How to Tune a Piano Yourself

A simple online guide to tuning a piano.
Learn the minimum equipment needed and a step-by-step procedure.

Piano Tuning: Deceptively Simple

Piano tuning is a surprisingly simple process, though clothed in mystery by those "in the know." When I wanted to learn how to tune my piano, I could not find information on the web that clearly explained how to do it without insisting I buy a book or take a course. So after research and trying it myself, I have developed the method on this page, using the three pictured tools: mutes, electronic tuner and a tuning wrench.

 

Let us start with a reality check. While you can learn the basic mechanics of piano tuning quickly using the directions on this page, good piano tuning technique is a learned skill. It requires patience and practice. Keep in mind that professional piano tuners spend years learning the nuances.

This page is not meant to devalue the skills of professional piano tuners. The simplified approach given here can be useful for those who want to keep things going between professional tunings, those who wish to experiment, even performers who need to do an emergency fix before the recital. I have even heard from people who had a piano so old or neglected that a professional piano tuner refused to tune it! This method can at least make it playable once more.

Remember that the piano is a complex instrument. It can be quite a task to get all the keys in tune, especially if the piano has been neglected. (A piano that has been left un-tuned for years may need a "pitch-raise." Essentially, the piano tuner does an extended tuning, often taking several passes tuning the entire piano until everything will finally stay in tune. This is can be done with the techniques on this page, but it's going to take quite a bit of work.)

Be careful. If you are careless in your tuning technique, you can break strings, loosen pins or cause other damage. Some pianos will require actual repair, like misaligned hammers or loose pins, which is beyond the scope of this page (though we do have some resources we can recommend.)

I was willing to try piano tuning myself mainly because my piano is an older, student quality model that we allow the kids to play. I don't think I'd tackle anything expensive or precious. Still, I did it myself, and I am happy with the results. I suspect many casual piano owners can do the same. Even if you don't feel confident to tune all 88 keys, at least with this information you can keep ahead of those pesky sour notes between professional tunings.

I used the following piano tuning supplies, all purchased from music suppliers online. No homemade stuff here. Might as well get the right tools for the job if you are serious about this:

1 Rubber tuning wedges or "mutes" made for piano tuning (only a dollar or two each, at PianoSupplies.com, for example) Assorted sizes come in handy. I use the ones with a wire handle, especially. You'll need at least two rubber wedge mutes to get started. Several other kinds of mutes are available for muting whole ranges of strings and muting just the middle of three strings. You may find these useful as you gain skill. (A reader offers this tip about wedges for those tempted to save money here: "You cannot mute the strings with your fingers, even if you have three hands. The heat from your fingertips will make the string expand, so you'll tighten it, and it'll go sharp as soon as it cools!")

2 Tuning hammer or lever or wrench (actually a specialized wrench to turn the string pins), "apprentice grade." These puppies are surprisingly expensive. There is a variety of hammers to choose from at PianoSupplies.com. Better models like mine have an interchangeable head in case you run into an odd pin size. (Avoid inexpensive "gooseneck" tuning hammers--the bend makes it more difficult to feel what is happening as you work.) I tinkered briefly with a standard crescent wrench (I can hear you pro tuners shuddering now!), but it did not work well. It slipped easily, and tended to damage the squared edges of the pins. Not a good idea. And the square shape of the pins ruled out proper use of a standard hex socket.

3 Electronic tuner. I use a Korg Chromatic Tuner, model CA-30 . This little fellow is KEY (no pun intended) to making this process as painless as possible. I tried using a tuning fork, but it was too difficult. The electronic tuner makes it much easier and faster. And it is inexpensive, as little as $18.00 shipped where I bought mine. There are more elaborate electronic tuners dedicated to piano tuning (which many professional tuners use these days, rather than tuning forks), but they are hundreds of dollars. For the do-it-yourself method in this tutorial, any tuners in the inexpensive Korg lines will work. And the CA-30 will tune all your other instruments, from guitars to brass, too!

4 Light source to shine into the piano. It's pretty dark, and there are a lot of strings and other stuff in there. Easy to get lost...make sure a loved one knows where you are.

PIANO TUNING PROCEDURE

1 Clear the room--indeed, the whole house if you can--of other humans. Lock the doors. Piano tuning requires concentration.

2 Start with the middle octave (Middle C on up to C'). Each piano key strikes one to three strings. Pick one string to tune at a time; if there are three strings, start with the middle. Carefully find the pin that turns the string you want to tune. Stick the rubber wedges in to stop the vibration of the other one or two strings in the set. While repeatedly striking the piano key FIRMLY, turn the pin with the tuning wrench until the electronic tuner shows that it's in tune. The Korg CA-30 automatically detects the note you are trying to reach. If you are really off, it may show the wrong note, so make sure you know what you are looking for.

Tips about this process:

• Proceed slowly. Stretching a string too quickly can break it, especially an old string. If the string is really far out, you may want to tune it in several steps, allowing it to rest a few minutes between turns. (Thanks to a reader for pointing this out.)
• Take care turning the pin. Twist it gently without bending it, and don't wiggle it side to side in any way. Work the pin as little as you can (you'll get better with practice.) Too much twisting and wiggling can loosen it; a loose pin will keep slipping out of tune. Rough technique may permanently loosen pins. Loose tuning pins will need to be replaced by a professional. The technique of turning the pin as little as possible, especially on the final tuning movement, helps to "set the pin." Setting the pin means to lock it in place so it does not easily slip out of tune. This is where practice comes in. The better the tuner, the better he or she is at setting the pins, and the longer the piano holds tune. As a novice, your piano probably won't hold tune as long because of this important skill.
• Loosen the tension a little first before tightening. Better to relax the string than to over-tighten needlessly, especially if you happen to be on the wrong string! Over-tightening also breaks strings, and is a common error for inexperienced tuners.
• Striking the key firmly is important. The vibrations this creates equalized the tension along the string. A string firmly struck while tuning will stay in tune longer. If you tune by playing softly, the string may relax later when someone does play it hard, and it will slip out of tune. If you like, you can begin your tuning of each key with gentler hits; striking it hard all the time is exhausting and irritating to the ear. When you think you have it, hit it hard a few times as you finish the final touches.
• As you tune, it is impossible to hit dead on the frequency each time. So, if in doubt, tune a shade sharp. Pianos generally go out of tune to the flat, not the sharp, so you'll be a little ahead of the game, plus you'll get a "brighter" sound. A good piano tuner will actually tune the middle register a little sharp on purpose, because the process of tuning the high and low registers can flat the middle sometimes. (Fast explanation: All those strings put a lot of tension on the sound board. As you work your way to the ends of the keyboard, the resulting tension changes can subtly alter the shape of the sound board, reducing the tension on the middle octaves, causing the middle octaves to flat.) If you tune the middle a little sharp, by the time you finish the upper and lower, the middle will, in theory, be in tune.

3 After the first string is tuned, move the wedges so that the first string and the second string are free, but the third, if present, is still dampened by the wedge. Ignore the tuner. Just put your wrench on the second string's pin. While repeatedly striking the key hard, turn the second pin until you can hear no more "beats"--that is, it sounds like one note, not two in disharmony. Repeat for the third string if necessary, with all wedges removed.

Alternatively, you could tune all the strings in a key's set with the electronic tuner, but that's not as easy as you might think. Getting that little indicator to line up just right becomes tedious fast. Using your ear to tune the strings to each other is faster and will sound better (see technical note below)

4 Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each key in the middle octave. Then, using the first octave as a guide, tune the other octaves by ear, matching them to the middle octave. Tune one string in the note at a time (muting the others)--this time comparing it to the corresponding note in the middle octave rather than the electronic tuner. Then tune the other string (s) within the note to the first as described above. Repeat for all octaves, and there you are--a tuned piano!

Alternatively, you could in theory use your electronic tuner to tune all the octaves on the piano. There are several problems with this:

• Just as above, getting that indicator on the electronic tuner to settle down can be nerve-wracking. You will find that watching the tuner all the time will just slow you down. "Hearing it" will be more efficient and less frustrating once you get the hang of it.
• At the extreme octaves high and low, an electronic tuner can have difficulty "hearing" the note. A better tuner or maybe a remote contact mic might help. The Korg CM-100 Tuner Clip works with any tuner with an audio input jack.
• In reality, a piano is 99% tuned to itself. The resonances in a piano are unique to each piano. The mathematically correct pitch actually sounds out of tune for many keys, especially in the extreme high and low octaves. If you tune the entire piano using a simple electronic tuner, the top registers will sound flat, and the bottom registers sharp. Putting the electronic tuner aside whenever you can in order to tune by ear will give you a better result. This also more closely approaches what a professional piano tune who tunes by ear does.

Technical Side-note: The ONLY note on a piano that is precisely tuned to an outside standard is "A" in the middle octave, that being 440 Hz. A purist professional tuner may just tune the "A" with a tuning fork and tune the rest by ear. There is electronic equipment and software that can help a professional piano tuner calculate precise frequencies, but these are expensive. In my method, we are tuning the entire middle octave to an outside standard, which even there is not the best, but the differences are small enough that only the most sensitive ears will notice.

How long will this take? That's extremely variable. Make of the piano, how badly out of tune it is, how good your ear is, etc. The first time you do it, it may take an hour to get through that first octave. Once you get the hang of it, I estimate that a careful tuning takes about 20 minutes an octave. As for a not-so-careful tune up, I have found that now I know my way around my particular piano, I can whip out the old hammer for a touch-up quite quickly--just a minute or two a note.

How do you keep a piano from getting out of tune? Aside from minimizing humidity, temperature and abusive-kid extremes, the best way to keep your piano in tune is to (surprise!) tune it. Once the piano is in tune, it is easier to keep it in tune with touch-ups and regularly-scheduled tunings. Don't wait until you can't stand the sound anymore. The more strings left un-tuned, the more the tension changes on the soundboard, causing a cascade effect where more and more strings to go out of tune.

What is missing in this piano tuning technique that a professional tuner would do? The main part of the piano tuning procedure this method short-cuts is tuning note-to-note within an octave, that is, using A to tune C, for example. This requires counting "beats," that is the loud points in the vibrations that two dissonant strings make. (Remember that when tuning the two strings of a single note, for example, you match them so the beats disappear entirely.) A professional will also bring experience, and will be less likely to make errors such as loosening pins or breaking strings. They can also make repairs. And, of course, they will be faster and better.