The Piano Tuner

City of Cornwall

Counties of Stormont, Dundas, Glengarry,Charlottenburgh, Prescott, Russell

For other destinations, please contact me.  If I am not within your area I can likely refer you to another member of the Piano Technician's Guild who could serve you more readily.

Some communities within my service area places such as:  Alexandria, Avonmore, Apple Hil, Alfred, Bainsville, Berwick, Bourget, Bonville, Cheney, Curry Hill, Crysler, Chesterville, Casselman, Clarence Creek, Dalhousie Mills, Dalhousie Station, Dalkeith, Dominionville, Dunvegan, Dunbar, Finch, Glen Walter, Green Valley, Hammond, Ingleside, Iroquois, Lancaster, L'Orignal, Limoges, Long Sault, Lunenburg, Lagan,  Lemieux, Lochiel,  Martintown, Mariatown, Moose Creek, Morrisburg, North Lunenburg, North Lancaster, Northfield, Newington, Osnabruck Centre, Plantagenet, Summerstown, St. Albert, St. Raphaels, South Mountain, St. Andrews, Tayside, Tyotown, Winchester, Winchester Springs, Williamsburg

Please note:  Fees include first-ever price increase effective Oct. 2007 

Tuning.......................................... $  83.33  (Plus tax = $90)

Pitch Raise and Tuning................ $120.37 (Plus tax = $130)

Regulating and Repair ................  $  50 / hour

White Keytop Replacement.......... $ 300

Assessment of piano for client...... $  60

Piano wires will slowly lose their tension over time. The average piano holds nearly twenty tons of string pressure when brought up to pitch (A440).  Many pianos that have not been tuned in about two years will have lost more than a ton of tension.  It is not an uncommon occurrence for piano tuners to encounter pianos that have not been tuned in many years.

As the piano is tuned from the bass section up through the treble section, the amount of tension added to the piano causes its components (soundboard, bridges and harp) to shift enough to cause the earlier tuned notes to now have dropped in pitch from where they were set. The 230 strings of the piano must then be re-tuned so that it will render the strings at their desired position. This is why the Pitch-Raise is also sometimes called a "Double-Tuning" and accounts for an additional labor charge. 

Most technicians will recommend that a regular tuning be done again within six weeks since the piano will settle-in to the new tension on its structure and it may need a fine tuning again.  It is imperative to do this if the player is a student since it is vital to have training of the ear, as well as the hands, early in the student's career. 

Pianos that have been tuned at least once per year typically do not require a significant Pitch Raise and this fact should guide piano owners in how often they should have their pianos tuned; at least once per year. It is optimal for pianos to be tuned each season but this is not practical for most piano owners. If pianos are tuned at least annually, owners bypass the slightly higher expense of having a Pitch Raise tuning and their pianos will stay in better shape, enjoying a longer life and bringing sweet sounds into the home on a continual basis.  A credo to follow is to tune the piano at least once per year, for the piano, and more often than this should a discerning player's taste demand it. 

Contact Mark at sixlarins@xplornet.com