I searched and didn't find anything on this topic, so apologies if it's been discussed already. I'm also aware that this doesn't help my "mad as birds" reputation, but can I tune my piano myself in time for a rehearsal next weekend?
No you cannot tune it yourself.It's a job for a professional.A friend of mine is a piano tuner and it takes him about 3 hours to tune one up.He did a three year course in piano tuning.
Airport,
I've given some thought about this. While I admire your desire to do things yourself, this is too big a job to do for a rehearsal next weekend. Here's why.
First, you need specialized tools (tuning hammer, mutes, 440 tuning fork)
You need to isolate all the center strings with a strip mute, so hitting one key gives only one string.
You need to make sure your octaves are beatless, so the other notes within the octave all fit equally. If any are off, even by a small amount, your piano will be even worse out of tune than it is right now.
When you tune a piano you are not comparing one note to another as you are tuning any other instrument. You must learn to hear the beats produced by one note sounding against another, and they aren't all the same. Thirds and sixths beat much faster than fourths and fifths, and there is no room for error.
If you really want to tune your own piano, you can do this. (but, not in time for next week's rehearsal) Just go to your library and take out Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding, by Arthur Reblitz and read it carefully. (it's the standard text) Then contact Pianotek for a tool catalog (www.pianoteksupply.com)
You'd be able to tune your own piano within a few months. Good luck!
i watched a friend tune a piano once. he had an antique oscilliscope and lots of funny- looking wrenches and implements it only took about two hours but he'd been a piano tuner for nearly forty years!!!
I watched a freind tune a piano once, It took him three months.
He'd got the tools out of a second hand shop, took 'em home and away he went. After about a week of just making it much much worse, he went and got a book out of the library (it was probably the book you're talking about Greg) and it took him another couple of months to get it back to where it was before he started. And then another month to improve it.
So my advice is not to get the book out of the library, Buy it instead.
get the book today and read it, then hire a tuner for the day before the rehearsal. Watch carefully,and having read the book beforehand, you will have some idea what is going on. If after that you think this is for you then follow Michael's advice and buy your own copy (I got mine at Barnes & Noble)
Anyone with a musical ear, a mechanical ability, and the desire to do so can learn to tune a piano. There are no shortcuts, but if you really want to, you can do a good job. You'll need perhaps $100 for tools and the forementioned text, and an old clunker piano to work on. The Piano Technicians Guild (www.ptg.org) is a good reference.
How about using one of the modern electronic tuners ?
Certainly you need the proper tuning key, which is like a long spanner.
I tried tuning an autoharp by ear many years ago, after it had been dropped. I suspect I wasn't using the even temprament.
When I started working in Camden Town in the mid-60s', there were still one or two of the piano workshops about, the last remnants of the Victorian piano industry, and we used to meet some of the guys in the local at lunchtime. One had a story of a guy re-tuning a piano whose cast-iron frame had been broken and re-welded. He took the pitch up semitone by semitone, till the b*****d broke again,and the whole workshop cheered !
airport ~ The "mad as birds" rejoinder was payback for your dig about a "truckly hoedown." Now, shall we start over? Good morning, airport. may I suggest that you get professional help for your piano.
I was thinking that if I ever had appendicitis, if I read about it enough and had the tools at the ready....I could do that procedure myself.
Greg's advice was informative and shows that the concept may be doable (though there are many wise cautions as to the probability-or lack thereof- of the doing).
As an avid do-it-oneselfer, I might suggest that this may not be the right venue for emergence as a piano tuner-particularly if your gig creating the deadline is meaningful to you.
AlBrown, you may not be able to tuna fish but you can tuna bass (fiddle). Can you tuna sandwich?
When I was a teenager, I did make a serious effort to learn how to tune a piano and I decided that I would prefer to pay someone else to tune my piano instead of doing it myself.
Thanks everyone - I'll stop looking at the piano like a giant fiddle now and add it to the list of things that should be handled by professionals - like tooth removal and criminal defense (and appendectomies). I think I've found a semi-professional tuner, but next weekend everyone will have to tune to the piano. It's not that bad - a bit sharp, but it seems to be in tune with itself...
A friend who tunes pianos told me you have to tune a few hundred pianos before you’re really considered competent. I don’t know if that was hyperbole. Another tuner told me that, in the beginning, the hardest part for some people is learning how to set the pin so the pitch doesn’t slip.
Long ago and far away, I tried to tune a couple of old clunkers. They were so far gone that I actually did improve them, but they still sounded pretty sour. I’ve touched up my wife’s piano several times when just a few notes in the middle were sagging, but I abandoned even that years ago. We now have a gentleman who does the job so well that I don’t even consider it anymore. He uses an electronic device that helps him customize the temperament for individual pianos and it works quite well. He said he was trained by the man who invented the device and after decades of tuning by ear, he uses it exclusively.
I thought I had a good ear for tuning and tried to tune a 3 octave mini-piano. The octaves were easy, I thought the thirds were pretty easy, then the fourths and fifths. By the time I had got this far, it sounded even worse than when I started.
Piano-tuning is not for the faint-hearted.
And in front of you will be a lightly-made gut-strung instrument with moveable frets.......I think I'ld rather negotiate an arms amnesty in Somalia.......
A friend of mine used to tune his own piano, he had all the right tools, I borrowed his spanner and bits of sponge cut in wedges for muting the strings. I took the hammer section off, and tuned it with a guitar tuner, I didn't even need the mutes, as I tuned the strings individually with a plectrum, it worked great. And cost nothing.
amateur piano tuning
amateur piano tuning
I searched and didn't find anything on this topic, so apologies if it's been discussed already. I'm also aware that this doesn't help my "mad as birds" reputation, but can I tune my piano myself in time for a rehearsal next weekend?
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by airport
Re: amateur piano tuning
You might want to send a message to Greg... he seems to be the resident expert on such things:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/19496
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by davydd
Re: amateur piano tuning
oh right, greg the piano tuner the piano tuner
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by airport
Re: amateur piano tuning
Have you ever tried to tune a piano?
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by pipewatcher
Re: amateur piano tuning
A traditional toast at the lawyers' dinner was "Here's to the man who writes his own will."
I think the Piano Tuner's Annual Dinner might be similar.
Fractional tweaking of the intervals as you go up the scale so that notes "sound" in tune, even though mathematically they're not, etc?
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by TomB-R
Re: amateur piano tuning
Just like all the other stringy things
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by mcknowall
Re: amateur piano tuning
No you cannot tune it yourself.It's a job for a professional.A friend of mine is a piano tuner and it takes him about 3 hours to tune one up.He did a three year course in piano tuning.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by dafydd
Re: amateur piano tuning
If you are going to do it yourself you will need tuning wedges or mutes and a tuning wrench.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by dafydd
Re: amateur piano tuning
http://piano.detwiler.us/
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by dafydd
Re: amateur piano tuning
You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish.
(Sorry, I couldn't resist.)
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by AlBrown
Re: amateur piano tuning
Airport,
I've given some thought about this. While I admire your desire to do things yourself, this is too big a job to do for a rehearsal next weekend. Here's why.
First, you need specialized tools (tuning hammer, mutes, 440 tuning fork)
You need to isolate all the center strings with a strip mute, so hitting one key gives only one string.
You need to make sure your octaves are beatless, so the other notes within the octave all fit equally. If any are off, even by a small amount, your piano will be even worse out of tune than it is right now.
When you tune a piano you are not comparing one note to another as you are tuning any other instrument. You must learn to hear the beats produced by one note sounding against another, and they aren't all the same. Thirds and sixths beat much faster than fourths and fifths, and there is no room for error.
If you really want to tune your own piano, you can do this. (but, not in time for next week's rehearsal) Just go to your library and take out Piano Servicing, Tuning, and Rebuilding, by Arthur Reblitz and read it carefully. (it's the standard text) Then contact Pianotek for a tool catalog (www.pianoteksupply.com)
You'd be able to tune your own piano within a few months. Good luck!
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: amateur piano tuning
Greg: Nice to read a straightforward, realistic, reply i.e : not by next weekend -- but given the right information , tools and learning time -yes !
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by Col Arco
Re: amateur piano tuning
i watched a friend tune a piano once. he had an antique oscilliscope and lots of funny- looking wrenches and implements it only took about two hours but he'd been a piano tuner for nearly forty years!!!
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by pipewatcher
Re: amateur piano tuning
I watched a freind tune a piano once, It took him three months.
He'd got the tools out of a second hand shop, took 'em home and away he went. After about a week of just making it much much worse, he went and got a book out of the library (it was probably the book you're talking about Greg) and it took him another couple of months to get it back to where it was before he started. And then another month to improve it.
So my advice is not to get the book out of the library, Buy it instead.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: amateur piano tuning
another thought, Airport-
get the book today and read it, then hire a tuner for the day before the rehearsal. Watch carefully,and having read the book beforehand, you will have some idea what is going on. If after that you think this is for you then follow Michael's advice and buy your own copy (I got mine at Barnes & Noble)
Anyone with a musical ear, a mechanical ability, and the desire to do so can learn to tune a piano. There are no shortcuts, but if you really want to, you can do a good job. You'll need perhaps $100 for tools and the forementioned text, and an old clunker piano to work on. The Piano Technicians Guild (www.ptg.org) is a good reference.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by Greg the Piano Tuner
Re: amateur piano tuning
Greg, are you snickering up your sleeve?
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by Bob himself
Re: amateur piano tuning
Thanks all! I've been wanting to do this too. Just not by next weekend.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by Gzeg
Re: amateur piano tuning
If Greg is snickering into his sleeve, he's been an absolute gem of a fella about it. Good man Greg, what great advice and information!
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: amateur piano tuning
How about using one of the modern electronic tuners ?
Certainly you need the proper tuning key, which is like a long spanner.
I tried tuning an autoharp by ear many years ago, after it had been dropped. I suspect I wasn't using the even temprament.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: amateur piano tuning
When I started working in Camden Town in the mid-60s', there were still one or two of the piano workshops about, the last remnants of the Victorian piano industry, and we used to meet some of the guys in the local at lunchtime. One had a story of a guy re-tuning a piano whose cast-iron frame had been broken and re-welded. He took the pitch up semitone by semitone, till the b*****d broke again,and the whole workshop cheered !
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: amateur piano tuning
airport ~ The "mad as birds" rejoinder was payback for your dig about a "truckly hoedown." Now, shall we start over? Good morning, airport. may I suggest that you get professional help for your piano.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by Atahualpa Quigley
Re: amateur piano tuning
I was thinking that if I ever had appendicitis, if I read about it enough and had the tools at the ready....I could do that procedure myself.
Greg's advice was informative and shows that the concept may be doable (though there are many wise cautions as to the probability-or lack thereof- of the doing).
As an avid do-it-oneselfer, I might suggest that this may not be the right venue for emergence as a piano tuner-particularly if your gig creating the deadline is meaningful to you.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by zippydw
Re: amateur piano tuning
AlBrown, you may not be able to tuna fish but you can tuna bass (fiddle). Can you tuna sandwich?
When I was a teenager, I did make a serious effort to learn how to tune a piano and I decided that I would prefer to pay someone else to tune my piano instead of doing it myself.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by fauxcelt
Re: amateur piano tuning
Thanks everyone - I'll stop looking at the piano like a giant fiddle now and add it to the list of things that should be handled by professionals - like tooth removal and criminal defense (and appendectomies). I think I've found a semi-professional tuner, but next weekend everyone will have to tune to the piano. It's not that bad - a bit sharp, but it seems to be in tune with itself...
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by airport
Re: amateur piano tuning
A friend who tunes pianos told me you have to tune a few hundred pianos before you’re really considered competent. I don’t know if that was hyperbole. Another tuner told me that, in the beginning, the hardest part for some people is learning how to set the pin so the pitch doesn’t slip.
Long ago and far away, I tried to tune a couple of old clunkers. They were so far gone that I actually did improve them, but they still sounded pretty sour. I’ve touched up my wife’s piano several times when just a few notes in the middle were sagging, but I abandoned even that years ago. We now have a gentleman who does the job so well that I don’t even consider it anymore. He uses an electronic device that helps him customize the temperament for individual pianos and it works quite well. He said he was trained by the man who invented the device and after decades of tuning by ear, he uses it exclusively.
# Posted on September 23rd 2008 by Bob himself
Re: amateur piano tuning
Truckly hoedown? Stanley Unwin?
# Posted on September 24th 2008 by dafydd
Re: amateur piano tuning
I thought it was a compliment! By the way we have a real piano tuner coming on Saturday...
# Posted on September 24th 2008 by airport
Re: amateur piano tuning
I thought I had a good ear for tuning and tried to tune a 3 octave mini-piano. The octaves were easy, I thought the thirds were pretty easy, then the fourths and fifths. By the time I had got this far, it sounded even worse than when I started.
Piano-tuning is not for the faint-hearted.
# Posted on September 25th 2008 by geoffwright
Re: amateur piano tuning
My genius, drunken, guitar playing friend bought an old piano. I sprayed the joints with WD40, and he then tuned it using the guitar.
It worked.
More amazingly, he could even play it. He said pianos were easy compared to guitar.
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by bodhran bliss
Re: amateur piano tuning
"It worked"??
How the feck would you know. The closest you get to being in tune is to tune your mandolin to a digital tuner before you leave the house.
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by llig leahcim
Re: amateur piano tuning
You can have a go at tuning a 13-course lute when you've mastered tuning the piano - you should have the basics behind you.
# Posted on September 26th 2008 by lazyhound
Re: amateur piano tuning
And in front of you will be a lightly-made gut-strung instrument with moveable frets.......I think I'ld rather negotiate an arms amnesty in Somalia.......
# Posted on September 29th 2008 by Guernsey Pete
Re: amateur piano tuning
A friend of mine used to tune his own piano, he had all the right tools, I borrowed his spanner and bits of sponge cut in wedges for muting the strings. I took the hammer section off, and tuned it with a guitar tuner, I didn't even need the mutes, as I tuned the strings individually with a plectrum, it worked great. And cost nothing.
# Posted on September 30th 2008 by tirvaluk