It is not recommended that you attempt to tune your own piano. Many people think they can do it, or would like to try, so for your pleasure or curiosity, please review the following information before you begin.Tools You Will Need
1 - Tuning Lever
4 - Mutes with handles
10 - Bass mutes
1 - A440 tuning fork
1 - Temperament Strip
You can buy those tools from various web sites, or try
Schaff Piano Supply Co. Type any seven characters into the account number to access the website.Take the Piano Apart
Open top lid.
Remove music desk (grand) or front panel (upright)
Remove fall board if needed.
Lay these items on the floor. Do not stand them up against a wall where they might be knocked over.Preparing the Piano
Sit down at piano.
Starting on your right, using a small screwdriver, lace the temperament strip between each of the three note unisons. (A unison is two or three wires that sound the same note). The strip will mute the outside wires leaving the middle wire to ring free. Start with the smaller end of the strip and work you way across the mid section of the piano. Mute the bass wires with the bass mutes. Insert one mute to the left of the first dual unison (muting the left wire), then place the next mute four wires over. When finished, you should have one mute for every four wires. The idea here is to isolate one piano wire in each unison. You will tune the isolated wire first, then tune the other wires to that one.Tune a Note
Find the "A" note above middle "C".
Place your lever on the corresponding middle tuning pin, such that the lever is near the 12:00 position.
Moving the lever to the right raises the pitch.
Strike the tuning fork and place it stem down on the piano case such that the sound is amplified.
Strike the A note.
While holding the tuning fork with your left hand, and depressing the key with your left hand, use your right hand to move the lever such that the wire matches the pitch of the tuning fork.When the note is tuned, you will no longer need the tuning fork.
Next, tune the A note an octave below to the note you just tuned.
Basic Skill #1
If you made it this far, you know it is hard to get the tuning pin to come to rest where the wire is in tune. We need to stop here and develop a basic skill. First, let's think about what the tuning pin is doing.
The tuning pin is driven into a plank of wood. It turns, but not very easily. When you raise the tension on a piano wire, that tension is not immediately displaced evenly across its entire length. Look closely at the wire. It leaves the tuning pin and crosses over a ridge of cast iron. At the bottom side of the wire (out of sight) the wire crosses over a bridge and is criss-crossed through two bridge pins. After that, the wire continues to the hitch pin where it is anchored at its end point (or it may loop back up. You can count three areas -- i.) the area between he tuning pin and the plate; ii.) the area from the plate to the bridge, iii.) the area between the bridge to the hitch pin. As the tension on the wire is altered, the tension is at first distributed unevenly to each of these areas of the wire. You must equalize the tension.
Compensating for uneven tension Once the wire is tuned, the wire will want to "relax". When it does that, the wire will be out of tune again. The basic skill you need to develop is to get the wire to relax with even tension on all areas, at the point where the wire is in tune. You do this by tuning the note sharp ever so slightly, and then easing the pin to the left so it relaxes at the point where the wire is in tune. After you tune about 100 pianos this is quite easy to do.
Setting the Pin After the tension is equalized, you need to set the pin so it will not move by the sudden force exerted upon the wire by the hammer. Releasing the tension is part of setting the pin, but you also have to account for the force of the hammer. To do this, strike the key several times rather hard and then check the tuning. If the wire is out of tune, you will need to start over.
Combining skillsYes, you are clever to realize that you strike the key as you tune the wire, play around with the lever so the tension is released, but when you think you have the wire almost in tune -- where it is just imperceptibly sharp in pitch, you nudge the lever with a tap or small jerk forward, such that the pin receives a bit of force downward (or toward you on a grand), and this technique will cause any remaining tension to be released while leaving the pin set in the preferred position.
Setting the Temperament
You now have two notes in tune. Both of them are A pitch and an octave apart. Now, read this: Temperament or any other number of other sites that talk about temperament.
Did you skip the reading? Bad decision. Go back and read it.
Basically what is ahppening here is that you are going to tune each half step interval to 1/12 of an octave -- which unfortunately is not an even amount.
Within the following temperament range, you are going to tune every fourth interval a bit sharp, and every fifth interval a bit flat.
Ok, how to do this?
A4 is the lower A. A5 is the higher one. These two are already tuned. Now, tune A4 to E4 (the E above the A). This is a fifth interval. When you are done the E4 will be slightly flat.
How slightly?
Keep reading.
Basic Skill #2
In the link above you learned about beats and beat rates. You probably skipped over the charts, which is wise. A "beat" is what you hear when two notes are note quite in tune. You hear "wah-wah-wah-wah". The closer the wires get to being in tune, the beat rate slows until it finally disappears.
One way to understand what is happening. Suppose there are two clocks on the wall. One is ticking slightly faster than the other one. Let's say it is ticking a sec faster for each minute of time. (Time is relative, so let us assume you are in the Milky Galaxy, on the planet Earth.) For every minute that passes, the faster clock will beat at the exact same instance as the other clock, but only once a minute. When the two clocks tick at the same time, then the sound of the tick will increase and the ticking sound will be louder. That is what happens when two piano wires are out of tune. Sometimes they beat together (producing a louder sound) and other times they do not. What you hear is "loud soft loud soft" which wounds like "wah wah wah wah". If it is real fast, the beats will sound like "wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa wa".
Now, it is time to tune A4 to E4. Tune it slightly flat such that the beat rate is 3 beats per 5 seconds. Waaaaaaaaaah. Waaaaaaaaah. Waaaaaaaaah. Very close to pure.
Very good. That was easy, right?
Now, to continue. Play E4 and A5 at the same time. You should hear one beat per second. Waaaaaaaaaaah.
Now, let's look linearly. The E4 is tuned slightly to the left, making the interval distance between A4 and E4 is little less than exact. When the interval is exact, we say it is "pure". In this case, the interval is not pure, it is slightly flat. We say it is "narrow" because the interval is slightly less than the total distance between the two pure notes.
Graphically this can be shown thus:
|_________\_________|
So you see, A4 is exact. A5 is exact. E4 is slightly leaning left. This makes the interval narrow. What does it do to the interval between E4 and A5? Doesn't it make it wider?
Yes, so we now have a relationship between A4 and E4 (a fifth) and E4 and A5 (a fourth). The fifth is tempered narrow, and the fourth is tempered wide.
So, to tune a piano, you must temper the middle octave. You will use these notes to tune all the other notes on the piano, and that is how the piano becomes tempered.
So you may say,"Wait a minute! Doesn't that mean the piano is not exactly tuned?"
Yes that is what it means. Piano tuners do not tune pianos, they untune them, kind of.
Let's continue.
Oh, but wait. You want to know why the piano is not tuned to pure intervals. Okay. I have two answers. Choose one and then move on to the next section.
- Because I said so.
- Read this: Equal Tempered Scale...
Setting the Temperament
Forget about beats for a minute. If you are only going to tune one piano, forget about beats entirely.
Tune D4 to A4. Since A4 is the reference note, it will be D4 that is tuned wide. |_____/ One beat per second. Now continue to tune the intervals as follows:
Tune first to the second note shown
G3 to D4 - Narrow /______|
C4 to G3 - Wide
F3 to C4 - Narrow
Bb4 to F3 - Wide
Eb4 to Bb4 - Wide
B4 to E4 - Wide Note \_____|
F#3 to B4 - Wide
C#4 to F#4 - Narrow
Ab3 to C#4 - Wide
Eb4 to Ab3 - Wide (This should be in tune already from above.)
Bb4 to Eb4 - Wide (this should already be in two also.)
F4 to Bb4 - Narrow.And after done all of that, you will find that the last three intervals did not line up correctly. Why not? Because the other intervals are incorrect. So go back and find a beat rate for each interval that makes the whole thing fit together. Try again and then read on.
Tuning Checks - Using 3rds
It is also astute for you to recognize that if there are beat rate relationships between the fourth and fifth intervals, there are also discernible relationships between other intervals.
The relationship between F3 and A4 is the one we want to focus on. This interval is a major third. That interval will beat 7 times per second. Tap your finger on the piano once per second, then make a "D" sound with the tip of your tongue quickly. D-d-d-d-d-d-d. Seven beats per second isn't very fast.
Now move up a half step, to F#3 and Bb4. The rate should increase to 8 beats per second (bps).
G3 to B4 should be 9 bps. and so forth.
You won't be able to count the beats exactly, but you can tell if the beats are getting faster as you move up chromatically. There should be an even progression of speed as you move through the temperament octave.
Put on Your Thinking Cap
Let's say that the interval of F3 to C4 is okay. Also, F3 and A4 are beating at 7 bps. Let's say the Ab and C interval is beating too slowly. What does that mean? Well, C4 is okay, right? It must be Ab4 that is out. Let's start there. Put gentle pressure on the lever while retuning Ab3. Does the beat rate between Ab3 and C4 increase? Good. Reset the pin so the Ab3 to C4 interval beats a bit faster and then check the interval between Ab3 and C#4. You may have to lower C#4 a bit to make it sound right. Then you will have to adjust F#3 to C#4. Check F#3 to Bb4. Around and around you go. That is the way it is done. If you change one note, the relation is changed for all of the notes. You will sometimes make an adjustment that fits. If that happens, stop and listen. You may have adjusted everything correctly. In that case, you are finished.
Basically this is how you use your thirds to check your fourths and fifths. Everything must fit together.
Tuning Checks - Using Sixths
Another check is use to compare the F3-A4 interval beat rate to the F3 - D4 rate. The latter should be one beat faster. It is hard to hear the difference. If it sounds close to the same, that is fine. The other checks will get you close enough.
Temperament is Done - Tuning the Unisons
Tuners have different ways of tuning the piano from this point on. This is one way that I use.
Start at F3 and F4. Play them together. They should already be in tune.
Now move down one note to E3. We're going to tune the bass section. E4 is in tune now. Tune E3 to E4.
When you think E3 is in tune with E4. Play E3 and G#4. You should hear a very fast beat rate. Now play F3 and A4. The beat rate should be a little faster.
Just as the beat rates increased as we moved up chromatically in our temperament, they will decrease as we move down the keys. So E3 and G#4 (a 12th interval) will be a bit slower than F3 and A4.
If E3 to g#4 is beatly slowly, that means the interval is too narrow; the E3 is too sharp. Move it down just a hair and check again. Conversely, if it is too fast, move E3 up a bit.
Now, once you get that right. Tune the remaining octaves. You will hear a beat rate between the wires that sound higher than the notes being played. Make that beat rate pure. Then check with the octave plus a third check. As you move down, the beat rate should get slower and slower. The lowest octaves are the most difficult to tune. Leave them alone if they sound okay.
Tuning the Mid Trebles
After you finish the bass, start again on F3 - F4 and move upwards by octaves. You won't use the third test now. Instead, you will check with the fifths and fourths to make sure they are not beating too fast. So, tune F#3 to F#4. Check F#4 with B4. That interval should be narrow. Check F#4 with C#4. That interval will be wide. So you have three things to check. Check the octave, the fourth and the fifth. Now tune all the treble notes up until you reach to the last treble wire at the end of the temperament strip. The last wire on the right will need a mute placed between the wire and the plate brace. Tune the middle wire. Then tune the right wire to the middle wire. Stop there.
Tuning the High Trebles
Now we will tune the first octave of the high treble section, which is the first section of wires immediately to the right of the plate brace.
The tolerances are closer here so this section is more difficult to tune. Be patient as you go.Place one small mute so the left wire is muted. Do the same for the rightward wire. Now tune the middle wire to the note an octave below. Check with fourths and fifths. Also check with the note an octave and a fifth below. (The 17th interval) The interval should be almost pure. (This check works better in the very high trebles.)
When done, remove the rightward mute and mute the right wire on the next note up. Then return to tune the right wire to the middle wire. Remove the leftward mute and place it onto the higher note so the handle is pointing to the right. Tune the left wire to the middle wire. Reposition the left mute so the handle is pointing to the left. Repeat this process and tune one octave of notes. Then stop.
Tuning Unisons
When I first started tuning, I was instructed to first practice tuning unisons. You are about to get some practice doing the same.
Return to the bass section. Remove the mute which is muting the first bass unison. Tune the bass note to its partner wire. Proceed to remove mutes and tune unisons all the way up the piano until you get to the temperament strip area. Tune the leftward wire in the first unison in the temperament section. Now use one mute with a handle to mute the leftward wire in the temperament section. Pull the strip out so the righrward wire can vibrate. Tune that wire to the middle wire. Tune the leftward wire of the next unison. Reposition the mute to dampen the leftward wire. Remove the strip to expose the righrward wire. Tune it to the middle wire. Repeat this process. Leave the last octave untouched. When youa re done, all the unisons will be in tune except for the last octave of wires in the top section of the middle area of the piano -- where you used the temperament strip.
Tuning the Very High Trebles
Now return to the very high trebles. Use two mutes to tune them using the same method as before. Check with fourths and fifths, and also check with the octave plus a fifth down. You will note that on occassion, the tuned note will sound a little flat to your ear. This is normal. Pull the note sharp until the octave beat rate is exactly pure.
Tuning the Highest Octave
The best tuners take pride in their work on the highest octave because it is the one most overlooked by less experienced tuners. Since you are tuning your first piano, just leave that section alone unless there are notes that offensive to the ear. Proceed with caution. You can break wires if you turn the pin too much.
Final Step
And now you are almost done. All that is left is to tune the unisons in that last section of the piano in the middle. Once that is finished, play the piano. If you like the way it sounds, congratulations. If you don't, then try to fix individual wires. Use your mutes. If the whole tuning sounds terrible, go back to the beginning and start again.
End Notes
The temperament is the most difficult and critical part of the tuning. Unisons can be corrected easily. If you correct the temperament, you must retune every corresponding note in the bass and treble sections. It might take an hour to get the temperament right. It might take a couple of days. If the temperament is incorrect, the rest of the piano will be incorrect.
Does the tuning have to be perfect? No, not really. It just has to make the piano sound better than when you started the tuning. An incremental improvement has incremental value.
When I tune a piano I try to make it perfectly in tune. When you tune a piano, you should be very satified if it sounds better than when you started.
If you break a wire while tuning the piano call a technician. Do not attempt to remove the wire.
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