piano tuning

Great Question!

If your piano has been properly maintained and kept tuned once a year is probably sufficient although in New England the extreme changes in weather is tough on pianos.

If you play your piano a lot and/or have a sensitive ear you may wish to have your piano tuned twice a year.

I'm glad you asked that question...

Please make sure everything is cleared off the piano (pictures, books, music, pencils, knick-knacks, etc.).

It would also be helpful to have good lighting available that can shine into the piano. There are approximately 230 strings and thousands of moving parts. It helps to have good lighting. 

AND...

If there are any issues in particular (sticky notes/keys, loud buzz, notes not repeating, etc.) please make clear notations as to exactly which notes/keys and what is happening/when (ex: only when playing softly, only when trying to repeat the note quickly, etc.)

Lastly, it is important to have the area as quiet as possible.

The best thing you can do to help stabilize the tuning is to keep the humidity in the room as close to 50% as possible and the temperature moderate. Changes in temperature and humidity affects the piano even more than playing it does.   If you really want to balance the humidity for the piano, see Piano Life Saver Systems below.

What is a Piano Life Saver System you ask?

It is a system designed to help maintain the proper humidity balance for your instrument. The system mounts inside the bottom section in vertical pianos (Uprights, Studio Piano, Console, Spinet), or underneath in the case of Grand Pianos.

It is designed specifically to help stabilize your piano by minimizing the swings in humidity. 

I am a certified Piano Life Saver installer and would be happy to provide you with an estimate to install a system in your piano.

Should I Grab The Free Piano I Saw Online?

The short answer is: Probably Not!

Most "free" pianos are anything but free.

They are typically old, tired, and worn out. 

Consider this, there are literally thousands of moving parts in a piano. They are primarily made of wood and felt both of which are subject to swelling and shrinking with changes in humidity and temperature. 

Over the years the wooden parts wear out, verdigris  builds up in the pivot points making the action (moving parts) slow down or jam up, the strings may start to corrode or at the very least lose their tone. Sometimes the soundboard cracks (think of the soundboard as the speaker of the piano) and/or the pin block may get loose (the tuning pins that the strings are attached to can become so loose they won't hold a tuning).

Then there is the cost of moving the piano!

If you think you can just grab a couple of your buddies and a pickup truck to move the piano, think again!

They are very heavy, especially the big old uprights. And they tend to want to tip over.

Yet in spite of their size and weight they are thousands of very sensitive parts inside.

I've seen pianos destroyed, people get hurt, and homes getting banged up all while inexperienced people are trying to move a beat up old dead piano that really belongs in a land fill.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Before you pull the trigger on picking up that "free" piano you should consider paying a piano tuner/tech to check it out for you.  Most of us charge a basic fee to check the piano over for you and offer our advice.

I should mention that it is possible to find good deals on pianos if you know what to look for, or better yet buy from a reputable dealer who will back up your purchase.

And by all means, GET A PIANO AND HAVE SOME FUN!