How To Find A Good Piano Tuner

Piano tuning is an absolute necessity if you want your piano to work in optimum condition. Pianos can be used for as long as ten years, if protected with the proper maintenance. However, it is imperative to find the correct piano tuner, one who has plenty of experience and who charges at a rate you can afford. The best place to start looking for piano tuner with all these qualities is at a university that has a strong music program, or perhaps your local church provided that it has a vibrant and active music scene. Both institutions frequently have contacts to highly qualified tuners and can provide you with contact numbers. If you do not have access to neither church nor university then you can consult dealers that sell high-end pianos, as they may know people who are piano tuners. If you do not know any dealers, universities or churches, you can check the directory or the yellow pages for a piano tuner.

Once you have found a tuner you are interested in hiring, do not hesitate to ask him questions about how he or she does the job, for example, do they use electronic devices for aural tuning, or do they rely on their sense of hearing? It is imperative to have some idea of how he or she performs their job, as this tuner could potentially work on your piano and will charge you for it. Therefore, do not hesitate to ask questions that involve methods, devices and qualifications.

After you have established a clear picture of the tuner's methods, then you can proceed to discuss payment. Naturally, you want to take on a rate that you can afford, some tuners charge a flat rate, others by the hour. It is usually preferable to go with a flat rate for several reasons. Depending on the condition of your piano, tuning can take several hours and you may end up paying extra compared to the flat rate charge. Many tuners charge extra if there are other components of the piano that needs attention, such as hammer adjustments or balancing.  Therefore, it is always best to ask the tuner how much they would charge to fix the extra issues that need attention.