Learn the Art of Piano Tuning 🎹 Tutorial for Do-It-Yourself-ers

In this piano tuning tutorial, you will learn the Art of Piano Tuning. This video series is perfect for a do-it-yourselfer. You will learn which piano tuning tools you will need & my piano tuning technique. Plus I recommend the most amazing piano tuning app that makes it so much easier!

BEFORE you attempt to tune your piano, it is highly recommended that you watch all the videos in this series.

Enjoy!
Paul Tobey

00:00 Learn the Art of Piano Tuning
00:58 Piano tuning hammer you will need
01:41 Get this PRO APP!
02:39 Start with middle C
04:02 It takes a bit of patience
04:37 You only want to hear a middle string
05:09 Grab your phone app
05:41 Find the middle pin
06:18 How to set the pin
07:00 Wack (quick release) it to even out the tension
08:32 Find middle pin
08:43 Set the pin
09:57 Be as close to zero as you can
10:40 BEFORE you attempt to tune your piano...
10:45 Watch all videos in this series!

PIANO TUNING TOOLS | YOU WILL NEED
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Piano Tuning Hammer
Piano Tuning felt strip (mute strip)
Piano Tuning app (one-time purchase - PLUS version $24.99 USD)
Piano tuning screwdriver
Piano tuning felts

RECOMMENDED PIANO TUNING APP
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WORK WITH PAUL
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Paul Tobey is a Multi-Award Winning Concert Jazz Pianist/Composer. He released 8 albums, has been featured in documentaries and is listed as a Jazz Master in jazz book editions. Once signed to Arkadia Jazz, Paul toured the world as a recording artist and was featured on stages such as at the Hague Jazz festival, the Yokohoma Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival to name but a few. Amongst his awards, he won "Jazz Educator of the Year" by the International Association of Jazz Educators, Pianist of the Year, Recording of the Year, and a Juno Nomination.

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If you’ve read this far, thank you for being such a great fan and subscriber. This is a NEW channel, so if you like it, support it AND HIT THAT THUMBS UP and SUBSCRIBE to the channel. I would be happy to be your new jazz piano teacher on your journey to becoming a better player.

JazzMentl is for JAZZ MUSICIANS!
"I am creating this content for you!" - Paul Tobey

BEFORE you attempt to tune your piano, it is highly recommended that you watch all the videos in this series.

#LearntheArtofPianoTuning
#PianoTuningTutorial

[lemmystop]

Finally! Someone got to the point... THANK YOU!

[johnwoodrow]

A suggestion. For a well maintained piano, try tuning left to right across the whole piano just using a single felt wedge mute. Unisons are tuned left string first to the ETD, then by ear middle to left, then right to both middle and left.
Advantages, no stuffing around with the mute strip. Moving the tuning hammer is a consistent zig-zag front to back then to the right front repeat pattern across the whole piano so quicker and less error prone.

[MarkE-xglr]

what about the concept of stretch:pianos produce overtones that tend to be slightly sharper, especially in the lowest and highest octaves

[Jazzmentl]

Hey JazzMentlists!!! Thanks for being patient with me during my big move! I had to let my piano settle for a couple of days and it was ready for tuning. So I figured, why not ...make a video tutorial about piano tuning. My hope is that a few of you can do this at home and tune your own grand or upright. Anyway, I'll get back to more traditional "how to play jazz" technique videos next week. For now, my new studio is not ready, so my piano has a temporary home for now...in the middle of our dining room. It'll have to do while the studio gets renovated. Thanks for hanging in there with me while we get our lives back in order and get settled in our new home. - Paul

[David-R.]

I can't thank you enough for posting this!!

[lisandralimaalcici]

Thank you so much! I'm Brazilian and I have been looking for this for so long.
Recently I bought a very simple tuning set and it's being very useful, although I didn't know how to use it properly. Now, I know it because of your wounderful explanation.

I think all the pianists should, at least, try to understand better about their instrument, including the tuning, mainly. After all, we spend so many hours on it and, the more you find out about it, the more it become facinating.

Thank you very very much!

[clwuwood]

Thank you so much! I got a brand new upright piano, and with your video I did a preliminary tuning myself, so helpful!

[JoeWhitworth-ujsk]

Thanks so much for this, I've always wanted to learn to tune my own instrument. Downloaded the app, sounds like you know what you are talking about.😁🎹

[adamdaniels]

Forgive my ignorance, there is most likely a good reason we are to use the mute strip. But doesn't the left pedal mute all but the one string? So wouldn't the same effect be achieved by holding down the left pedal? Thank you for this video also, I would like to get one of these kits.

[michaelsmith]

Very good video! I particularly like the method Re setting the pin and the hammer method. Wacking that note to equalise the tension and then playing it to see if it’s moved is very helpful. Thank you. I’ve not tuned for a while and forgot these bits and pieces..

[MarkEisenman]

Hi Paul, what piano tuning kit are you using in this video. Do you recommend it?

[lelandbobpalmer]

Thanks for the video!! I will start tuning my piano now :) Just to be clear: I believe that you are refering to the PLUS version of Piano Meter. The PRO version is 360 USD (in Denmark). Just to clarify for viewers and to avoid misunderstandings. Again, THANKS for a wonderful video AND the time you've put into it - a huge help :)

[TerryInUSA]

From a mechanical viewpoint, what exactly does whacking the key do? Thanks for info!

[SickNick]

Yeah, I saw your „tutorial“.
I am a PianoTuner/PianoTechnician for more than 20 years (learnd by myself) and I have a lot of clients who a very happy with my work.

I have the skill to tune only by ear, but I use VeriTuner (becaus of an acute hearing loss 6 years ago). Also tried PianoMeter. But VeriTuner is better in my opinion, but also more expensive.

In your video you told that you need a pianohammer/-lever which not bends. But a hammer like this in your vid. bends (it is a kit, you can by at amazon or eBay). The only Lever that doesn’t bend is a carbon lever, which I use.

So, there are different pin sizes. How can you know that this lever is perfect right for your pin size?


I am a little bit anxious about that act, to “squeeze” the muting-strip between the string with a screwdriver. You just need to slip off an you'll injure the soundboard. So I use the nylon clamp, which is used to mute the strings in the treble.
Further I see that you didn’t hit the right pedal when you sticked in the mutin strip. You have to do this, espc. when it is in the range with wedge-dampers.
It must be a habit/custom to hit the right pedal, when you put a wedge in, espc. in the bass section.

The art of settle a pin is a long, long process of learning all your life.
Espc. to set the unisons. This I miss in you video, further a complete tuned piano with your method.

A good piano tuner compares the progressions of the intervalls like 3rd, 6th oder 10th, maybe the double-octave or the duo-decime. These are the aural checks I use in my tunings.

Oh yes, I encourage my clients to something for themselves. But… To tune a piano in a satisfying way – so that it has a quality of STABLE (concert-)pitch and very exact unisons – in mostly one and a half an hour – is an art, where you need much experience.
Espc. tuning the unisons will be more a frustration.
In my opinion: A musician should be concentrated to his music.
Because a piano is a BIG instrument with mor than 5000 individual parts (only action), there is no other possibility, that a musician needs a technician. I am a card driver, but I need a car technician - it ist analogue to a piano.


The general meaning of very some(!) of my clients is: “Okay, two, three or five tones – I can fix, but not the whole piano in that quality, in that SHORT time.”

Way more is, that a pianotuner not only tunes a piano, but regulates them: intonation… regulate the weight of feathers, capstans, backcheck, let-off, hammer-blow… All theses things change in a period.

CONCLUSIO
Yes, to fix some tones is absolutely okay, but it never will replace a PianoTechnican/Pro-Tuner.

You don’t do a maintenance-service with your car, because there is a video on YT. So you won’t do a maintenance-service with your piano.
Actually I have a pianoframe here with keys by Steinway (Model K). This is about 97 years old. The keys stuck. The felts are ratty… The keytops were dirty and loose… I had to replace some.
After this the action will be completely renewed: new pins, new regulation, regulate hammer-blow…
Why do I say this? It is not only a tuning that will keep the quality of a piano.
Last week I had to regulate a Kawai, which is only 20 years old… I tuned it; but the keys were to tight and so on and so on…


AND: It is a lot of exercise to know, how to move the pins and how to settle it STABLE.

But as I told: I encourage my clients to tune… No one does it.
If you move the pin wrong, you can destroy the pinblock… Oh oh…

[Andreadiroma]

I Never tuned before a horizontal piano... never grandpianos!.. I just tuned upright piano since now!! I must take lesson about this...

[Pilotlon]

Is the tuning kit one you recommend? Got a link for it possibly?

I happen to live in the same town as Charles Faulk, but a Faulk tuning hammer is about the same as a car payment, and much more professional level than I need.

[cm-uyec]

Did you ever get that link for the tuning kit

[kubave]

So, what's the difference between doing it this way with a tuner app, vs hiring a professional piano tuner that uses those complicated methods, and talk about this thing called "temperament" where they first tune the central octave, then listen for harmonics between notes, etc... I don't even understand what they are doing. Any difference at all?

[mattfish]

Chuck, i know nothing, just starting, sorry if i ask a dumb question, So starting very first key left - C - and continuing to G and where A begins again is this A1 ? and after 7 keys and A begins again is this A2 and so forth ?

[robertdepiano]

I don't know... I'm not sure if I would have enough patience. I would probably spoil it and call the tuner anyway 😁