Piano strobe tuner5/30/2023 ![]() ![]() Typically tuning pins come with a size marking of “#2”, but you can measure the diameter and find its corresponding size here. In addition, make sure to purchase a lever that will fit your pins. If you use a lower quality lever, you may damage the pins by rounding out the square edges. ![]() It is worth it to invest in a medium-high quality tuning lever. This is the reference point in the standard tuning systems. Check to make sure that the tuner is set to “A440.” This means that the A above middle C resonates at 440 hz. Professionals may use tuners that cost hundreds of dollars. Ideally the electric tuner would have a physical needle as this gives more accuracy, while a tuner with an electronic display may jump around more if it is poorly made. For more accuracy, you will need a high quality tuner. For a crude tuning you can get away with a free tuning app downloaded to your phone. ![]() To tune a piano you will need an electric chromatic tuner, a piano tuning lever, and some rubber mutes. Let’s give a brief overview of the process, to see if it is something you would have the time, energy, and patience to attempt. Even using the standard equal temperament tuning system, the piano will sound out of tune if you tune every single string using an electric tuner. You can’t rely solely on an electric tuner – at least not a cheap one.If too many pins are loose the piano may be untunable without serious repairs. Over time, the pin may become so loose that the string can’t be tuned. While this can usually be fixed by replacing individual strings, if you break many strings you may have to restring your piano. Strings can break if you are inexperienced, and replacing them requires additional parts and expertise.Piano strings hold much more tension than guitar strings, so stabalizing the pitch takes more nuance than just turning the tuning pin. It is one thing to get a note to the desired pitch, it is another for it to keep its pitch. Notes must be tuned so they are accurate and stable.The biggest challenges in tuning a piano are: Let’s understand the challenges you are up against, so you can see why it takes so long to master. ![]() Other benchmarks I saw floating out their were 1000 tunings or up to 3 years, before you are a proficient tuner! How long does it take for a pro to learn? One technician said it took him 6 months of frequent tuning as an apprentice before he felt consistent tuning pianos. I also read of a piano technician instructor who gave 20 hour trainings to prospective technicians and after the training he thought about 35% of trainees were able to perform acceptable tunings (source found here). To give you a sense of the energy required in the task, I read about amateurs who were able to tune their piano over the course of a week after watching after watching many hours of youtube guides. You also, won’t be able to tune it to the level of a professional. So, can you tune your own piano? Yes you can, however, it’s extremely difficult! You need the right tools, a lot of patience, and should tune a junker piano first. For the adventurous, you can check out this detailed plan for how to tune your piano. This article simply addresses whether you can tune a piano yourself. I leave that to professional technicians. To help you decide if you can tune your piano, I will give an overview the process, including the cost of the tools, and challenges/dangers involved. But how hard is it really? Could an amateur do a half decent job after a days work? While I am not a piano technician I wanted to answer this quetion for myself (I thought hey, maybe tuning pianos could be an easy side hustle). You probably realize that tuning a piano is a much more complicated process then tuning a guitar. If your piano is starting to sound out of tune, you may be interested in trying to tune the piano yourself. ![]()
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