PART 1: OUT-OF-TUNE ACOUSTIC PIANOS ARE DETRIMENTAL TO STUDENTS
Unison Tuning
The lowest notes on a piano, which are part of it bass range, are produced by single strings. The remainder are linked to two or three strings, which are struck simultaneously by the hammer associated with the note’s key. These multi-string notes are called unisons.
Each string of a unison is normally tuned to match the pitch or vibration rate of the others. If this is the case, the tone will be beautiful, clear and undistorted. In addition, the tone can be subtly varied, creating the lovely and intriguing impression of a rainbow of tonal colors.
Volume can also be changed to subtle degrees if unisons are in tune. This effect, called dynamics, is a major aspect of playing the piano with feeling or expression.
Control of these factors, in combination, represent the essence of piano artistry.
As soon as one or more strings of the unison note fall out of tune to a significant degree, the note may initially sound harsh or overly bright, and a bit louder than in-tune unisons. As it degrades further, you may hear slight rattling or buzzing due to the more intense clash different pitches of the unision strings. Eventually, the note will warble loudly, like a saloon piano.
The end result is noise rather than musical sound. In turn, the student no longer has any meaningful control over the volume or tone of out-of-tune unison notes. In particular, instruction in these areas, supplied by their teacher, can’t followed. Thus, a significant portion of the yearly tuition fees paid by the parents is being wasted.
Once there are several warbling unisons in the most commonly used piano octaves: (from the second C up from the left to the sixth), the student can no longer produce what can be rightfully considered music.
Pitch Tuning
In order to be in tune, the string or strings linked to each note on the piano must have a specific pitch/vibration rate. The most common example is the note “A” above Middle C, whose strings vibrate 440 times per second. Thus, it’s called “A440”.
When the pitch of a substantial number of notes it changes (usually dropping in pitch or “going flat“), the student no longer hears the notes composer intended them to hear.
This is a very severe musical problem that no piano student should ever be subjected to.
Harmonic Tuning
Another major aspect of piano tuning involves regulating the pitch relationships between two or more notes played together, which is referred to generally as harmony. If a piano has pitch tuning problems, it will also have harmonic tuning problems, which often manifest as chords that sound “sour”.
Summary of the Detrimental Effects of Out-of-Tune Pianos
When a student’s piano is significantly out of tune:
- It changes from being a musical instrument to an obnoxious noisemaker.
2. There can be no meaningful enjoyment of the music played, which discourages the student from practicing.
3. Regular exposure to the piano does untold damage to a student’s developing musical ear. In particular, it becomes desensitized to pitch and tone distortions, and eventually perceives them as normal.
In sum, allowing a student to practice on an out-of-tune piano for a considerable length of time is setting them up for MUSICAL FAILURE.
Doing so also represents a false economy, i.e., saving money on tunings leads to wasting considerably more money on unproductive lessons. To make analogy between this and sports, practicing on an out-of-tune piano is learning to play tennis with a warped wooden racquet.
PART 2: WHY PIANOS GO OUT OF TUNE
Piano strings, made of metal, appear to be very rigid. Nonetheless, they need to be flexible enough to vibrate and produce audible sounds. As a result of this flexibility, their tension (tightness) continually changes–starting when your piano technician packs up their tools and walks out the door.
A primary driver of these string tension changes is the behavior of the piano’s large wooden soundboard, and two long wooden strips called bridges, which are glued together. (Each string puts downward pressure on its bridge, and thus, makes the bridge/soundboard assembly vibrate. As a result, the related note is audible and well-sustained.)
As the humidity surrounding the piano changes (a near constant phenomenon), the soundboard/bridge assembly rises (with higher humidity) or falls (with lower humidity). This changes the tension on the strings in a random fashion, which causes the piano to produce noisy unisons and incorrect notes.
Other factors that de-tune a piano are exposure to:
- direct sunlight or HVAC airflow
- outdoor air from open windows or doors
- moisture from bathrooms or kitchens close to the piano
Frequent and/or loud playing will also throw a piano out of tune.
Ironically, a major de-tuning factor is infrequent tunings, discussed below.
PART 3: FREQUENCY OF PIANO TUNINGS
If the standard–and flatly wrong–advice to tune a piano “once or twice a year” is followed, the de-tuning factors present in most homes result in the instrument sounding good for a few months throughout the year. That’s the most optimistic estimate. In cases we’ve personally observed, home tunings last for mere weeks instead.
In contrast, concert hall pianos are tuned one or more times per day. This would not be done if pianos stayed in tune for at least six months.
In any event, as the tuning interval of a piano increases to six months or more, the strings get used to being too loose or too tight, i.e., in an out-of-tune tension state. Thus, when it’sfinally tuned, the strings quickly return to this state Essentially, the more often a piano is tuned, the longer it will stay that way between tunings.
Ideally, like any other tunable instrument, e.g. a violin or guitar, a piano should be tuned whenever it’s out of tune.
Since this is not affordable for most people, a reasonable compromise for pianos in Minnesota is four times per year, as follows:
December/January (when indoor heat is running frequently.)
March/April (as soon as temperatures are consistently above freezing)
June/July (as soon as the air conditioning is running frequently throughout the day)
October/November (when the heat starts running occasionally throughout the day)
(For the record, our head teacher has his piano tuned about six times per year.)
PART 4: MAINTAINING TUNING STABILITY/TONE QUALITY AND PROTECTING YOUR PIANO FROM DAMAGE
Tuning Stability
To make each tuning last as long as possible, the humidity surrounding the piano should not fluctuate more than 5% up or down from a particular set point.
We prefer an average of 45%, which means that ideally, the humidity would not drop below 40% or rise above 50%. During the heating season, maintaining 45% may fog up windows and cause moisture buildup on the walls. If so, 40% is acceptable during that time.
Protecting the Piano’s Soundboard and Action
Also, pianos have thousands of parts made from wood, leather, or felt. In some cases, they’re adjusted to tolerances as small as 1000th of an inch. Thus, limiting humidity fluctuation allows the piano’s moving parts to function properly year ’round. In contrast, expensive regulation work will be needed to correct problems with a piano subjected to the opposite conditions.
Avoidance of low humidity (below ~30%) also prevents cracking and warping of wooden parts, de-crowning of the soundboard (which degrades the tone of the piano), etc., etc.
A dried out piano also loses some of its beauty of tone. In addition, the keys may move too freely, making the volume/tone of notes difficult to control.
High humidity (above 60%) can also cause the tone to become somewhat soggy, and may make the action feel sluggish.
Large, regular humidity changes create the kitchen sponge syndrome in the action. Specifically, wooden action parts behave like a sponge that changes shape when absorbing moisture vs. drying out.
Maintaining Good Tone
Furthermore, after about a year of steady use, the hammers of a piano become excessively hardened. This usually makes the tone unacceptably harsh or bright. In turn, the piano’s ability to produce a wide range of volume levels and tone colors is significantly limited. The solution: a piano technician inserts needles into the hammer felts, thereby restoring their original resiliency. This service is referred to as “voicing“.
PART 5: DON’T BUY AN ACOUSTIC PIANO UNLESS…
We recently heard a recording of a student’s piano at home, which sounded like the saloon piano mentioned earlier. This explains why, in their lessons at our studio, the student had difficultly controlling volume and tone quality on our well-maintained grand piano.
Ultimately, piano lessons are about learning how to play an acoustic, and thus, the ideal learning situation is to practice on one.
However, if you’re not willing to invest about ~$700 a year in tunings, hammer voicing and keyboard/action maintenance, your child will spend most of their time practicing on an unpleasant sounding instrument with an uneven key touch response.
In sum, they will be able learn to “hit the notes” in rhythm, but nothing beyond that .
As a bottom-line alternative, we recommend a Casio PX-870 digital piano with a subwoofer, plus the vertical cabinet frame and pedal board options for a bit over $1,000. This instrument has a good tone, a decent key action, and rarely needs maintenance.
Note: Affordable digitals have small speakers. An added subwoofer will offset this and improve their depth of tone and bass response.