How To Maintain Your Piano

Tuning is the most common maintenance you will do for your piano and will be done the most often. Do to seasonal changes and humidity swings I recommend a piano be tuned twice a year. Regulation is adjusting the action for optimal playability so that every note has the same feel. Voicing is adjusting the tone so it sounds evenly across the keyboard.

Piano Tuning

Tuning is the adjustment of tension of every string so that it vibrates at the correct pitch. There is close to 250 tuning pins and there are many things that can affect the pitch of a piano. This includes temperature and humidity levels, how hard the piano is played and the age and the condition of the piano. As you practice for your next concert or recital give me a call for a price quote on the cost of a piano tuning.

New pianos require more tunings in the first year because the wire is still stretching. It is good to not let the piano fall in pitch at this time and keep the tension of the wire where it needs to be. It will also be more stable in the long run to not let the tension of the wire fall to low. I run across pianos all the time that haven’t been tuned for years and it puts more stress on the instrument to bring it back to pitch. String breakage can happen and that runs into more cost for the customer.

Regulation

Regulation will need to be done to a piano once in a while to improve the feel. This involves adjusting the actions parts so that every note feels the same and is consistent across the keyboard. Being able to play loud and soft is important to the dynamics of the music being played. How often a piano needs regulations will depend on how often the piano is used and it’s age. Once every five years is a good guess for when a piano needs regulation. If it is used by students in an institution you might want to do this every year because it is being used more often.

Voicing

Voicing is the adjustment of tone so that it is even and gives every piano its own unique sound. The room can affect the sound of the piano. Some pianos are too bright on hard wood floors and need to be softened up a bit. This is done by working with the hammers so they are not hard as rocks and the hammers need to be aligned with the string so that they hit squarely.

Local Piano Dealers

Schmitt Music - This is a chain of piano stores that has a good reputation for sales and restorations. Having a large selection of new and used pianos for sale will give you much pleasure picking out your instrument. Talk to anyone of the salesmen for information on piano movers and piano teacher in your area. If I was going to buy a new or used Yamaha piano today I would find a cow path in Kansas City and head out to Schmitt Music in Overland Park KS. I love to tune Yamaha and Steinway pianos so give me a call for an estimate on piano tuning cost.

Meyer Music - A family owned piano store that caries a full line of  band and orchestra instruments. They have a large selection of sheet music and also give piano lessons. I own a Kawai piano and think every cowboy and cowgirl should own one.

The Toon Shop - A well established piano store in Kansas City that offers piano sales and rentals. If your looking for a piano teacher that is highly trained just saddle up your horse and ride out to The Toon Shop in Prairie Village KS to sign up for lessons.

Vaccaro's Piano & Organ - Vaccaro’s is going out of business and has a large selection of quality name brand pianos. You might call me crazy but you will find the best deals on new or used Baldwin pianos here.

Mid-America Piano - A piano dealer with a reputation for having a large selection of new and used pianos for sale. You will get into a new piano for a very reasonable price while they sell your old piano for you. I’ve done work for Mid-America and think there a wonderful company to do business with.

Piano Teachers Information Sites

Kansas City Music Teachers Association - KCMTA is professional piano teachers from the Kansas City area. For piano lessons you can search by zip code to find a teacher in your area. For all you little Buckaroos this is a great place to find a piano teacher.

Mobile Music Teachers - It could be so convenient to take your piano lesson at home. A team of 15 music teachers give at home piano lessons in the Kansas City area.
 

Alice Hansen Piano Studio - Dr. Alice Hansen is a devoted piano teacher who has many students that have won awards. Located in Kansas City, MO Alice would be a great choice for a piano teacher.

PrivateLessons.com - Find a piano teacher by entering the zip code for any city in the USA and you could win a free vacation.

PianoTeachers.com - This site is a large resource of piano teachers where you can look up by State. A lightning bug just flew up my nose and I found me a piano teacher.

Piano Teachers Directory - Find someone that is highly recommended from the largest directory of piano teachers in the USA.

Local Piano Movers in Kansas City

Gerber Moving and Storage - Moving pianos and organs using appropriate dollies your piano is safe and secure during transportation. I would trust Gerber to move my piano and many of the local piano dealers use Gerber for their piano moving needs.

Piano Movers Kansas City - Special care is taken with padding and blankets to protect your piano when moving. Using the best piano moving equipment your piano is delivered in perfect condition.

Arbuckle Music - I’ve known Roger Arbuckle for a long time and he can do a good job moving your piano. Arbuckle Music is known for piano rentals in the Kansas City area. Roger has a Yamaha grand piano that George Burns once autographed that he would love to rent to you.

Precision Piano Moving - A piano moving company in Kansas City that moves for most of the piano dealers in town.
 

Piano Movers Network - A complete directory of professional piano movers listed by location. Some of the listings have e-mail and web site addresses.
 

Piano Pro Moving and Storage - The best piano moving company for moving your family heirloom. This could be the place if your moving to Kansas City.
 

Vienna Piano Company - With 25 years of experience how can we go wrong moving pianos. We will sell a reconditioned used piano to anyone with a bank account.

Servicing The Greater Kansas City Area

Durand Piano Service

(816) 587-9970

ddurand@kc.rr.com

Daryl Durand is a Registered Piano Technician servicing the Greater Kansas City Area since 1980. Quality professional service in piano tuning, action regulation, voicing, piano cleaning, on site  repairs and Damp Chaser Humidity Systems installation. Daryl has been a member of The Piano Technicians Guild since 1993 and a registered technician since 1998.

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