This is a very common question I get all the time. Pianos are very temperamental instruments and they need to be cared for fairly well in order to have a long life. That’s why it’s not surprising that popular wisdom has everyone thinking that as soon as you move a piano it has to be tuned. But is this really the case?
Keeping a piano in tune is a constant challenge. As I’ve stated in another video, there is actually no such thing as a perfectly tuned piano, it’s a fruitless pursuit. So does moving it really affect the tuning in a negative way?
The first thing you have to take into account is whether you are moving a piano across a room or to an entirely new location and environment. If you’re moving a piano across the room by pushing it you probably won’t need to tune it right away. We move pianos around our store every day and it doesn’t make them go out of tune. But what about if you are moving a piano with professional movers?
If you’ve never witnessed a professional piano move it’s quite a complicated process. It often requires 3 people or more, putting a piano on end on a grand board, loading it onto a truck, wrapping in blankets and securing it to the wall of the vehicle. If you have to move a piano from one location to another there is really no way of getting around it; you’ll need a professional piano mover. Risking injury to yourself or the piano is not worth saving the cost of a piano move.
But what about when the piano arrives at its new location? Will it automatically be out of tune? – not right away. The move is not what will make a piano go out of tune; it’s the new environment which will affect the instrument’s tuning. Today many piano trucks are climate controlled to help keep the stability of the instruments inside. Pianos used to be moved by horse and buggy and even this wouldn’t necessarily knock the piano out of tune. A long-term change in temperature or humidity is what will gradually make a piano go out of tune. Sometimes the piano can drop or raise in pitch and you might not even realize it. The most important thing for a piano is stability and if it drops in pitch it may take several tunings before it can become stable again.
So yes, if you are moving a piano from one location to another – no matter if it’s right down the street or across the country, it will eventually need to be tuned. However, you may not have to call your tuner right away. If there are no issues, you may let the piano sit and acclimate to its new environment for a few weeks before you get your first tuning. Tuning the piano sooner won’t harm it, but you will probably have to tune it again once the piano settles into its new location.
If you have any more questions about pianos or moving pianos please feel free to contact me. Thanks again for joining us, I’m Robert Estrin Robert@LivingPianos.com (949) 244-3729