You can tune with an A 440 tuning fork. You don't need apps and electronic tuning devices. Most serious pianist want aurial tuning no electronics. I had an electronic tuning fork by Hale and tuned my college piano teachers harpsichord she said I should learn to tune pianos. Well the one thing you must learn is how to set the pins so your piano don't go out of tune before you finish. I learned that on an old upright good thing I didn't charge for that experience. 73
@@ronb6182he did this by going slightly flat 1-2 cents and sharp then back to the 0 followed by a solid blow to equalise the string and the non speaking parts
Thanks for your wonderful videos! I appreciate you, I'm a piano technician started a month ago the first piano i tuned archer upright grand piano. It hadn't been tuned for 100 years took me 6 hours 30 minutes, first time from there i keep getting better and faster at tuning and by the 10th piano i tuned i could do it within 2 hours and 20 minutes you inspired me alot piano doctor keep up the good work
@RunnymedePianos-ee1kb On that particular piano it was written on the gold plate when it was last tuned and the guy name who tuned it but even though A piano technician typically leaves a note inside the piano or on the piano bench stating the date of the last tuning, often including the technician's name and contact information for future
I'm the activity director in a nursing home with a background as a musician. I can't wait to go and fix our pianos for the residents! Thanks for the instructions
As someone who apprenticed under a piano technician but was unable to finish my training due to a health situation, this video is very informative, valuable, and inspiring. I might look into trying to find another job/apprenticeship pertaining to piano tech work.
You don't know the first thing about tuning a piano. You don't tune all 3 strings on each note first. You insert a temperament strip which is a strip of which felt between each set if 3 strings. Then you only hear the middle string on each String and start by tuning the middle string on each note in the middle area. I better do a video and show everybody how to do it right. OMG!!!
@1drtexas I agree. Why would somebody think something can just be done differently? Just because it works doesn't mean it's right. It can only be right if it pertains to your experiences and the history of people around you! I mean come on it should be so obvious!! 😂
Wow this is probably the best video on how to tune a piano to a passable, amateur level. Beautifully stated information, well summarized. Your pedagogy is on point. Thank you!!
@@shedidntthinkthisthrough he mentions certain practices that professionals have to get the sound to sit in tune for longer and more precisely. A professional might tune the entire piano twice in one session for example. Professionals who tune by ear are more precise because they are taking into account the nuances in timbre difference, a skill that is only obtained thru practice and experience.
I appreciate this, anytime i ask on Facebook or my tuners about tuning. Everyone always essentially says don’t, well I’ve never done things like other people and I’d prefer to just start my journey.
Thanks I really appreciate this! As someone who does not have the money to get a professional piano tuner but still loves playing piano I really needed this.
OMG this was so good. My piano is too old and nobody wants to tune it so I learned myself, but now I dont't know how to "fix" the hammers. If you keep doing these videos I will watch them all. Many piano tuners act like they have a secret magic art, but I learned that this is not that complicated if you know how it works. Thank you!!!!
I am a piano technician and there is no magic. Just practice and skills development. Also I may be able to help. What is the issue with your hammers? It may be as simple as turning a screw.
Actually, it is a secret magic art. It’s called “having a musical ear”. And it is really VERY complicated. The short cuts are strictly emergency only - depending on the pianist’s level, of course.
@@wardropper Its basically just learning to hear beat rates and then its just a matter of comparing different intervals such as comparing the 3rd to the 10th. You can be tone deaf and still learn it. But practice is the really what it requires. No need to play the piano or even know the first thing about music. though those skills do help.
@@zackeryhardy9504 I think you overestimate the universal human capacity to “just compare different intervals”. If you are really tone deaf (which is actually pretty rare), you won’t be able to do that. Of course a tuning device can do the technical equivalent, but musical people are not technical devices. For the casual amateur keyboard player, even a clapped-out, discordant piano built 150 years ago will be fine in any home, just so long as it is a nice piece of furniture. People for whom the music is what matters, will notice the difference. Even different types of piano can require slightly different tunings, and that’s strictly for refined musical ears.
Thank you so much! I've been watching your videos for a while, and your content is inspiring and entertaining, but this one is also educational. I don't own a piano anymore, but I would have tried to tune it by myself if I had seen this video. I've always been curious about how to tune a piano. Thank you for this content ^^
A before and after would be nice. Anyhow, very good and informative. My friend is a tuner and restorer for Steinway and I now understand much better what he's up to.
I am not a professional tuner but I was taught the basics by an old pro that specialized in old restorations. He often came across an old piano with some tuning pegs that were loose and wouldn't hold.He would back them out about an inch then put a drop of automotive antifreeze on the threads. Then turn it back in and wait an hour or so. The antifreeze would swell the wood and tighten the tuning peg. Not sure if you have ever heard of this, but it worked every time. Just thought I would share it.
The theory makes sense, but adding something to cause the wood to swell can cause splits in the pinblock laminations. This is common with pianos that have come in contact with excessive humidity or flooding, but putting this right in that area could cause issues. It likely will not, but I personally find that thin CA glue does the trick decently well and there is always driving the pin in slightly deeper or if you don't have room just moving up to the next size of tuning pin.
You are kidding me right! Where did he park his horse? Where did he store his gun? Loose pins the only fix is a new bigger pins or better a full restring. If the plank has split then if the piano is worth it, then it’s a new plank!
@@RunnymedePianos-ee1kb Well that is the right and permanent way of fixing that problem. But there are plenty of pianos out there that have negative value and for what ever reason the family still wants it tuned and has no money for that amount of repair work and cannot afford a new instrument. Sometimes the jobs about just getting it through a few more tunings with the distinct warning that the treatment may not work for long or at all.
The app helps to reduce piano tuning work to tuning the unissons, meaning having the 3 strings of each note in tune. This video teaches how to tune unissons and you did it nicely. Behind the scene, the app has computed for you the equal temperament intervals, which is how 2 different notes must sound when played together. Having intervals in tune is the most difficult part to master in my opinion, it depends on each piano and the human ear. There are other mechanical considerations and many skills that take years to acquire. Piano technician is a much more complex job than what people think and it deserves to be well paid. I like your channel and videos of piano tuning, it shows how each piano has its history and needs specific attention to recover its original sound.
This is incredible! Thank you so much. I just finished reading “tuning, rebuilding, and servicing pianos.” I am not trying to be a career technician but I do work as a music teacher in a disfortunate neighborhood. This can help my ultimate goal of restoring their pianos!
You make geniunely great content for us piano enthusiasts! Chopin is my favourite and he made me absolutely fall in love with the instrument, it’s awesome to see how it really works.
Very clear and informative presentation! I'm a retired tuner/tech who didn't have a digital assistant so I did it the old fashioned way with a tuning fork and the circle of 4ths and 5ths. That works quite well, and uses the individual piano's characteristics, as well- but you have to have a good ear for pitch, and "beats". This device of course makes that WAY easier- wish I had that when I was tuning!
I remember seeing an amazing Chinese concert pianist in a recital here in Sydney. After playing her first piece, she took out a tuning lever and tuned up a couple of strings! I was so impressed! And now I can fix a couple of the noticeably out of tune strings on my piano, before my tuner’s next visit. Thank you so much!
I love the wall behind the piano. I have been amateur tuner for 50 years, and watch this and your short videos in order to get information about the action. I seldom do pitch raise, and mostly I correct only a few tones/strings as soon as humidity has warped the soundboard. The sound of a super-well-tuned piano is much more beautiful than one "common" piano. I also am happy to have a pro to regulate the action, but much more is needed. Oh - NB! this video is from yesterday! Wow! You have quite some audience. ❤
I've been tuning by ear with just an 8" tiny tuner that hurts my wrist for over a decade. It's usually a week-long project because of that. I definitely appreciate you sharing a proper and faster way to do it since in my older age, I value my hands a little more.
The cumulative force of the strings on a piano exerts roughly 16 tons of force, trying to compress the harp of the piano. Raising the pitch on a string 100 cents (one semitone) exerts roughly 12.2% more force. If your piano was, on average, 50 cents flat, the increase in tension to put it in tune will be about 5.9%. The effect of that additional force, makes the harp shorter. The first strings you tune up, won't have much effect on compressing the harp but the cumulative effect of all the strings will make a significant change. By the time you finish tuning all the strings, the first strings you tuned will be noticeably flat. I reckon it makes sense to do a quick estimation of how far out of tune the piano is, as a whole, before starting. If it's mostly close, with only a few notes being significantly out of tune, it makes sense to tune to the correct pitches. If the whole piano is seriously flat, it would make sense to tune slightly sharp, at least for the first part of the tuning process, during the first pass. JMO. PS, I'm not a piano tuner or piano tech.
Yet another brilliant commentary, thank you. Looks very strange when this guy goes note by note up in scale and then goes to lower range which strings have more compressing force than upper. That lead to detune of previously tuned keys. Notes need to be tuned in sparse by quarts and quints, using "wheel of 5ths" as reference. Like bolts on car wheel -- they aren't tighten side by side 🙂
Thanks to your videos, I was inspired and went through the PTA course and got certified. I joined the Guild and I’m starting up my own piano tuning business. Really glad I did because piano has always been my passion. So thanks very much for that😄. Anyways great video, got some great tips, and really glad to see that I’m doing everything right.
Dude... I just watched literally every single one of your videos. I've never been more inspired to get into piano tuning out of all things. Thank you so much, your content is so wholesome and amazing and I could watch you all day. Keep up the amazing amazing work man. ❤👍
Such great demostration and beginner friendly video course. I'm professional aural piano tuner and watched this from curiosity. I tune whole piano by ear, temperament included so this is quite different way to tune for me. Even for beginners, I'd recommend listening some intervals (octaves, fifths, fourths) as you go on, to get at least some idea about what they sound like. Maybe even try to tune with octaves. Tune temperament octave F3-F4 with tuning app and continue up and down with octaves by ear, and use app as reference. In theory octave tuning is pretty similiar to unison tuning, as in aim for pure sound. I'd like to note that tuning stability is actually one of the trickiest and challenging aspects of piano tuning. That is achieved with so called "tuning hammer technique". Learning to hear right things is relatively easy, but getting your hammer technique and control so solid that you can tune *any* piano in ~2 hours to hold tune perfectly requires so much experience. And grand piano requires it's own hammer technique. I'd say it takes many years, many different pianos and hundreds of tunings. Also, hammer technique is pretty personal thing, every professional tuner developes their own preferred technique. For example I don't use such impact/nudging technique that piano doctor uses in this video. My technique uses aural cues and with smoother movements, going over and under from target pitch, and getting pin to position where I can go over the target pitch just right amount to ensure string is going to be stable, and not go flat or sharp afterwards. Accuracy doesn't mean a thing if you can't make a completely stable tuning.
Yeah, I thought I’d just try and tune my piano myself. I play guitar and fiddle and mandolin and can tune those pretty much by ear. But I think I’ll just pay a pro to tackle this box of strings. Never really thought it was quite so involved. Thank you for making things so absolutely clear and unambiguous. Maybe before I die I’ll try it once. But for now, I’ll find a pro. Wish you were in the area, I like your approach and willingness to share the craft instead of keeping it all a deep dark secret. Whatever you are running for, you have my vote.
When I was a child my mom would drag us to the library once per week. One week I found myself reading a piano tuning book. The author covered perfect tuning and different temperaments going back to Bach. This man would tune using just one fork for middle c. Then tune the other c’s to perfect tuning by ear. Then go through the circle of fifths by ear, first tuned perfect then tempering them by counting the beats. Each time he tuned a 5th he tuned the other keys of the same note.
You can use a guitar pick to tune the top octaves, or even another object like the cap of a pen. That way you pick the string directly, and you can do 2 in quick succession to listen for beats, that's what I do.
With guitar, if you overshoot the desired pitch, you tune down and always finish up to pitch. I wonder why it's different. This video was super instructive.
The piano tuning pins are generally very tight and the piano and its strings kind of have a memory. If you go a fraction sharp the pin and the string almost relaxes back to the right pitch. you hardly have to touch the lever to get this to happen. if you start flat and go to the correct pitch the string with drop slightly within a pretty short time.
Thanks for sharing this informational video with us, Piano Doctor! I'm going to practice my piano tuning on a piano that isn't in very good condition and is noticeably flat in some areas (around 100-150¢ flat, it needs a pitch raise). I don't want the strings to break, so I'll tune it to a lower reference pitch, maybe around A = 432 Hz or even lower. I might even tune it in a different temperament just to see how it sounds! It's not my main piano so it really doesn't matter.
Bro, this is amazing content and well articulated! I will continue to pay my piano tuner for now, as this is a very time consuming process, and I cannot afford to spend that much time on the piano (yet). That being said, this gives me the basis so I can tune my own piano later when life slows down a bit more. Thank you for dropping this gem!
I'm glad you made this video. I got a piano that despitely needs tuning - I want to get a professional tuner, but they aren't cheap (I can't really afford one, although I am willing to save for it) and there aren't too many that I came across in Philly - so I just said I would rather tune it m self. I followed 1 video before but it didn't do a good job at explaining how to get a good tuning or what app to use. This video was about an hour so it was kinda long, but it had everything I needed, and even though I'm not a pianist per se, I am a musician (violinist of 10 years) and I can clearly hear the beeping even in the lower registers so I can totally do a decent amateur tuning. Granted, I still need a professional piano tech because the piano has other problems - no problems that are extremely serious but they are concerning and they probably need to be fixed as soon as possible - but if I can do 4 or 5 decent tunings, it might make the professional's job a little easier to tune it properly as it won't be horribly out off tune. As for the other problems, I'm just gonna have to deal with that once I get there, but hey, that's what you get for getting a free piano I suppose, I just dealt with it because I already committed to getting it and somehow by the grace of God, there doesn't seem to be many problems with it other than 3 or 4 sticky keys from what I can see. There could be more, but as I said, nothing really that major. However, I digress, thank you for making this video. God bless.
Great work, and really wonderful tutorial, Josiah! Nice editing, proper detailing, and most importantly, the confidence this gives me to attempt my own tuning. I've been playing guitar for years, and can tune that by ear to within a few cents. I do not have perfect pitch, but when you've done something for so long, you just know. The fact you are so young doing this so well is remarkable. Would you say you have perfect pitch? It doesn't appear to be necessary the way you've described this process. Which is a blessing! Provided you can hear those osculation and volume discrepancies as you pointed out. Thank you for the free course!! 🙏
I like to use a strip of felt pushed between the sets of three strings to mute all the side strings of the middle octave at once (because I'm lazy). Then tune the entire octave, then fix the unisons. Also makes it easier if you wanted to tune by ear, so you can test all the intervals in that octave. On top of that my piano is a birdcage (overdamper) model, so moving the mutes around all the time gets quite time consuming :)
I love your videos and I love you too ❤ im a professional classical pianist composer and it's people like you who make me very happy and able 🙏😇 God richly bless you and your family. Love you from Florida USA 🥳
Your content really inspires me. I want to learn how to do this but I don’t know how to practice. I don’t know where to look or even have the space to put a piano anywhere. Any tips?
Hey Doc, just wanted to thank you for your kindness. I really am happy that people like you and me exist to share our experience without a commercial purpose. I strongly believe if mega compagnies would be more polite to each other and the main people we would definitely have a better world without greed. Great regards from Beglium xx A beginning piano tuner !
Awesome! I just packaged your order then saw this comment. Best of luck! It's a difficult thing to do (that's why I generally recommend hiring a professional piano tuner) but it's a fun challenge to take on. :)
@@PianoDoctor Quick update, I spent 3 hours doing pretty much everything you teached in the video. I believe it went pretty well since I can now play and it sounds fairly good and way better than before. I dropped the mutes quite often in between the strings and down the piano, but it's been my only real struggle. Thanks again for this video, it really really helped myself getting a new skill!
This video could not have been timed more perfectly. I've been looking at getting a piano after learning a bit on a crappy keyboard, but I don't want to drop several hundred dollars just to get it tuned every now and again.
bro you do it like less than one time a year, as a normal guy and nobody will notice that the piano is like a bit out of tune, you probably wont even notice i had a piano so i know
I am a piano-technician for 20 years. I see, you have such a technique for using the lever to set the pin in a way so it is stable. This is, what you must train every day. I didn’t see the whole video. Maybe you have pointed it. I also use an app (verituner) because of an ear-attack years ago. But I always, alsways check with the control-intervals (3rd, 6th, 10th, double-octave, and the 12th (octaveted 5th).) But I am at the point again, to tune by ear, compare the beatings etc. I learnt to hear only with my left ear.^^ The results are "gorgeous" (quote of my clients) I wonder how stable a tuning will be, by a person, who does this the first time. And: You can damage the pinblock if you are not carefully. Further: Every piano is different. I know pianos where you have to move the pin very far away over the tuning point to set the pin. And: To hear (or to judge) that two, resp. three strings a fully in tune, without any beating, is a very long training. Oh yes: Someone wrote it already: Would be nice to hear the piano before and after. Yes: Next year I’m going to make a tuning-video, to show how difficult it is and that it is a special job/craft(!) to tune a piano in up to 90 minutes in a stable way. This is no criticism, because I like to show my costumers how to tune a tone or two. They realize how difficult is it and they see, why a piano-tuner is it’s own profession. PS: Using an app and a tool-kit (both has some costs) won’t make a person to a good piano-tuner. You must control the action etc… That’s why you are not a tuner but a technician 😉 Keep up your work.
@@PianoDoctor Thank you very much for your kind words. I like it to tune pianos. I love it. It is a passion - my big passion. Don’t know if I am a great one. Would love to send an audio with before and after (pretuning an finetuning in 2 hours) It’s interesting how different (and sometimes difficult) every piano is. And there is not the only one tuning. I always look for the best compromise between a good octaveted 5th and a double-octave - maybe that’s the best way for a got stretch in high treble. In the Bass I hear only the partials. It’s quite rare that I tune in octaves in that section but with overtones (8:4; 6:3 etc.) - the other way for a good stretch. But I love to make people happy and they are, when I leave. They feel how I love it and how satisfying this work is for me. Next year I have to renew a Förster-Action, built in 1965. I'm looking forward. Next year I wanna make a Tuning-Vid. I would appreciate to have some contacts. You can get some impressions here^^ www.klavierstimmer-lars-grote.de/galerie/
I was a digital piano, church organ, synthesizer repair tech for 36 years. So naturally I gave it a shot tuning my Kawai GS-40 grand piano using an electronic tuner. The difficulty is setting the pins. When one turns the tuning pin, the metal flexes and twists at the top before it even moves in the wood. So one has to tune a bit sharp and then hammer back flat to remove that metal flex. If you don't, when the metal relaxes, the note will go out of tune. It was one of the most frustrating things to get the piano in tune and it only holds tune for a half an hour!
Wow! This was very in depth. I don't even own a piano and I watched the whole video. I kind of had this sense that if I didn't watch the whole thing, I'd be missing part of he story. My guitar teacher from long, long ago, taught me to tune my guitar using the same method that you described here, take the tune down low than nudge it above mo more than 2 cents than back it down to zero. Personally, I think that when I tune my guitar strings like that, it stays in tune longer. Tuning a 12 string is a bit more fun but, not nearly as laborious as tuning a piano Lol! Couple of questions. Is there a reason that you go from the middle and up then back to the middle and then down? Are the strings on a piano anchored to the sound board? Finally, when you work without your shoes on, have you ever dropped something on your foot/feet that just made you want to let out a really loud, 'Yeooow!"? Thanks for doing such great work and letting us tag along for the ride every now and then. It's obvious that you care very deeply about what you do.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could give us all a detailed list of the tools needed to completely clean a piano? That way we know how to carry out the cleaning phase with confidence in our ability to do a good job.
Thanks for the information on this video. Awesome job covering all the bases. Any chance maybe at some point you can tackle a pitch raise. I think that is something a lot of people struggle with, especially since its not tuning just getting the notes in the area of where they go
There is a “pitch raise” feature on the pro version of piano scope. Doing a pitch raise is out of the scope of this channel, but for now, tuning the piano multiple times like normal will get the job done! (That’s essentially what a pitch raise is… it just speeds up the process a tiny bit… but there is also a lot more risk of breaking strings if you’re a beginner)
This is great, I tune my harpsichord all the time…. You sneeze to loud and harpsichords need to be re-tuned. I have always been nervous about doing anything on my pianos, though. But, watching this I think I’m going to have to get some mutes, rewatch your video a few more times and try it out.
I watched the whole video through without any issues, honestly kind of enjoyed it, I can definitely see myself doing this several times a day. I also don't really mind the "beating" (which if you ask me should be called waving, but no one did, so 🤷🏿♀️) at least when all the strings had it equally, certain frequencies were significantly less enjoyable...
Hey there! I just came across your content today and I love the work that you do. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to start tuning? How did you find your first apprenticeship?
Nice video, thanks. Very helpful. It would help if you kept including the larger tuner app display throughout. Maybe even include an arrow pointing to the red bars and such. Not everyone has a large screen or good display.
Thank you for your video! Very helpful :D I was wondering: As a professional tuner, do you also have to make sure intervals are in tune? For example I can imagine octave keys causing beats if they're not in perfect relative pitch.
Thank you!! Just ordered your tuning kit. Excited to tune my piano on my own. Fingers crossed!
Respect for giving this out for free
Never Knew It Takes that long to tune a piano, Definitely worth the money that piano tuners charge❤
Piano tuners must be very patient people is my albeit superficial but well meant opinion! 🙂 ♩ ♩ ♩
You can tune with an A 440 tuning fork. You don't need apps and electronic tuning devices. Most serious pianist want aurial tuning no electronics. I had an electronic tuning fork by Hale and tuned my college piano teachers harpsichord she said I should learn to tune pianos. Well the one thing you must learn is how to set the pins so your piano don't go out of tune before you finish. I learned that on an old upright good thing I didn't charge for that experience. 73
When I tune the piano by ear It takes me 2 hours to tune
Absolutely
@@ronb6182he did this by going slightly flat 1-2 cents and sharp then back to the 0 followed by a solid blow to equalise the string and the non speaking parts
Thanks for your wonderful videos! I appreciate you, I'm a piano technician started a month ago the first piano i tuned archer upright grand piano. It hadn't been tuned for 100 years took me 6 hours 30 minutes, first time from there i keep getting better and faster at tuning and by the 10th piano i tuned i could do it within 2 hours and 20 minutes you inspired me alot piano doctor keep up the good work
That story resonates with a lot of piano tuners! That’s similar to how I started as well :)
@@PianoDoctorgood comment practice is valuable tool. 73
@@PianoDoctor Heh.... *resonates*
How can you be a piano technician and not know how to tune? How can you be certain a piano has not been tuned for 100 years?
@RunnymedePianos-ee1kb On that particular piano it was written on the gold plate when it was last tuned and the guy name who tuned it but even though A piano technician typically leaves a note inside the piano or on the piano bench stating the date of the last tuning, often including the technician's name and contact information for future
I'm the activity director in a nursing home with a background as a musician. I can't wait to go and fix our pianos for the residents! Thanks for the instructions
As someone who apprenticed under a piano technician but was unable to finish my training due to a health situation, this video is very informative, valuable, and inspiring. I might look into trying to find another job/apprenticeship pertaining to piano tech work.
Awesome! That’s what I like to hear :)
You don't know the first thing about tuning a piano. You don't tune all 3 strings on each note first. You insert a temperament strip which is a strip of which felt between each set if 3 strings. Then you only hear the middle string on each
String and start by tuning the middle string on each note in the middle area. I better do a video and show everybody how to do it right.
OMG!!!
@1drtexas I agree. Why would somebody think something can just be done differently? Just because it works doesn't mean it's right. It can only be right if it pertains to your experiences and the history of people around you! I mean come on it should be so obvious!! 😂
Wow this is probably the best video on how to tune a piano to a passable, amateur level. Beautifully stated information, well summarized. Your pedagogy is on point. Thank you!!
Would you mind sharing the difference between this and a professional level job? Aside from, as he said, being able to do it without the tuner.
@@shedidntthinkthisthrough he mentions certain practices that professionals have to get the sound to sit in tune for longer and more precisely. A professional might tune the entire piano twice in one session for example. Professionals who tune by ear are more precise because they are taking into account the nuances in timbre difference, a skill that is only obtained thru practice and experience.
@ this is so interesting to know, thank you!
I appreciate this, anytime i ask on Facebook or my tuners about tuning. Everyone always essentially says don’t, well I’ve never done things like other people and I’d prefer to just start my journey.
Thanks I really appreciate this! As someone who does not have the money to get a professional piano tuner but still loves playing piano I really needed this.
OMG this was so good. My piano is too old and nobody wants to tune it so I learned myself, but now I dont't know how to "fix" the hammers. If you keep doing these videos I will watch them all.
Many piano tuners act like they have a secret magic art, but I learned that this is not that complicated if you know how it works. Thank you!!!!
I am a piano technician and there is no magic. Just practice and skills development. Also I may be able to help. What is the issue with your hammers? It may be as simple as turning a screw.
Actually, it is a secret magic art. It’s called “having a musical ear”. And it is really VERY complicated. The short cuts are strictly emergency only - depending on the pianist’s level, of course.
@@wardropper Its basically just learning to hear beat rates and then its just a matter of comparing different intervals such as comparing the 3rd to the 10th. You can be tone deaf and still learn it. But practice is the really what it requires. No need to play the piano or even know the first thing about music. though those skills do help.
@@zackeryhardy9504 I think you overestimate the universal human capacity to “just compare different intervals”. If you are really tone deaf (which is actually pretty rare), you won’t be able to do that. Of course a tuning device can do the technical equivalent, but musical people are not technical devices. For the casual amateur keyboard player, even a clapped-out, discordant piano built 150 years ago will be fine in any home, just so long as it is a nice piece of furniture. People for whom the music is what matters, will notice the difference. Even different types of piano can require slightly different tunings, and that’s strictly for refined musical ears.
@@wardropper gatekeeping playing the piano is crazy
Thank you so much! I've been watching your videos for a while, and your content is inspiring and entertaining, but this one is also educational. I don't own a piano anymore, but I would have tried to tune it by myself if I had seen this video. I've always been curious about how to tune a piano. Thank you for this content ^^
A before and after would be nice. Anyhow, very good and informative. My friend is a tuner and restorer for Steinway and I now understand much better what he's up to.
I am not a professional tuner but I was taught the basics by an old pro that specialized in old restorations. He often came across an old piano with some tuning pegs that were loose and wouldn't hold.He would back them out about an inch then put a drop of automotive antifreeze on the threads. Then turn it back in and wait an hour or so. The antifreeze would swell the wood and tighten the tuning peg. Not sure if you have ever heard of this, but it worked every time. Just thought I would share it.
The theory makes sense, but adding something to cause the wood to swell can cause splits in the pinblock laminations. This is common with pianos that have come in contact with excessive humidity or flooding, but putting this right in that area could cause issues. It likely will not, but I personally find that thin CA glue does the trick decently well and there is always driving the pin in slightly deeper or if you don't have room just moving up to the next size of tuning pin.
You are kidding me right! Where did he park his horse? Where did he store his gun?
Loose pins the only fix is a new bigger pins or better a full restring. If the plank has split then if the piano is worth it, then it’s a new plank!
@@RunnymedePianos-ee1kb Well that is the right and permanent way of fixing that problem. But there are plenty of pianos out there that have negative value and for what ever reason the family still wants it tuned and has no money for that amount of repair work and cannot afford a new instrument. Sometimes the jobs about just getting it through a few more tunings with the distinct warning that the treatment may not work for long or at all.
The app helps to reduce piano tuning work to tuning the unissons, meaning having the 3 strings of each note in tune. This video teaches how to tune unissons and you did it nicely. Behind the scene, the app has computed for you the equal temperament intervals, which is how 2 different notes must sound when played together. Having intervals in tune is the most difficult part to master in my opinion, it depends on each piano and the human ear. There are other mechanical considerations and many skills that take years to acquire. Piano technician is a much more complex job than what people think and it deserves to be well paid. I like your channel and videos of piano tuning, it shows how each piano has its history and needs specific attention to recover its original sound.
This is incredible! Thank you so much. I just finished reading “tuning, rebuilding, and servicing pianos.” I am not trying to be a career technician but I do work as a music teacher in a disfortunate neighborhood. This can help my ultimate goal of restoring their pianos!
Amazing attitude! I love people like you. Best of luck :)
Find a college course ignore this guy!!!!
You make geniunely great content for us piano enthusiasts! Chopin is my favourite and he made me absolutely fall in love with the instrument, it’s awesome to see how it really works.
Beautifully done. Thank you so much for sharing.
Very clear and informative presentation! I'm a retired tuner/tech who didn't have a digital assistant so I did it the old fashioned way with a tuning fork and the circle of 4ths and 5ths. That works quite well, and uses the individual piano's characteristics, as well- but you have to have a good ear for pitch, and "beats". This device of course makes that WAY easier- wish I had that when I was tuning!
Only he misses out setting the tempered scale, gives awful advice, uses the wrong tools, and has awful technique.
Clear, straightforward, and brilliantly produced lecture! Thanks for sharing Mr. Jackson!
I remember seeing an amazing Chinese concert pianist in a recital here in Sydney. After playing her first piece, she took out a tuning lever and tuned up a couple of strings! I was so impressed! And now I can fix a couple of the noticeably out of tune strings on my piano, before my tuner’s next visit. Thank you so much!
At steinways we used to lock the pianos to stop pianists tampering with the pianos.
I love the wall behind the piano. I have been amateur tuner for 50 years, and watch this and your short videos in order to get information about the action. I seldom do pitch raise, and mostly I correct only a few tones/strings as soon as humidity has warped the soundboard. The sound of a super-well-tuned piano is much more beautiful than one "common" piano. I also am happy to have a pro to regulate the action, but much more is needed.
Oh - NB! this video is from yesterday! Wow! You have quite some audience. ❤
Excellent teaching here! Well done indeed. I’ve been tuning many years and these were the things I was taught!
Thank you so much! you are the reason I want to start tuning pianos
Wow! That means so much. it’s so hard to believe that I inspired someone I’ve technically never met… congratulations! Best of luck
@@PianoDoctor thank you!
@@PianoDoctorI’m also inspired because of you
I've been tuning by ear with just an 8" tiny tuner that hurts my wrist for over a decade. It's usually a week-long project because of that. I definitely appreciate you sharing a proper and faster way to do it since in my older age, I value my hands a little more.
The cumulative force of the strings on a piano exerts roughly 16 tons of force, trying to compress the harp of the piano. Raising the pitch on a string 100 cents (one semitone) exerts roughly 12.2% more force. If your piano was, on average, 50 cents flat, the increase in tension to put it in tune will be about 5.9%. The effect of that additional force, makes the harp shorter. The first strings you tune up, won't have much effect on compressing the harp but the cumulative effect of all the strings will make a significant change. By the time you finish tuning all the strings, the first strings you tuned will be noticeably flat.
I reckon it makes sense to do a quick estimation of how far out of tune the piano is, as a whole, before starting. If it's mostly close, with only a few notes being significantly out of tune, it makes sense to tune to the correct pitches. If the whole piano is seriously flat, it would make sense to tune slightly sharp, at least for the first part of the tuning process, during the first pass. JMO. PS, I'm not a piano tuner or piano tech.
Yet another brilliant commentary, thank you. Looks very strange when this guy goes note by note up in scale and then goes to lower range which strings have more compressing force than upper. That lead to detune of previously tuned keys. Notes need to be tuned in sparse by quarts and quints, using "wheel of 5ths" as reference. Like bolts on car wheel -- they aren't tighten side by side 🙂
@@theMerzavets Yes, but this is a video for an amateur tuning, as he doesn't do 4:3 6:5 tuning or octave stretching for the upper strings.
@@theMerzavetsAre you sure? I notice that the higher strings on my guitar exert way more tension force then the lower bass strings.
Thanks to your videos, I was inspired and went through the PTA course and got certified. I joined the Guild and I’m starting up my own piano tuning business. Really glad I did because piano has always been my passion. So thanks very much for that😄. Anyways great video, got some great tips, and really glad to see that I’m doing everything right.
Dude!! That’s so awesome to hear :)
Thanks! Definitely excited😄
Dude... I just watched literally every single one of your videos. I've never been more inspired to get into piano tuning out of all things. Thank you so much, your content is so wholesome and amazing and I could watch you all day. Keep up the amazing amazing work man. ❤👍
This comment!! Thank you so much. People like YOU inspire me :)
Thank you for this tutorial. Viewed several other similar tuning videos and yours is the most helpful and informative.
Such great demostration and beginner friendly video course. I'm professional aural piano tuner and watched this from curiosity. I tune whole piano by ear, temperament included so this is quite different way to tune for me. Even for beginners, I'd recommend listening some intervals (octaves, fifths, fourths) as you go on, to get at least some idea about what they sound like. Maybe even try to tune with octaves. Tune temperament octave F3-F4 with tuning app and continue up and down with octaves by ear, and use app as reference. In theory octave tuning is pretty similiar to unison tuning, as in aim for pure sound.
I'd like to note that tuning stability is actually one of the trickiest and challenging aspects of piano tuning. That is achieved with so called "tuning hammer technique". Learning to hear right things is relatively easy, but getting your hammer technique and control so solid that you can tune *any* piano in ~2 hours to hold tune perfectly requires so much experience. And grand piano requires it's own hammer technique. I'd say it takes many years, many different pianos and hundreds of tunings. Also, hammer technique is pretty personal thing, every professional tuner developes their own preferred technique. For example I don't use such impact/nudging technique that piano doctor uses in this video. My technique uses aural cues and with smoother movements, going over and under from target pitch, and getting pin to position where I can go over the target pitch just right amount to ensure string is going to be stable, and not go flat or sharp afterwards. Accuracy doesn't mean a thing if you can't make a completely stable tuning.
Yeah, I thought I’d just try and tune my piano myself. I play guitar and fiddle and mandolin and can tune those pretty much by ear. But I think I’ll just pay a pro to tackle this box of strings. Never really thought it was quite so involved. Thank you for making things so absolutely clear and unambiguous. Maybe before I die I’ll try it once. But for now, I’ll find a pro. Wish you were in the area, I like your approach and willingness to share the craft instead of keeping it all a deep dark secret. Whatever you are running for, you have my vote.
When I was a child my mom would drag us to the library once per week. One week I found myself reading a piano tuning book. The author covered perfect tuning and different temperaments going back to Bach. This man would tune using just one fork for middle c. Then tune the other c’s to perfect tuning by ear. Then go through the circle of fifths by ear, first tuned perfect then tempering them by counting the beats. Each time he tuned a 5th he tuned the other keys of the same note.
You're an absolute legend for making a video about this. Thank you very much!
saludos desde Argentina. You are the reason i take courage to tune my piano, by my self.
This is the perfect video to come across my feed rn.
This is fantastic and so appreciated. Thank you.
You play Golden Hour so well on the short videos about tuning the pianos. 🤩
You can use a guitar pick to tune the top octaves, or even another object like the cap of a pen. That way you pick the string directly, and you can do 2 in quick succession to listen for beats, that's what I do.
You guys earn your money! Also: this is the best such video out there.
Absolutely love and enjoy your videos. Respect for all your hard work!
Regards from Saudi Arabia.
With guitar, if you overshoot the desired pitch, you tune down and always finish up to pitch. I wonder why it's different. This video was super instructive.
The piano tuning pins are generally very tight and the piano and its strings kind of have a memory. If you go a fraction sharp the pin and the string almost relaxes back to the right pitch. you hardly have to touch the lever to get this to happen. if you start flat and go to the correct pitch the string with drop slightly within a pretty short time.
My guess is because of the truss system.
Your channes is litterally the best! Now (hopefully) i could tune my piabo by myself. Thank you soo much man!
Awesome video! I'd love to see something similar on the mechanics, lubrication, etc
Thanks for sharing this informational video with us, Piano Doctor! I'm going to practice my piano tuning on a piano that isn't in very good condition and is noticeably flat in some areas (around 100-150¢ flat, it needs a pitch raise). I don't want the strings to break, so I'll tune it to a lower reference pitch, maybe around A = 432 Hz or even lower. I might even tune it in a different temperament just to see how it sounds! It's not my main piano so it really doesn't matter.
I'm very happy to be this early, I love your content so much, hope you the best
Bro, this is amazing content and well articulated! I will continue to pay my piano tuner for now, as this is a very time consuming process, and I cannot afford to spend that much time on the piano (yet). That being said, this gives me the basis so I can tune my own piano later when life slows down a bit more. Thank you for dropping this gem!
I'm glad you made this video. I got a piano that despitely needs tuning - I want to get a professional tuner, but they aren't cheap (I can't really afford one, although I am willing to save for it) and there aren't too many that I came across in Philly - so I just said I would rather tune it m self. I followed 1 video before but it didn't do a good job at explaining how to get a good tuning or what app to use. This video was about an hour so it was kinda long, but it had everything I needed, and even though I'm not a pianist per se, I am a musician (violinist of 10 years) and I can clearly hear the beeping even in the lower registers so I can totally do a decent amateur tuning. Granted, I still need a professional piano tech because the piano has other problems - no problems that are extremely serious but they are concerning and they probably need to be fixed as soon as possible - but if I can do 4 or 5 decent tunings, it might make the professional's job a little easier to tune it properly as it won't be horribly out off tune. As for the other problems, I'm just gonna have to deal with that once I get there, but hey, that's what you get for getting a free piano I suppose, I just dealt with it because I already committed to getting it and somehow by the grace of God, there doesn't seem to be many problems with it other than 3 or 4 sticky keys from what I can see. There could be more, but as I said, nothing really that major.
However, I digress, thank you for making this video. God bless.
Awesome! I made this video to help out people just like you :)
Great work, and really wonderful tutorial, Josiah! Nice editing, proper detailing, and most importantly, the confidence this gives me to attempt my own tuning. I've been playing guitar for years, and can tune that by ear to within a few cents. I do not have perfect pitch, but when you've done something for so long, you just know. The fact you are so young doing this so well is remarkable. Would you say you have perfect pitch? It doesn't appear to be necessary the way you've described this process. Which is a blessing! Provided you can hear those osculation and volume discrepancies as you pointed out. Thank you for the free course!! 🙏
Hi! Glad you like this video. I don't have perfect pitch. It's just something anyone can train their ear to do well with enough practice. :)
Your channel has been very inspirational for me and i have already started repairing a piano myself so i can learn what you do.
I’ve always just known when my guitar was in tune. I now realize that I was hearing the beating that you described. Thank you!
Studying to be a piano tech right now so this couldn’t have been more perfect timing
I like to use a strip of felt pushed between the sets of three strings to mute all the side strings of the middle octave at once (because I'm lazy). Then tune the entire octave, then fix the unisons. Also makes it easier if you wanted to tune by ear, so you can test all the intervals in that octave. On top of that my piano is a birdcage (overdamper) model, so moving the mutes around all the time gets quite time consuming :)
You got my attention! I have a 100 year old Packard upright in my living room. Dabble a bit, but not a piano player. Thanks!
I love your videos and I love you too ❤ im a professional classical pianist composer and it's people like you who make me very happy and able 🙏😇 God richly bless you and your family. Love you from Florida USA 🥳
Your content really inspires me. I want to learn how to do this but I don’t know how to practice. I don’t know where to look or even have the space to put a piano anywhere. Any tips?
Thank you alot! I have been looking for a video like this.
Hey Doc, just wanted to thank you for your kindness. I really am happy that people like you and me exist to share our experience without a commercial purpose. I strongly believe if mega compagnies would be more polite to each other and the main people we would definitely have a better world without greed.
Great regards from Beglium xx
A beginning piano tuner !
Thank you again for the reference quality video! I’ll be using it many times!
I just bought you tuning kit from your website. I can't wait to try it out.
Awesome! I just packaged your order then saw this comment. Best of luck! It's a difficult thing to do (that's why I generally recommend hiring a professional piano tuner) but it's a fun challenge to take on. :)
@@PianoDoctor Quick update, I spent 3 hours doing pretty much everything you teached in the video. I believe it went pretty well since I can now play and it sounds fairly good and way better than before. I dropped the mutes quite often in between the strings and down the piano, but it's been my only real struggle. Thanks again for this video, it really really helped myself getting a new skill!
This video could not have been timed more perfectly. I've been looking at getting a piano after learning a bit on a crappy keyboard, but I don't want to drop several hundred dollars just to get it tuned every now and again.
bro you do it like less than one time a year, as a normal guy and nobody will notice that the piano is like a bit out of tune, you probably wont even notice
i had a piano so i know
ty for making this video!! its very intuitive, i love it 💙
Finally!! The video Ive been waiting for
I am a piano-technician for 20 years. I see, you have such a technique for using the lever to set the pin in a way so it is stable. This is, what you must train every day. I didn’t see the whole video. Maybe you have pointed it.
I also use an app (verituner) because of an ear-attack years ago.
But I always, alsways check with the control-intervals (3rd, 6th, 10th, double-octave, and the 12th (octaveted 5th).)
But I am at the point again, to tune by ear, compare the beatings etc. I learnt to hear only with my left ear.^^ The results are "gorgeous" (quote of my clients)
I wonder how stable a tuning will be, by a person, who does this the first time.
And: You can damage the pinblock if you are not carefully.
Further: Every piano is different. I know pianos where you have to move the pin very far away over the tuning point to set the pin.
And: To hear (or to judge) that two, resp. three strings a fully in tune, without any beating, is a very long training.
Oh yes: Someone wrote it already: Would be nice to hear the piano before and after.
Yes: Next year I’m going to make a tuning-video, to show how difficult it is and that it is a special job/craft(!) to tune a piano in up to 90 minutes in a stable way.
This is no criticism, because I like to show my costumers how to tune a tone or two. They realize how difficult is it and they see, why a piano-tuner is it’s own profession.
PS: Using an app and a tool-kit (both has some costs) won’t make a person to a good piano-tuner. You must control the action etc…
That’s why you are not a tuner but a technician 😉
Keep up your work.
All great remarks! I agree with all of that :)You sound like a great tuner btw
@@PianoDoctor Thank you very much for your kind words.
I like it to tune pianos. I love it. It is a passion - my big passion.
Don’t know if I am a great one. Would love to send an audio with before and after (pretuning an finetuning in 2 hours)
It’s interesting how different (and sometimes difficult) every piano is. And there is not the only one tuning. I always look for the best compromise between a good octaveted 5th and a double-octave - maybe that’s the best way for a got stretch in high treble.
In the Bass I hear only the partials. It’s quite rare that I tune in octaves in that section but with overtones (8:4; 6:3 etc.) - the other way for a good stretch.
But I love to make people happy and they are, when I leave.
They feel how I love it and how satisfying this work is for me.
Next year I have to renew a Förster-Action, built in 1965. I'm looking forward.
Next year I wanna make a Tuning-Vid.
I would appreciate to have some contacts.
You can get some impressions here^^
www.klavierstimmer-lars-grote.de/galerie/
PS: “SickNick1998” I my very old name. I will have a better name in account soon
Thanks a lot for your very helpfull work!🎹🎵🎶😀
Greetings from North Germany
I was a digital piano, church organ, synthesizer repair tech for 36 years. So naturally I gave it a shot tuning my Kawai GS-40 grand piano using an electronic tuner. The difficulty is setting the pins. When one turns the tuning pin, the metal flexes and twists at the top before it even moves in the wood. So one has to tune a bit sharp and then hammer back flat to remove that metal flex. If you don't, when the metal relaxes, the note will go out of tune. It was one of the most frustrating things to get the piano in tune and it only holds tune for a half an hour!
Wow! This was very in depth. I don't even own a piano and I watched the whole video. I kind of had this sense that if I didn't watch the whole thing, I'd be missing part of he story. My guitar teacher from long, long ago, taught me to tune my guitar using the same method that you described here, take the tune down low than nudge it above mo more than 2 cents than back it down to zero. Personally, I think that when I tune my guitar strings like that, it stays in tune longer. Tuning a 12 string is a bit more fun but, not nearly as laborious as tuning a piano Lol! Couple of questions. Is there a reason that you go from the middle and up then back to the middle and then down? Are the strings on a piano anchored to the sound board? Finally, when you work without your shoes on, have you ever dropped something on your foot/feet that just made you want to let out a really loud, 'Yeooow!"? Thanks for doing such great work and letting us tag along for the ride every now and then. It's obvious that you care very deeply about what you do.
Wouldn't it be nice if you could give us all a detailed list of the tools needed to completely clean a piano? That way we know how to carry out the cleaning phase with confidence in our ability to do a good job.
I don't know what i'm doing here, I dont even have a piano.
@@RenanRischiottomake sense
me too😂
I have an electric one. No need for a tuner
I’ll sell you mine.
Ha😂😂
Tuning is an art. Every instrument is different with it s difficulties. I know this because i am a tuner
It’s true. Doing great tunings is really difficult and takes years to master. Nice to meet a fellow tuner!
Thank u' so much for sharing this kind of treasure info, keep it up Sir...
Thanks for the information on this video. Awesome job covering all the bases. Any chance maybe at some point you can tackle a pitch raise. I think that is something a lot of people struggle with, especially since its not tuning just getting the notes in the area of where they go
There is a “pitch raise” feature on the pro version of piano scope. Doing a pitch raise is out of the scope of this channel, but for now, tuning the piano multiple times like normal will get the job done!
(That’s essentially what a pitch raise is… it just speeds up the process a tiny bit… but there is also a lot more risk of breaking strings if you’re a beginner)
This is great, I tune my harpsichord all the time…. You sneeze to loud and harpsichords need to be re-tuned. I have always been nervous about doing anything on my pianos, though. But, watching this I think I’m going to have to get some mutes, rewatch your video a few more times and try it out.
Fantastic explanation. Thank you!
great work!
I watched the whole video through without any issues, honestly kind of enjoyed it, I can definitely see myself doing this several times a day. I also don't really mind the "beating" (which if you ask me should be called waving, but no one did, so 🤷🏿♀️) at least when all the strings had it equally, certain frequencies were significantly less enjoyable...
Pull up past and drop it down to desired pitch.. that's the opposite of what you would do tuning a guitar. Interesting. Definitely good to know 😊
Hey there! I just came across your content today and I love the work that you do. Do you have any advice for someone who wants to start tuning? How did you find your first apprenticeship?
Great tutorial!!
Thankyou so much! I recently picked up an upright that hasn't been tuned since 1968...😬 I'm sure I'll be working on it for awhile
Wow this is awesome, thank you very much for this video God bless!
The best video. God teaching
Man I've never been able to hear those beats until now. Gotta go play my piano to hear it in person now.
Can you make a video on detaching and re attaching pedal rods when taking out the action?
I never played any musical instruments and thought that I do not have good hearing, but i hear beat:) thanks for the video.
Thank you for this from one Josiah Jackson to another
Wait, actually? That’s awesome
Just moved mine literally yesterday and I’m gonna do this, thanks!
This really helped with my grand piano in my basement. I hope to see more instructional and helpful videos like this in the future!❤
This video couldn't come out on a better time
Great editing too- that was so cool cutting out of the video like that! 19:27
My piano now sounds so much better thank you❤
I finally understand how to tune my clarinet. Thank you!
I always hold the lever horizontal, because then you can use the leverage from the edge of the top of the piano.
Excellent video, thank you
There are no good tuners in my country…so thank you very much.
Thanks for doing that video
knowing how to tune a harp certainly helps understanding this. :D
Nice video, thanks. Very helpful. It would help if you kept including the larger tuner app display throughout. Maybe even include an arrow pointing to the red bars and such. Not everyone has a large screen or good display.
Great video! I love seeing all these old piano tuners getting triggered 😂
Thank you for your video! Very helpful :D
I was wondering: As a professional tuner, do you also have to make sure intervals are in tune? For example I can imagine octave keys causing beats if they're not in perfect relative pitch.
super talented
I don’t have a piano anymore and don’t plan on getting into tuning so idk why I’m watching this, but here we are 😂😅 This is a really great course