Many conventional American households own musical instruments. Among the most well known musical instruments include a guitar, violin, and Piano. But among these three generic household musical instruments, the piano seems to be the most labor intensive in terms of technical tuning. For this reason, there is a mainstay industry that caters to the need of every home that has a piano in their living room.

Unfortunately, as early as 2009 many statistical experts claim that residential pianos are experiencing a steep decline. Being the most expensive of the stringed instruments any household can own, pianos are pretty much classified as a luxury item. Hence, it is not surprising how contemporary owners sell them to the highest bidder. Luckily, public establishments comprise the biggest buyer of living room pianos. The same tuning services are also offered for places like hotels, restaurants, chic cafes, concert halls and churches across the country. Fortunately for public institutions, there is an entitlement of over 15% tax rebate.

When it comes to how much Professional Tuners charge per service, the average cost to get a piano tuned could amount anywhere between $100 and $150. However, it is important to consider that this price range reflects only amenable conditions.

The usual fee could spike up to as much as $300 when one has to consider several other factors that could contribute to the professional tuner’s workload. Oftentimes, the cost which is double or triple from the average expense usually includes other labor intensive aspects like ‘deep cleaning’ and specific mechanical repairs (e.g. replacement of bolts).

How Often Do You Tune Your Piano?

The frequency of how owners often do the tuning could contribute to the overall cost to tune a piano. Essentially, understanding how professional service price fluctuates is similar to comprehending any other teachable skill. Judging by the same analogy, the more one practices, the less adjustment is necessary.

An athlete who frequently conditions oneself requires less adjustment in terms of acquiring a faster muscle memory. Hence, a piano that is frequently tuned by the owner requires lesser adjustments from the professional tuner. It can easily pick up the right sound after a few tweaks. The least average cost that professional tuners would charge is around $60 to $75.

Apart from the obvious discount potential, one may gain from frequent tuning, there are other significant benefits one can acquire from the habit. Back in the old days, piano owners were able to pass their priced musical instrument down to several generations. Anyone curious enough to figure out as to how it was possible is that these owners spend a great deal of idle time in this mundane pastime. Regularly tuned pianos have a very extensive performance lifespan.

How Stable Is The Environment?

In line with the previous discussion above, conventional wisdom dictates that ‘imperfect tuning is better than no tuning.’ But given the significant amount of time an owner would invest in doing the tuning himself/herself, how come they seldom acquire the perfect pitch? Given this assumption, the problem may not necessarily point to the owner who does things right. At times, the instability is found in the environment.

The conditions of the immediate environment could mess around with the ambiance or even the material components of the piano. Hence, the average cost to get a piano tuned could increase based on the very need to modify the surroundings.

Some of the advanced solutions professional tuners would recommend for owners who are really bothered by the lack of improvement after basic tuning include installing a humidity control systems. With the dryness or moisture in the air affecting the sound of the strings, a humidity control system adjusts the air moisture level to create a precisely balanced tune.

Humidity control systems installed in a grand piano could reach as much as $700. But for a vertical piano, the lowest price range drops down to $320. Some professional tuners also know how to customize the settings of the humidity control systems.

Average Piano Cost

Another factor that greatly affects the piano tuning price has a lot to do with the quality of the piano itself. Meticulous musicians who have enough money to spare would always choose the more expensive original brands. Simply put it, prominent brands have paid a great deal of attention to the details in manufacturing instruments that allow them to stay in tune longer quite than a lower quality variety.

But contrary to popular misconception, brand emphasis is not the exactly same as acquiring a brand new piano. Instruments that are fresh from the assembly line require a heap load of adjustments. The strings of a brand new piano are relatively inflexible and require a certain amount of time to be manually adjusted with comparative ease. Hence, the cost to tune a piano that was newly manufactured could be significantly higher than original brands that have stayed in living rooms for as long as a decade.

Ultimately, the most favorable variety is the ‘old but gold.’ This is why pianos that have been passed over from one generation to another are very durable and cost efficient, as far as its repairs are concerned.

How Often Do You Play Your Piano?

There are some owners who merely display their piano in the living room and seldom touch the keyboards. But there are also other owners who practice almost on a daily basis. In fact, some serious practitioners often have the tendency to overdo their performance and damage their instrument.

One of the last factors that may contribute to the overall piano tuning price is the frequency of its use. What happens when owners keep on pressing the keys is that the strings keep on stretching and eventually loosens up.  

Hence, the more the owner plays the instrument, the more increased the rate of occurrence of the adjustments is required. Some professional tuners often recommend raising the pitch. Unlike conventional tuning procedures, a ‘pitch-raise’ is considered to be more advanced. The price for this significant improvement could exceed no more than $150. Some professional tuners, however, may even offer this configuration for free.

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