How often should a piano be tuned? A guide for families

Updated 2026-11-14

Most piano makers say to tune a piano at least twice a year. A new piano needs more tunings in its first year. This page explains what the makers recommend, why pianos drift out of tune, and how a family can keep a piano steady.

What the makers and technicians say

The Piano Technicians Guild is an association of piano technicians. It sums up the advice this way: makers differ on the exact number, and they agree that a piano should be tuned at least two to four times a year.

Source	After the first year	In the first year
Piano Technicians Guild, summing up the makers	At least 2 to 4 times a year	3 to 4 times
Yamaha	At least twice a year	At least 4 times
Kawai	At least twice a year	At least 4 times
Steinway	At least every six months
Baldwin	At least twice a year	4 times

For a family piano, twice a year meets the minimum most makers give. Yamaha’s general guide says a piano needs tuning at least once a year to stay at the right pitch.

Why a new piano needs more

New strings stretch. The wooden parts settle. The Guild says the pitch of a new piano drops fast in its first couple of years. Extra tunings in that time help the piano reach a steady state.

A piano that has just been moved also has to adjust to its new room. Ask the technician when to book the first tuning.

Why pianos go out of tune

Playing is not the main cause. Weather is.

A piano has a large, thin sheet of wood inside, called the soundboard. Wood takes in moisture from the air.

In damp air, the soundboard swells. It pushes on the strings, and the pitch goes up.
In dry air, the soundboard shrinks. The strings slacken, and the pitch goes down.

Homes in cold places are dry in winter, when the heat is on, and damp in summer. A piano moves with each swing. The Guild says the drop in the dry season tends to be larger than the rise in the damp season. A piano that is left alone sinks lower in pitch each year.

Each string is pulled tight. Yamaha puts the load at about 90 kilograms for each string. Over time, strings stretch a little by themselves.

Where to put the piano

The Guild gives the best conditions as 68 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 20 degrees Celsius, and 42 percent relative humidity. The makers give ranges close to that.

Keep the piano out of direct sunlight.
Keep it away from heating vents, radiators, and air conditioners.
Try to hold the room’s humidity steady through the year. A small humidity gauge shows what the room is doing.

A humidifier in winter or a dehumidifier in summer helps in a hard climate. Steinway warns against putting a humidifier right beside the piano.

What happens if you wait too long

A piano that has gone years without a tuning sinks below the right pitch. It may need an extra step before a normal tuning. That step is called a pitch raise. It pulls all the strings up to about the right tension. A fine tuning follows, in the same visit or a later one. The Guild says a piano that has gone a long time without service needs more tunings before it holds.

This matters for a child in lessons. A piano that is flat sounds wrong beside a recording, a teacher’s piano, or another instrument.

Tuning is one of three jobs

Job	What it fixes	How often
Tuning	The pitch of the strings	At least twice a year
Regulation	The moving parts under the keys, so every key feels the same	Every few years. Ask the technician.
Voicing	The felt hammers, so the tone is even	When the tone turns harsh or uneven

Steinway’s plan for a piano played about an hour a day lists regulation and voicing every five years.

Signs that a piano needs tuning now

One note sounds like two notes that wobble against each other.
Chords that sounded sweet now sound sour.
The piano sounds low next to a recording of the same piece.
It has been more than a year.

Digital pianos

A digital piano has no strings. It does not need tuning. That is one reason families choose one for a beginner. Read piano or keyboard for a beginner: what to buy.

How to find a technician

Ask your child’s piano teacher who tunes their piano.
Search the Piano Technicians Guild’s list of members.
Ask what the visit includes and what it costs before you book.
Ask the technician how often this piano, in this room, needs tuning. The Guild says a technician can judge that from your use and your climate.

Book the next visit before the technician leaves. Tie the two visits to dates you will not forget, such as the start of school and the start of spring.