Why aren't all pianos tuned to concert pitch?

[PianoGuy]

Laziness on behalf of the tuner. No other excuse.

[keestroke]

I have just got a piano thats only 10 years old. The previous owner had it tuned regularly but what I do not understand is why it is not tuned to concert pitch or eventually tuned to concert pitch.

It was previously used for Music Lessons for members of the sports club. I can't figure out why it didn't come out from the store tuned for Concert Pitch and why it hasn't been changed to it so far.

A ten year old piano shoud be able to widthstand being tuned to concert pitch so I do not understand why all pianos just dont tune it to that.

How many times and how many years can you tune the piano strings before you have overstretched it and it becomes to thin as a string or has spun in those little pegs too much and too thick.

[PianoGuy]

Are we time travelling again Doctor?

[Barrie Heaton]

Looks like it......

I am often sent out to fix small problems on new pianos all over Lancashire, Merseyside, Manchester and South Cumbria and you often find that the pianos are down in pitch normally they have been tuned by the local guy some as low as 50 cents.

The problem is quite a lot of piano owners buy pianos for the kids and take it that the tuner is doing the job correct

Barrie,

[keestroke]

Do manufacturers from 10 years ago to now, sold their pianos not tuned to concert pitch?

Isn't concert pitch a set standard for piano instruments, why wouldn't a manufacturer or store follow those guidelines? Do manufacturers tune the piano to Concert Pitch before it goes out but then as it travelled to the store or as it remained in the store it settled and became half a tone out from concert pitch. Is that why there are pianos in peoples homes out there that are not tuned to concert pitch.

[Barrie Heaton]

Pianos tend leave the factory 10 to 15 cents above A440 to allow them to settle pianos that go on the shop floor may stay there for a year or so and get a few tunings and settle down nicely to A440 However, some retailers sell the piano with in weeks and when they reach the homes they drop in pitch big time, so it then fall on the tuner who visits the piano for the first time to pull it back up - this is where the problem lies you may get lazy tuner who just wants a quick in out or may be the shop is only paying the tuner peanuts so he/she thinks why should I bother human nature!

I find putting pianos on pitch a big time saver for future tunings because of seasonal changes you often find once you have laid the scale and tuned a few notes ether way the rest of the piano starts to falls in place.

Barrie,

[Bill Kibby]

I think PianoGuy must be tuning on Cloud Nine, most people have OLD pianos, and even if the present owner looks after them, they have often been allowed to fall below pitch in the past, to an extent where many cannot safely, instantly, be brought up to pitch. If the wrestpins are loose, string breakages are more likely. By far the safest approach without destroying stability is to raise every piano a little on each visit, and hope that the customer spends enough to speed up the process. Ideals would be fine if it were an ideal world - it isn't!

[Tunatech]

Supposing the piano is new in say 1940, and say the 1st tuning at the customer's house the piano is tuned to concert pitch or a little higher..the pitch of the piano constantly drops( mainly due to playing, variations in temp etc). The job of a good tuner is to bring the pitch back up on every consequent annual tuning say, and if this was done every year from 1945 onwards, then the piano to this day would still be at concert pitch. But most owners of pianos neglect to do this, therefore over time the pitch of the piano keeps on dropping down, and since tuners can only raise the pitch of a piano very little in one fine tuning, most pianos in the UK are below concert pitch.

[Bill Kibby]

Absolutely right, except that each individual string can go up OR DOWN, depending on climatic conditions, the precise tightness of the pin, etc..

[Gill the Piano]

At the moment, every piano I tune has gone sharp in the middle...even the ancient ones which I have been slowly creeping up to concert pitch on!

[PianoGuy]

I think PianoGuy must be tuning on Cloud Nine, most people have OLD pianos, and even if the present owner looks after them, they have often been allowed to fall below pitch in the past

Agreed Bill! But the original post was about a 10 year old piano. If that had been tuned even halfway regularly there's very little excuse for it not being at A440.

[AnonymousBloke]

I dont know if it being only 10 years old makes much difference. I once went to a school to tune a piano in a practice room. The piano was of chinese origins and hadnt been tuned for 4 years - it was over a note and a half flat, but then in the case of this piano its tuning was the least of its problems! Why do people choose to buy such bad instruments?

[Barrie Heaton]

Why do people choose to buy such bad instruments?

Price ! And a bet it did not have safety castors on it.

Barrie

[sussexpianos]

A lot of pianos I tune are below concert pitch. I will raise the pitch slightly but not too much as it might result in tuning the piano twice.Its up to the customer to have their piano tuned regulary so the piano stays on concert pitch.Humididty plays a major factor in how a piano stays in tune, other factors include build quality and skill of the tuner. When a tuner comes to a piano, they should assese the condition of the piano as well as the pitch and then make the decision to what he/she should do.If the piano has not been tuned for a long time and its all messed up then its best to advise the customer that they should book another tuning in as this tuning will be a rough tune to level out the piano. Some tuners might have time, and if the customer is willing to spend some extra cash, to pitch and fine if the piano will allow it. Tuners like me have many appoinments in the day (5-7) and have a limited window to tune a piano and then go on to the next client. The older, badly rusted strings,border line tightness wrest pins, the less likley I would pitch raise unless the customer was very keen and would not worry about the cost of replacing strings or wrest pins. A tuner should always raise the pitch slightly if the piano is below pitch as over many years, the piano will continue to drop in pitch. Bear in mind that most customers could not care less if the piano was at concert pitch or not! Pianos can also go sharp due to the rise of the soundboard during high humidity (Last July was very high!).

[Gill the Piano]

Me: 'Would you like me to tune the piano to concert pitch?'
Customer 'Oo no, I'm not that good...'

[Barrie Heaton]

Me: 'Would you like me to tune the piano to concert pitch?'
Customer 'Oo no, I'm not that good...'

or

Na its only for the kids to learn on

Barrie,