How To Care For Your Piano
What is the silent killer of acoustic pianos? Answer, humidity or in metropolitan Phoenix, the lack thereof. The acoustic piano has thousands of parts, many of them are wood and many of them are under extreme tension. The strings are exerting a total force of roughly 18 to 20 tons. (40,000 pounds) Each string is under 160 to 200 pounds of tension.
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All the wood in the piano is expanding and contracting with changes in humidity. If the humidity is low and changing drastically, the wood can crack in several places on the piano. Common cracks occur in the sound board and pinblock due to the extreme pressure these sections of the piano are under.
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To keep the soundboard, pinblock and other components from cracking in our very dry conditions in metropolitan Phoenix, it is best to keep your piano in a climate controlled environment that has a consistent humidity level between 40% to 50%.
Keeping the humidity in your house above 40% is a WIN! WIN! WIN!
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The ideal indoor relative humidity for the respiratory system is between 40% to 60%. This range keeps mucus membranes moist, aids in reducing respiratory infections, and inhibits the growth of bacteria and viruses.
The ideal indoor relative humidity for skin is also between 40% to 60% . At these indoor humidity levels, the skin in hydrated, soft, and pliable. When the levels fall below 30% the skin can become dry and crack.
By keeping the humidity level in your house between 40% to 50%, not only are you allowing for the best conditions for your piano, but you are also maintaining the best conditions for the respiratory system and skin for you, your loved ones, and pets.
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Humidistat (Hygrostat) and Hygrometer
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The key to keeping a consistent indoor humidity level above 40% is to have both a humidistat and a hygrometer.
Humidistat or Hygrostat is a controller that automatically regulates the humidity level on the humidifier. It is very important to have a humidifier that has a good humidistat that keeps the humidity level consistent.
Hygrometer measures and displays the current moisture level in the air. It is a good idea to have a Hygrometer placed in the center of the house to get a accurate reading of the relative humidity for the entire house.
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Dust
Another issue with pianos in metropolitan Phoenix is the large amount of dust in the air. Dust is corrosive and can not only affect the finish on the wood, but the tone quality and playing ability of the piano Dust settles on the hammers, dampeners, action parts, strings, soundboard, key bed and hundreds of other parts in the piano. Over time, the dust hardens and corrodes the felt in the piano. It can also corrode the strings, pins, and many other metal parts and the wood. This can drastically affect the tone quality and the playing ability of the piano.
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By keeping the piano clean by dusting the case of the piano regularly and having a piano technician clean the action and soundboard, you are not only preserving the outside appearance, but the overall quality of the piano.
Regular Biannual/ Annual Tuning
By tuning your piano twice a year or at least once a year, not only are you going to enjoy playing a piano that is in tune, but you are preventing a technician from having to do a major "pull" on the strings to get it in tune. Strings can break at any time. It is much more likely however, to have a string break that has to be drastically pulled to get in tune.
It is also unlikely that the piano will stay in tune for very long after it is tuned if it has been several years since the last tuning. It is very common for older pianos that haven't been tuned for many years to have loose pins or the pins are stuck in the pinblock. The technician will have to hammer in the pins, glue or (juice) the pins, or if they are stuck, carefully torque the pins loose from the pinblock. If none of these methods work, the pins will need to be replaced with a larger pin. (This is a major repair and cost prohibited on most older pianos.) In this instance, the piano will need to be tuned several times throughout the year in order to hold pitch.
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Tuning Pins
Ideally, tuning pins should hold at 80 to 120 inch pounds in the pinblock. New pianos often have pinblocks that hold pins at over 120 inch pounds. Pianos that have pinblocks that only hold pins at 50 to 80 inch pounds are considered marginal and will most likely need to be tuned more frequently. Pinblocks that hold pins below 40 inch pounds however, are likely to go out of tune very quickly. The amount of time it takes loose pins to slip and go out of tune depends on how loose the pin is, how often the piano is played, and the humidity level.
I let my customers know if the overall pinblock condition on their piano is at a good, marginal, or low level. If several or most of the pins in the pinblock are at a marginal or low level, the customer can decide what repair they would like done on the pin block for their piano to hopefully stay in tune for an extended period of time.
