Piano Care and Maintenance

A piano can have up to 12,000 parts and many of those parts are moving parts. If you want your piano to stay in good working order, it needs a little tender loving care now and then.

During the first year of a piano's life it's suggested to have it serviced two to four times. Then talk to your piano technician to decide what frequency to continue service at. Usually twice a year after the first year is recommended, but sometimes once a year is enough. Servicing includes having the piano tuned, regulated as needed, voiced as needed, and eventually having worn parts repaired or replaced as needed.

A piano has over 200 strings and when the technician starts tuning a piano, it's the strings he's going to work on. The technician wants all the strings to have the correct pitch.

How does a piano go out of tune in the first place? The most common cause is humidity changes. It's recommended that you don't get your piano tuned right after the humidity has changed or the tune will only hold a couple months.

Regulation is the adjustment of the mechanical aspects of the pianos because the cloth parts compact and settle, and the piano changes dimension somewhat due to changes in humidity. Uneven keys and keys that stick are signs that a piano needs to be regulated. The frequency of regulation needed for a piano varies according to how much the piano is used along with the climate it's kept in.

When it comes to voicing the piano, we're talking about adjusting the pianos quality of sound or tone. The frequency that voicing needs to be done depends largely on how much you use your piano - 1 to 5 years tends to be the typical range.

You'll also want to make sure you take good care of the exterior of the piano too. Neglecting the exterior of your piano can, believe it or not, affect the sound quality of your piano. Keeping it clean is a pretty simple job, but one thing to remember is that you don't want to use furniture polish.

A piano will also need periodic reconditioning by the piano technician which is cleaning, making any needed repairs, and replacing specific parts if needed. When your piano technician comes over to work on your piano, it's a good time for you to dust the hard to reach areas of the piano such as the behind the lower panel where the pedals are.

The step beyond reconditioning is rebuilding. This is a very labor intensive process and also quite expensive, but caring for your piano can help you avoid the expense of a full rebuild.

Keep in mind that a piano is an investment, and that a well maintained piano can actually increase in value over its life.

Article Source: http://www.avidarticles.com

Gray Rollins is a featured writer for PianosCentral - a site dedicated to helping people learn how to play the piano. Learn more about Rocket Piano review and the Pure Pitch Method at his site.

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