Piano tuning?

Question

I've started taking piano lessons again, but i've been only using a full keyboard (haven't had access to a regular piano). This full keyboard has now broken (the pedal won't work either). I wanted to tune my piano (which we bought in 1990 I believe?). Anyhow, it is horribly out of tune. Can it be restored? Would this be expensive? Or should I give it up and purchase a new one?

Answer 1

If it hasn't been tuned in 17 years then it may be beyond repair. However, you'd need a professional to take a look at it. Any instrument needs to be kept in good repair, else it will fall in quality - and pianos are especially suceptable to this. A piano tuner will certainly make it sound a lot better - but sometimes there is only so much they can do.

Chances are if your pedal is "broken" it could be the controlling rod which connects the dampers to the pedal has come loose. This happens pretty frequently with some pianos. It's simply a matter of slotting it back into the hole that connects the horizontal beam at the bottom of the piano to the mechanism that moves the dampers (there's usually a washer-type thing with a rod on the end of the pole which slots into it)

Piano tuners are usually pretty expensive - as is just about anything when you need someone to do something you CAN'T do yourself (mechanics anyone?). However pianos can sometimes go quite a while without being tuned, it depends on how advanced you are and how good you need it to sound. Professional pianists will have their piano tuned every few months - but I reckon they could (depending on heat and humidity) go up to a couple of years without being tuned.