The piano in question is an upright, probably more than 50 years old. It hasn’t been tuned in about 25 years. It’s been in the same spot for 10 years. All the keys work, but there’s definitely some out of tune keys in the very upper and very lower registers.
I’d like to see it tuned so I can use it to practice for choir. How much should I expect to pay?
Regular tunings go for about $100. As your piano’s been neglected for so long, it will almost certainly need what’s called a “pitch raise” which means extra work and time, and probably a second tuning a couple of weeks later.
It’s certainly possible to tune a long-neglected piano so it’s in tune with itself, but you’ll be “tuning” the choir to A=430 or some such flatness. Pitch raising brings the whole piano back to A=440
If nothing needs to be repaired, I’d expect it all to cost between $150-250. If that seems like a lot, keep in mind that someone’s saved about $2500 over the years. 
I’m curious about this myself - we got an ancient player piano for free a couple of years ago, and it desperately needs a tuning (and one key).
The fellow I use here in PA charges a flat $79 for a tuning, or $40/hr for tuning, pitch raises, and repair. Getting my player piano all fixed up, with a few cords replaced and a couple tweaks to the player system, cost me a about $200. The player pianos take a bit more time, because you have to remove the player assembly to get at much.
I have heard that Opperknockty does a great job, but he will only do it once.
Almost.
“Opportunity knocks but once”.
Oppraknockity tunes but once.
Heard that from an entrepreneur doing cryogenic treatments to music wire, ostensibly with the business name Oppraknockity. (sp)
I lucked out and found the guy who tunes for the local opera company, who raised my piano’s pitch, tuned it, and offered a free courtesy tuning, all for $50.
Ask around.
Around here, (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) somewhere between $75 and $125.
Though $100 (give or take) doesn’t sound like that much, does anyone know how hard it is to tune the piano / perform routine maintenance oneself?
I know you would need a special tool and something to dampen the strings (and of course an electronic tuner) but it doesn’t look that hard. Tedious maybe, since you have 88 keys times two or three strings per key but it looks like it could be done easily enough. You’d also be able to make future adjustments as necessary without calling in the professionals.
Former piano technician here. I learned to tune by beats, before there were electronic tuners. There’s a learning curve to that, lessened if one is also a musician (somewhat). Musicians normally don’t concern themselves with temperament.
Tuning an instrument that has been kept to pitch in good ambient conditions is fairly easy work. Bringing pitch up is another story.
Tools are pretty simple, pin wrench, fork and dampers/mutes, so you’re probably right, fairly inexpensive and easy given a good electronic tuner.
Okay, I’ll bite. What’s a pitch raise? (“About $2, more if you let 'em throw the ball at someone.”)
My problem is that I don’t know anyone who knows anyone to get a good deal. Although I suppose I could ask my choir director. He probably would. Hmmm.
Over time, the strings of the piano will stretch, lowering the pitch. Generally, a piano is tuned based upon a middle A (the one above middle C) of 440Hz. If the pitch of that string drops, you either need to raise it, or tune the entire piano to the out-of-tune A, which gives you an in-tune piano, but it won’t be in tune with anything else (and it’ll teach your choir to sing flat). Tuning the piano is relatively easy, while raising the pitch is quite a bit harder, and needs to be done very delicately to avoid damaging the piano or breaking a string. Often, tuners will raise the pitch a little bit, give it a few weeks to settle, then come back and raise it a bit more.
Aha! Good to know. Thank you.
A piano that hasn’t been tuned in 25 years may need more than a simple tuning before it’s really playable. It might need re-voicing (in which the hammers are reshaped), the dampers may need to be serviced, and random parts of the action may need work. Depending on the temperature and humidity changes it’s been through, the tuning board or the sound board may have developed cracks. If the former, it may never be able to hold a tuning.
I’m frankly surprised that Carson O’Genic wasn’t more discouraging to the suggestion of amateur tuning. As an idiot teenager, I thought it would be easy and fun to tune a piano, so I bought a tuning hammer and the rubber wedges, and had a go. Fortunately, I had the number of a real piano technician, and he didn’t charge any extra for undoing the mess I made.
It’s not easy. It takes a lot of patience and a good ear. Yes, modern electronics (or computer programs) make it easier, but there’s so much more to tuning than just getting the pitches right. When I watch my current technician work, he makes it look easy, but now, as a 53-year-old, I wouldn’t dream of trying to do it myself, even if I had the same equipment and software he uses. (Of course, the fact that I own a $30,000 grand piano now, and not the POS upright I had as a teenager, may have something to do with it.)
I just paid $120, but that’s in Australian dollars, which is currently cheaper than toilet paper. I usually get it tuned once a year.
I’m making great effort to be less discouraging as general life policy these days.
Strictly tuning, with electronic assistance, would be pretty easy once you have a strategy down. If one was on the same piano all the time, easier yet.
Action and voicing adjustments are essential items of address but excluded from my remark. A good technician, like a good luthier, can make the instrument suit the owner/player’s desires. Within reason.
" Depending on the temperature and humidity changes it’s been through, the tuning board or the sound board may have developed cracks. If the former, it may never be able to hold a tuning. " You probably meant “frame” instead of “tuning board”- the cast iron that withstands all that string tension. Not affected by weather, barring some bizarre mistreatment, but yes, a fatal flaw when cracked.
Congratulations on your current keys! I don’t badmouth uprights though spinets are bileworthy.
Spinets do, however, have the virtue of being cheap and reasonably portable. I also prefer them to full uprights for voice lessons (if I don’t have access to a grand), as I can see the student over a spinet.
I pay $100 for my piano’s annual tuning. My tuner suggests I have it done twice a year, but money is tight and I’m only a hobbyist.
There can be all sorts of things wrong with an old piano, or very little. It’s hard to predict what kind of shape the instrument is in on the inside, which is why I suggest a thorough one-over by a professional tuner.
My first piano was roughly 90 years old and had been sitting outside for a while. (hey - what do you expect for free?) We had to check it for squirrels when we brought it home. It was playable after much attention by the tuner, but it couldn’t be brought up to A440. It just couldn’t handle it.
A good policy, especially since others, like me, will jump right in and take up the slack!
No, I meant to say the pin block :smack:, in which the tuning pins are driven. As you know, if it’s cracked, it can make it impossible for the piano to hold a tuning.
Worthy notes. My comparisons are from an elitist viewpoint…wouldn’t want to disparage the making and promotion of any non-electric keyboard, despite owning two Mellotron 400s, which you can see people over when not peering into their guts wondering WTF? is the problem now.