Piano tuning: costs, intervals and care – the plain-language guide

An acoustic piano is a piece of furniture with 20 tonnes of string tension and a wooden heart that reacts to every weather. Whoever owns one (or wants to buy one) should know the running costs – here are the honest figures.

Why does a piano go out of tune at all?

The soundboard and the pin block are made of wood – and wood works with the humidity: in a damp summer it swells (pitch rises), in the heating season it shrinks (pitch falls). On top, new string wire stretches in the first years. So a piano goes out of tune even when nobody plays it – that is physics, not a defect.

What costs what?

Normal tuning (instrument is close to target pitch): approx. €100–150, depending on region and travel. Pitch raise needed (instrument sunk by a semitone or more, typical after years without care): the pull-up happens in two passes, together often €200–300. Small repairs (a sticking key, a squeaking pedal) the tuner often does alongside – by effort. Asking prices beforehand is customary and nobody finds it impolite.

How often to tune?

Home pianos: 1× a year as a solid base, 2× (after the start and end of the heating season) for demanding ears. After a move: wait 4–6 weeks until the instrument has adjusted to the new room climate – only then have it tuned, otherwise you pay twice. New pianos need 2–3 tunings in the first year because the strings are still settling.

The right placement – free care

Most of what keeps a piano healthy costs nothing: inner wall instead of outer wall, not right next to the radiator, no blazing sun, and humidity as stable as possible around 45–60 % (a €10 hygrometer shows it to you). Extreme fluctuations are the true enemy – long-term they can damage pin block and soundboard, and that then gets really expensive.

And the digital piano?

Needs none of all this: no tuning, no climate problem, no tuner appointment. Calculated over ten years that quickly makes a €1,500 difference – an argument often forgotten in the acoustic vs. digital trade-off. In return, the electronics of a digital piano age; well-kept brand devices, however, easily last 15–20 years.

📖 Read on