What's a pitch raise?

A piano has around 230 strings in it. Each string is under a different amount of tension, and controlling that tension is how we tune the string: tightening makes it go sharp, and loosening makes it go flat.

Most pairs of neighboring strings are actually one piano wire. One end is wound around a tuning pin, and it runs down the piano, around a hitch pin, and back up to another tuning pin. This means a big change to a string's tension can affect its neighbor.

All the strings also push against a wooden bridge that transmits their vibrations to the soundboard: a large, thin piece of wood that vibrates with the string, but more loudly. The soundboard pushes back on the strings, so a big change in a string's tension can change how the soundboard pushes back on the other strings, indirectly changing their tension.

A tuned piano is a balance of tensions. Small changes to each string are manageable, but big changes ripple out in unpredictable ways.

In a standard piano tuning, we make only small changes.

A piano that's farther out of tune needs bigger changes, so we do (at least) two tunings: first a rough tuning to get the piano close to where it should be, and then a second tuning after it's stabilized. Playing the piano in between helps to stabilize it. Give it a good shake!

Does your piano need a pitch raise?

Use this tool to find out if your piano is out of pitch. It's safe and easy to use.

If it says your piano needs a pitch correction, let's talk! If you don't play with other musicians, and you don't play along with recordings, we might be able to tune your piano to itself, without bringing it up to pitch.