A piano is designed to deliver the best sound when the note A above middle C is pitched to 440 Hertz (cycles per second).
Pitch is the approximate highness or lowness of a tone or sound as heard by the ear or determined through vibration measurement
devices. Standardization of "Concert Pitch" is that A=440 hz. A string will produce the best tone when it is at
70% tension in relation to its breaking point. Formulas are used when designing a piano to determine the proper diameter of
string to be used for each note frequency to produce this tension. This is called "string scale". The piano structure
is designed to complement the tension produced by tuning to concert pitch. When pianos are not properly maintained,
the tension of the stings will decrease causing the need for a pitch raise. I can elaborate in detail how climate changes
affect pianos and their tuning stability, but the bottom line is: they go flat year by year by year.
If you
haven't tuned your piano in a few years, more than likely it will require a pitch raise to reestablish concert pitch.
Does your piano need to be at concert pitch? The answer to that is dependent upon your ear and rather or not you wish
to maintain the optimal conditions for your piano. Because of the universal standardization of concert pitch, playing
your piano with other instruments or recorded material will require it to be at concert pitch. Also, and this is a pet peeve
of mine, if you have young children taking lessons, it is imparitive the instrument be correctly pitched for
their development. I will not tune your piano below pitch if you have young children taking lessons.
Years
of neglect and improper tension results in damages way beyond tuning. The procedures for pitch raising varies among
technicians. Mine are as follows:
1. During the first visit, inspect the piano to
verify it can withstand the additional tension required to bring it back to concert pitch.
2. If so, "chip" or rough tune the piano.
3. Fine tune the piano to concert pitch.
4. Allowing adequate time for the piano to adjust to the pitch raise, no sooner than one week
yet no longer than three months, return and perform a fine tuning.
