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Piano Pages
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MYTH :
A piano stays in tune better if it is played regularly
Yes and no.
Any piano will go out of tune, just like any other instrument with tensioned strings. You cannot tune a piano once, and expect it to stay in tune for very long. The longest recommended tuning interval for a modern piano in good condition is 6 months. This is a remarkable length of time for any musical instrument with tensioned strings to stay reasonably in tune. What makes the piano go out of tune are changes in temperature and humidity, design factors in the instrument, and physical disturbances including playing the instrument. You can 'knock' any piano out of tune in a relatively short time if you play it hard enough. Most powerful concert pianists leave the instrument on which they have just performed, in a worse state of tuning than when they started.
The tuning condition of a piano is like lawn grass. Lawn grass gets better and better if you cut it and feed it, cut it and feed it.... So it is with the piano. The best thing is to play it and tune it, both as frequently as possible.
No two instruments are exactly alike, or in exactly the same place, so no two instruments have the same tuning stability.
Faults that can cause the instrument to fall out of tune rapidly include:
Being in an environment where there are large changes of temperature and humidity.
Loose wrest (tuning) pins
Damaged or cracked wrest plank (pin block)
Tuning without "setting the pin"
Damage or splitting in the bridges
Cracked iron frame
