Tuning is one of the most widely misunderstood aspects of piano maintenance today. Tuning includes two types of decision making. First, the overall standard for pitch is decided (how “high” or “low” the notes will be set in aggregate). Today this is commonly chosen to be A=440-441 hz. Secondly, and more importantly, relative adjustments are made between the various combinations of intervals to create the most pleasing and consistent tapestry of sound.

There is no such thing as an objectively “correct” tuning. Because the piano is a fixed-pitch instrument where the performer has no control in real time, the pitch for every note must be decided in advance. Tuning is a zero-sum game in the sense that tuning one interval to be “perfect” may affect another interval negatively within the same system. Tuning is a series of compromises that can either lend to ambiguity or intentional structure. A tuning that is ideal for one genre of music can even differ from that of another. Indeed, at the highest levels a tuner may engage surprising degrees of subjectivity which translate the practice from “procedural” to “artistic.” Artistic tuning is what Piano Potential has to offer.

Humidity and Its Affect on Tuning

The physical world will affect a piano's tuning as time goes on. Primarily, this happens through temperature and humidity fluctuations. The sound board and numerous components inside the piano are made of wood which expand in the presence of humidity.

Under normal household conditions in central North Carolina, the humidity tends to peak in the summer (up to 60-70% indoors), causing the soundboard to expand and the piano to go sharp. This action is most pronounced at the center of the sound board, which can distort the piano’s tuning relative to itself. In the winter, the opposite occurs and humidity dips (as low as the teens in many cases), causing the piano to go flat. The ideal humidity for a piano is somewhere between 40-50% with no more than 30 percentage points of variance between the minimum and maximum. In North Carolina, this most commonly translates to a range of 30-60%.

Often times, a home’s HVAC system is enough to maintain the humidity below 60% in the summer if windows and exterior doors are kept shut. The larger issue tends to be maintaining the humidity high enough in the winter where it can fall well below 30%. For this reason, our common suggestion is to utilize an evaporative room humidifier for use during the winter as the means of creating a year-round environment that is within the parameters.