The most important factor for your piano's health is the humidity level. Humidity is the measure of water vapor in the air, and it influences the sound and the quality of your piano. Your piano should be maintained at 42% relative humidity (RH), but you should ask your tuner-technician for the best advice for your specific instrument.

When the humidity is too high or too low, it can make your piano lose its tune and harm its wooden parts. High humidity can cause the wood to expand and the metal parts to corrode, while low humidity can split the soundboard and loosen the glue joints. Repeated changes in humidity can destroy your piano over time. Therefore, you need to regulate the climate around your piano carefully.

One of the best ways to do that is to install a climate control system inside your piano. This system will check and modify the humidity level inside your piano, keeping it within the ideal range. It consists of a humidistat, a dehumidifier, and a humidifier (if needed). Degen’s Piano, Inc. is a qualified installer of Dampp-Chaser Piano Life Saver System, and we can assist you with any questions or issues you may have. You can also visit the Piano Technicians Guild website for more information on humidity control.

Like humidity, temperature is extremely important for your piano performance: Changes in temperature will affect basically the metal structure of your instrument, and that includes the strings. When warm strings expand and pitch goes down, when cooled strings contract and pitch goes up, and because they are not the same length If the piano was tuned at 76F it will go out of tune at 80F and it will also sound out of tune at 72F. Constant changes of temperature will greatly help losing the tuning of the piano and will make the instrument unstable. If this condition is maintained for long period it will even shorten your piano life the same as humidity does. Ideally, the temperature should be kept even all year long, between 74 oF and 78 oF. 

Location, or where you are going to place the piano also has a great importance Even if you followed all the most important protective measures and are sure to have a stable temperature and humidity level, there are places in the room or house where does not matter what you do they will change. Not only it is important how the piano looks in certain space also try to avoid the following places: a.- Near a window, especially if that window allows the sun to strike your piano anytime during the day or during the year. Direct sunlight will create heat inside your piano even if the temperature is stable in the room. b.- Anywhere were currents of air could strike the piano, like near A/C vents or between open doors. c.- Near any wall or surface that could be wet d.- Near an open kitchen specially if it is permanently in use and could be exposed to cooking vapor or kitchen grease. e.- Near any appliance that could create excessive heat or cold (furnaces, chimney, air vents, external doors that open and close constantly). .

In order to get the whole experience of enjoyment when your piano is played, you must keep it always well maintained and tuned. These services are provided to you by a qualified tuner and technician, whose role in preserving your instrument and advising you about what should do to care for it could save you hundreds of dollars in the long run: to rebuild a poorly preserved piano is much more expensive than a good regular servicing.

New pianos tend to go out of tune much faster during the settling period of their lives. After that first warranty tuning, you will probably need to have it tuned three more times during the first year. They also require to be used as much as possible so it settles properly.

In time, after the piano settles (adapts itself to the environment), and its materials reach their “maturity”, the tuning will hold longer.

For example: For an average family piano two tunings a year (or once every six months) are recommended. However, it may vary depending on your piano, its environment, and the use you give to it. On the other hand, a concert piano, in addition to its regular maintenance, must be tuned before every presentation, and sometimes even during a pause within the performance.

Even further, every piano manufacturer has standards as of materials, designing and building procedures that give different requirements of maintenance to its instruments. In the Technical Bulletin “What manufacturers have to say“, published by the Piano Technicians Guild, Inc.

In addition to periodic tunings, the action of the pianos also needs to be taken care of. The action of the piano is the intricate system of levers, springs, hammers, pins, screws and keys that make possible for you to press a key and get the hammer to hit a string producing the sound.

The precision in which every piece must be calibrated to keep it functioning is very important for the pianist to be able to control the sound of his instrument from the loudest scale to the sweetest chord.

Every single part of the action is also made of wood, felt, leather and metal, thus being equally affected by humidity and temperature changes. They are also affected by many other things, such as moving the piano or just material weariness because of the use.

Every once in a while the action needs to be regulated to cope with these changes and let the pianist control the instrument at its best.

On the other hand, the piano also needs to be voiced every once in a while: Also because of material weariness, when the felt on the hammers gets either compacted or deformed it will change the tone of the note that is played. Commonly, that change is uneven amongst the hammers of the same piano, so a periodical work of voicing is needed for that to be fixed.

For more information on this subject, check the PTG technical bulletin on voicing.

A piano is both a musical instrument and a piece of furniture, which is why you should treat its finish as you would any other wooden surface: keep it clean, don’t put beverages or other liquids over it, and avoid scratching it.

You may want to clean it every once in a while, using either a dry or a slightly damp cloth. You may want to dust it from time to time, as well.

Although frequent polishing is not recommended, an occasional polish for the older pianos can be done using a good quality product. Make sure to ask your piano tuner-technician about either how to do it or whom to call.

For more information on the subject, refer to The PTG technical bulletin on finish care.

Piano Tunings:

Every piano is different. All pianos require tunings and adjusting almost every six months. Humidity, temperature, conservation, age and usage play a part in determining how stable a piano tuning remains. Toning/Voicing it’s fundamental in the maintenance of your piano. Restoring the balance in both dynamic power and brilliance across the whole keyboard. We toning the Pianos taking in consideration the instrument, space where is placed, the music style you are going to play, and the preferences, requirements and taste of the pianist who is going play it.