After buying a piano

Congratulations on acquiring a new/used piano!

The first thing you will notice about having an acoustic piano is that your home will soon be filled with a lot of noise music.  Here’s what to expect after coming into possession of a piano:

Moving

If you need a mover, the quotation price depends on:

-Whether the pickup or delivery location has steps

-Whether an elevator is required

-How far apart the pickup and delivery locations are

-What type of piano (upright or grand) and how heavy the piano is

Tuning/Maintenance

After you have moved the piano to its new home, it will require a tuning.  Call your local tuner or even better, piano technician (they can fix any technical problems that arise).  Generally, pianos should be tuned twice a year, but considering how it costs approximately $100 per tuning, it can get pretty expensive.  The need for tuning depends on the temperature or climate changes and how much you play.  Most piano owners get away with tuning once every few years, especially if the piano environment is stable and they play less than 4 hours a day.

New Pianos: The strings for new pianos may not have been properly stretched yet, so they tend to lose their tuning faster.  Piano technicians recommend tuning quarterly for the first year and then twice a year after that.  Most piano stores offer free tuning services for the first one or two times, so take advantage of that.

Used Pianos: Call a tuner or technician to tune your piano once it has arrived at your house.  Over time, pianos acquire a lot of dust, debris and wear-and-tear, as well as random objects that may fall in between the cracks of the keys or other crevices (I have heard stories of even rat’s nests under the piano keys!).  If the piano has not been tuned in a long time, it will require a “pitch raise”, which means the strings were tuned, and then re-tuned to better hold their tune.

Where to put your piano

You will need to find a suitable place for your new piano. Consider the following to extend the life of your piano:

-Is the piano in an area of high traffic? Will this cause many distractions (ex. TV, computers, etc.)

-Will the temperature remain relatively stable?  Rapid and drastic temperature and humidity environments will cause the piano to go out of tune faster, and may affect the condition of the piano over time, resulting in expensive repairs. Consider investing in a Dampp-Chaser to regulate the humidity in your piano.

-Keep the piano away from direct sunlight. If this is impossible, keep a piano cover or blanket handy to keep the piano covered.

-Is there enough room to sit comfortably at the piano? You will need a piano bench that has room to move closer or further away from the piano. Some piano benches have the ability to move higher or lower, which is great for young beginners who find it difficult to reach the keys (the piano was built for full-size adults!)

The best place for the piano is against an inside wall, away from baseboard heat, air conditioning, and direct sunlight.