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Piano tuning is not an easy job and requires a good deal of practice and patience and of course a willingness to learn the essentials of it. However a lot of people think piano tuning quite simple but a single mistake and imperfection can lead to the damage of this precious instrument.

There are a number of piano teachers or classes available that can teach you to tune a piano but if you don’t like to hire a piano tutor for you and are willing to learn it all by yourself, here is a guide to help you in this regard.

Though internet is also flooded with various websites that claim to teach you piano tuning but the tips and methods given by them are quite incomplete and inaccurate and finally lead to frustration and failure. This quick guide will help you to learn about the basic tools and steps required to tune a piano but still it will not take place of the skills and methods of a professional piano tuner. So, just follow these simple steps and soon you will get trained to tune this wonderful instrument in an enjoyable way coupled with good practice and handful of patience.

1. 1. Basic tools- The foremost necessity to tune a piano is to buy the basic tools which can be easily got from any online tool suppliers or local retailers. These tools include tuning lever, 440 tuning forks, felt temperament strips and some rubber tuning mutes.
2. 2. Choosing the right tuning lever- Choose a tuning lever with a star tip instead of having a square tip to get additional flexibility. Always be sure to buy a quality lever otherwise it will damage your piano at the worst. Don’t try to save money to buy a cheaper tuning lever tool. The lever also comes with interchangeable tips to work at different angles.
3. 3. Tuning the temperament- Set the right temperament by using all the keys in middle octave in this way- F below middle C up to E above middle C. now press the key and see which of the hammer moves and then trace the string up according to the corresponding pin. Now more other strings for note. A flat head screw-driver will be required to pack the strip between strings.
4. 4. Begin from one string in the middle- To start, set the one string in the centre and then with the help of a tuning fork, get the pitch of that note. After that set 12 notes in the same area of chromatic scale. There are three stings with each of the keys, so block off the outer string with each key using a felt strip. Be sure to tighten up the string with the tuning hammer but it should not be tightened too far otherwise it will break off.

Tips-

• A piano consists of over 250 strings holding under high tension, so it’s not an easy piece of cake to learn tuning a piano.
• The tuning pins of a piano are wrapped quite tightly in a wooden block.
• A special wrench known as tuning hammer is needed to turn the pins up and down.
• To set the nearby strings, muting felt and muting wedges are also required.
• Piano tuning cannot be learnt in a day, it requires lot of patience and training to tune it perfectly.
• All pianos release inharmonicity which can be different with different piano instruments.
• For inharmonicity, proper stretching or tempering of the instrument is required, thus all the notes in piano are not tuned according to the theoretical frequencies.

Warning

• A piano is a very delicate musical instrument which should be tuned at least twice a year. The above mentioned instructions are only a guide to instruct you while tuning a piano but to learn it properly and perfectly; it is good to take guidance from professional piano teacher to tuner.

Ilya Elbert writes about piano services in boston, recommended by Jacob Presayzen.