Living where we do in northern Michigan, you will find your piano goes slightly out of tune during Winter and Summer months due to the indoor heat and the humidity of our summers. Ideally, you should have your piano tuned twice per year- in the Spring and Fall but once per year is great for most recreational piano players.

If you're only able to have your piano tuned once per year, when do you play most often? If you find yourself playing mainly during the school year, you should opt for an annual Fall tuning.

A piano is slightly deceiving from the outside; it hides the fact that you're playing a stringed instrument! There are 88 keys on a piano and most of them have 2-3 strings for each note, making a total of 230 strings on the piano. The strings loosen over time, causing the piano to go out of tune. This happens more rapidly when a piano has been moved or when it goes through seasonal temperature changes.

When a piano is not regularly tuned, the strings will continue to loosen. When it is eventually tuned, it may require what tuners call a "pitch raise". This is when the entire piano is so out of tune that it needs significant work to be back in tune. Depending on the severity of the pitch raise needed, it may require multiple tuning sessions. This allows the strings to settle and stretch over a period of time, vs risking a string break.

I tune pianos mainly in Ludington, but will go to other parts of Mason county and am also happy to serve Manistee and Oceana counties. When you're ready to book, my appointment calendar will first ask you to enter your address. The scheduling system will automatically try to consolidate appointments in similar areas on the same day!

It is not uncommon to see a piano for free these days. Especially if you have the means to haul it to your home, it can be a great find! The piano will more than likely be out of pitch due to infrequent tunings or if the move was hard on the instrument.

I do have a pre-purchase inspection service if you'd like to have the condition evaluated prior to committing to transport and embarking on bringing the piano back to playable condition. Unfortunately, some pianos being given away would require thousands of dollars to restore, so if you don't know the owner or don't know the history of the piano, a pre-purchase inspection is the best way to protect yourself.