Pitch Adjustment

If a piano has not been tuned for a long time it may have moved so far off pitch that it requires a pitch adjustment before it can be accurately tuned. This can also happen following a house move when the shifting of the piano’s frame stretches or slackens the strings, or in an environment that experiences large variations in temperature or humidity. Generally, if you can hear the piano is noticeably off pitch on several notes then it is likely a good candidate for a pitch adjustment.
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Piano Tuning Fort Worth’s technicians will only recommend a pitch correction where it is necessary. We know that where it is necessary our customers would not be happy with the results of a standard tune as it would be less precisely tuned and would drop further out of tune soon after the appointment. Our priority is to enable our customers to enjoy their pianos.

If you would like to discuss whether your piano may need a pitch adjustment, or you'd like to book an appointment, please give us a call now on:

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817-203-2990

Why might I need a Pitch Adjustment?

In standard piano tuning where the notes are only slightly off pitch, each string is carefully adjusted until it is the correct tension to play the correct note just right. However, if many of the strings are very off-pitch, and so have tensions that are much too high or low, then the piano string being tuned may be carrying too much or not enough tension due to the other strings being too loose and not supporting it enough or being too tight and allowing it to be too slack. Therefore, as subsequent strings are adjusted and tuned, the pressure on the initially tuned string alters, and it goes back out of tune.
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In cases like this tuners would need to keep returning to earlier tuned strings to redo them, and with over 200 strings this could be a long and fruitless procedure.

Therefore, where strings are far enough away from the correct tension (and thus pitch) that the tuning of later strings will greatly affect the pitch of earlier tuned ones, the piano tuner is likely to recommend a pitch adjustment.
In a pitch adjustment all the strings are tuned so they get closer to correct pitch before any of them are accurately tuned to the exact correct pitch. Once they are all approximately correct and with the strings at around the right tension, then the piano tuner can perform a standard tune on the piano, making sure all the notes are at the exact correct pitch. 

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How long do pitch adjustments take?

​Pitch adjustments usually take around the same time as a standard tune, perhaps 1 ½ hours, though they will also need the subsequent tuning afterwards on top of this.
Sometimes a piano may need two pitch adjustments before it can be accurately tuned. Your piano tuner may recommend that these adjustments, or even one adjustment and a subsequent tuning, occur on two separate occasions so as to let the wood and strings settle in between, and to avoid putting too much stress on the frame or strings of your piano.

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Contact us

​If you are unsure whether your piano needs a pitch adjustment before a standard tune, or if you would like to book an appointment, please give us a call or fill in the enquiry form on this page and our friendly staff will get back to you to advise or arrange a visit.

817-203-2990