How to Tune a Piano: 8 Steps for Piano Tuning

Tuning a piano yourself is a challenging job that takes incredible patience and skill; piano tuning is a skilled profession for good reason. While the process of tuning each pin may seem straightforward (albeit slow going) for even a beginner, professional piano tuners develop specific skills and techniques over years to provide a tune that is both more accurate (in tune) and more stable or long-lasting. If you’ve never tuned a piano before or have little interest in dedicating years to practice, consider reaching out to a professional piano technician.

Tuning a piano requires a few simple tools:

• Tuning lever: A piano tuning lever (also called a tuning hammer, wrench, tuning wrench, or tuning key) is a small, tapered wrench that allows you to tighten or loosen each tuning pin individually. A tuning lever is essential when tuning a piano—substituting with any other tool could damage the instrument.
• Electronic chromatic tuner: An electronic tuning device (ETD) is a small instrument that helps you identify what note a key currently plays and how far off it is from the target note. Electronic tuners are the most common tuning tool for professional tuners, though tuning forks are a less modern choice for more traditional tuners. Avoid simple guitar tuners, which may not be accurate enough for piano tuning.
• Mutes: Mutes are inexpensive rubber wedges that you place on piano strings to dampen the sound of specific strings and isolate a single string to tune it.
• Screwdriver: Some instruments, such as upright pianos and grand pianos, may have a cabinet or door that protects the strings and soundboard. If your piano has extra hardware like this, it’s a good idea to keep a screwdriver on hand so that you can easily remove these pieces and access the strings.
• Light: To better see the inner workings of the piano, bring a flashlight or spotlight that you can set up for hands-free illumination so all your digits are available for tuning.
• Dust cloth: Many pianos sit and gather dust for years, so keep a cloth handy to help you wipe away dust and grime to access the strings.

Here is a basic step-by-step guide for piano tuning:

1. 1. Set up. Before you tune your piano, make the room as quiet and isolated as possible: Close the doors and turn off any appliances, especially ones that make humming sounds. Remove any cabinet doors to the piano strings (if applicable), gently dust off the strings, and set up a light to see the workspace clearly. Inspect the piano strings and pins for any damage. If the piano has major issues, consult a professional.
2. 2. Prep middle C. Identify the strings that play for middle C; most pianos have three strings for middle C (and for many of the notes in the middle of the piano), though older pianos may only have two strings for the note. Use your rubber mutes to mute the outer strings (if your piano has three strings) or just the left string if your piano has two.
3. 3. Tune one string of middle C. Turn on your electric tuner. Play the middle C (C4) piano key loudly and firmly to listen to the single unmuted string and see what note the tuner picks up. A piano will typically go out of tune by becoming flat as the tension of the string weakens, so prepare for a lot of flat notes. Identify which pin the single string is wound around and gently place the head of your tuning lever over the pin. Gently turn the lever counterclockwise to loosen the pin a bit, then slowly turn the lever clockwise to tighten it up to a true middle C. Be gentle as you work the pin and try to twist it as little as possible to avoid over-loosening or over-tightening. Play the note continually as you tune.
4. 4. Set the pin. Professional piano tuners use a technique called “setting” to finish tightening a pin and ideally make the string hold its tune longer. Different tuners have different approaches to setting, but a common way to set a pin is to use one final tightening motion to make it slightly above pitch, then a single gentle loosening motion to achieve the exact correct pitch.
5. 5. Tune the rest of the notes in the octave. Once your center middle C string is in tune, repeat the process for each center string in the notes from C4 to C5.
6. 6. Tune the first unison string. Now that the middle strings of each note from C4 to C5 are in tune, it’s time to “tune the unisons,” or tune the outer strings that play for each of those same notes. To tune the first unison, unmute the tuned center string and untuned left string of middle C—that way, you can tune a note to the string you’ve already tuned. Put away the electronic piano tuner for this stage; you can more reliably tune unisons by ear. Play the note firmly and loudly, listening for a warble, disharmony, or wah-wah-wah sound wave (called a “beat”), and then gently work the new string’s pin until the two strings ring out clearly and in unison.
7. 7. Tune the rest of the unisons in the octave. Once the first middle C unison string is in tune, repeat the process for each remaining left string in the notes from C4 to C5, then repeat the process again for each right string in the octave. You should now have an entire middle octave on your piano that is in tune. This is “setting the temperament.”
8. 8. Tune each octave to the temperament. Using the temperament notes as your guide, begin tuning a new octave (like C5 to C6) by comparing each note with the tuned note you have in your temperament. Continue tuning one string at a time, using your mutes to silence the other strings until you’re ready to tune them (the higher treble section of the keyboard should have three strings for each note, while the bass strings may only have one). Similar to tuning the unisons, tune the piano “to itself” during this step for the most harmonious sound, rather than using an electronic tuner. Professionals often implement additional techniques and theories at this stage—including major thirds, fourths, fifths, the equal temperament model, inharmonicity, and hand stretching octaves—to achieve a superior fine-tune.

Piano tuning is a delicate and demanding process. If you’re concerned about damaging your piano or don’t have the time to dedicate to tuning, consider reaching out to a professional tuner.

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