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Integrity Piano Service
Kenneth Farrington, RPT

P. O. Box 548
Naugatuck, CT 06770

(203) 888-7848

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Tuning and Pitch-Raising

Nearly every piano was designed to sound best when tuned to the International Standard Pitch: A=440 (which means the A above middle C vibrates at 440 cycles per second). When the strings drift above or below their proper tension level, adjustments must be made to bring them back to the standard. Keeping the piano at A=440 allows you to play along with other standard-pitch instruments, and reinforces proper ear-training, especially for young piano students.

Whether or not your piano is played, it is still subject to the usual humidity variations that inevitably make every piano go out of tune.

A pitch raise (or pitch lowering) may be necessary if the piano has deviated much from standard pitch. Usually, even a change of 3 cycles per second (e.g. A=437) will require this extra procedure. A pitch raise is essentially a rough tuning which precedes the normal fine tuning.

When the piano's pitch drops, the bass notes usually drop the least, and the low tenor and the high treble the most. This means adjustments must be made to different degrees in the various sections.

While pitch-raising is extra work, it is usually an essential part of tuning a piano when the pitch has drifted, since it is almost never useful to tune it to a lower pitch.

That is why every regular Standard Tuning Maintenance Service I perform will include a minor pitch change if it is needed.

The second-best plan is to tune the piano regularly (at least twice per year), eliminating the need for significant pitch-adjustments, and enabling the piano to sound its best, giving you the most pleasure from playing it.

The best plan is to have a humidity-control system installed in your piano, and have the piano tuned regularly. With the protection such a system offers, your piano will stay in tune longer, the pitch will remain more constant, and major repairs will often be avoided. A piano climate-control system is installed by your piano technician, and operates silently and automatically, giving you year-round assurance that your piano is protected from the humidity extremes in your home.