What is a Pitch Raise? Does Your Piano Need a Pitch Raise?

You may or may not have heard of the term pitch raise before but it is something that is very important when it comes to the condition of a piano. It's nothing to be scared of but it is something you should be aware of, especially if you are looking into buying a used piano or haven't tuned your piano in a long time. Maybe you have a piano that you haven't tuned in years or maybe you just bought a used piano and assume that you'll just get it tuned up and it will be ready to go. Then when your tuner arrives he tells you that you're going to need a pitch raise; what does that mean?

Hundreds of years ago there were no established pitches. For example, an A on one piano would not sound the same as an A on another piano -- pitches would vary quite a bit. Over time pitches stabilized and a standard pitch was established. Today the standard reference of pitch is A 440. That is the note that a symphony orchestra tunes to. But what does 440 mean? The number stands for vibrations per second of the strings and it's the measurement of how many times the string is moving back and forth each second. If you double the vibrations of the string to 880 cycles per second, you also have an A, just one octave higher! It is the same principal for all musical tones.

So why is it a concern if your piano is not up to pitch? There are actually several reasons this:

One of the most common examples is if your piano is under pitch and you are playing with other musicians you will be playing in two different keys and it won't work. Or at the very least you will be drastically out of tune with one another.
Another fundamental reason to have your piano tuned to concert pitch is that a piano is designed and manufactured to sound best tuned to a certain pitch. So if your piano has dropped in pitch, it will produce a very dull, lifeless sound.

So is it really that complicated to get a pitch raise? Actually, it is! There are a number of reasons why it's a complicated and expensive procedure.There are about twenty tons of string tension collectively throughout the piano. Getting a pitch raise means that you will be adding potentially thousands of pounds more pressure onto the plate and the delicate wood parts of the piano; particularly the bridges and soundboard which could possibly cause problems. Worse than that, unless a tuner really knows what they are doing, they could end up breaking strings. So if you're getting a pitch raise you definitely want someone who is experienced in this. Piano technicians must lubricate the points of friction on the strings if there is any corrosion.When you consider that there are over 220 strings on a piano and multiple points of friction, this is a job in itself! If the piano hasn't been tuned in years the strings could have become tarnished or rusted melding into the pins and other parts of the piano. If you just tune it up you could end up snapping strings if you don't take precautions.

Even in a best case scenario, if you tune a piano that needs a pitch raise without any major problems, you can't expect the piano to hold its tuning. In fact, your tuner will have to do a rough tuning first then then do a fine, second tuning. But even the refined tuning won't hold very long and you will most likely need to get the piano tuned again multiple times over the course of the next year or two just to get it to stabilize and hold its tuning. So how can you know if a piano needs a pitch raise? Luckily it is something that is fairly easy to tell if you have the proper tools. You just need a source of pitch: a tuning fork, a tuner that produces tones, or any instrument that you know is in tune. You can even use a tuning application on your phone! A lot of times the piano will not produce completely different notes -- it will most likely be between two notes which still entails getting a pitch raise.

So make sure you keep your piano tuned up to pitch. You will enhance the tone and prolong the life of your piano.

[reidwelch]

Am a professional concert tuner/technician. Robert Estrin is a remarkably effective educator. You can bank on his advice.

[ITAngel]

Thanks, I just got an upright piano for free from 1930s and I am thinking of calling a Technician to come and tune it. I will check to see if I need a pitch raise which I almost feel it will need one. Great video.

[ShadowlessPhantom]

I had a Ymaha G1 tuned the other day, which was the first is sevaral years, and heard the technician saying something to the wife about the possibilty of breaking strings. She is the one who plays. None broke and later I found out that a pitch rasie was done. Now I understand the need for one. As for the maker of this video, I love his explanations, as well as his playing.

[kristopherdetar]

In my experience with tuning pianos that are near or older than 100 years old is that pitch raising perils is over rated. I have brought pianos up to A440 in one pass and never broke a string or cracked a bridge or the plate. Pianos built before 1939 were not all scale designed for A440, but they were built strong enough to be made to play pitches even higher than A435. For pianos with worn out pin blocks, this may be more of a problem to handle being brought up to A440 in one pass and of course will need several tunings to stabilize. I have yet to see any piano I restring over 100 years old develop a plate cracking somewhere tuned to A440 when it may had been designed to be tuned at A435 or somewhere else below A440. I believe there are many tuners that use this excuse to get more money out of the customer. When I restring for a customer, I tune it a minimum of 5 times over a period of 2 months because new strings do stretch quite a bit. I do not charge for these extra tunings. Just my 2 cents worth.

[brucealanwilson]

Some years ago, I inherited a reed organ. I knew that frequently they were NOT tuned to a440, but usually a bit lower. I thought it would be nice to have the piano & organ tuned together so I could do dual-keyboard works. Well, the next time my piano was due for a tuning, I asked the tuner to see if he could tune them together. Alas, it turned out that the ogan was tuned about 1/8 of a tone ABOVE modern concert pitch.

The other reed organ to whch I have access is in the museum at my church. We have a little chamber music group at the church (basoon, flute, oboe/English horn, keyboard.) I suggested, "Why not use the reed organ? The reed sound would go with the other woodwinds, wouldn't it? Alas, the reed organ at church is tuned 1/4 tone BELOW standard pitch. The basoonist said that string players could tune down to it, but wind players can''t.

[TM-jowz]

Great video.
Probably strings break if there’s rust on the strings.
Some tuners do lube under the capo bar. And At the bass string contact point.
Strings also break when the stringer nicked the string with something harder than the string. “My Opinion”
I’ve restrung 12 pianos.
Strings usually break at the tuning pin.

I was taught to quickly lower the pin to break the rust free. Then pull up to pitch.
You can do a major pitch raise at one sitting/tuning. It’ll take some doing to be a fine tuning that holds.

Do not get lubricant in or a
around the tuning pins.

[rosegardenlake]

Wonderful clear explanation! Thank you!

[KeepingOnTheWatch]

I neglected my poor, little upright for a long time.  After not tuning it for 22 years I called a technician for a pitch raise.  Thanks for the explanation.

[emojijoyio]

Does my piano need a pitch raise because its almost a half step out of tune and the a4 note sounds like a g#4 and it changes in pitch when it gets to c#6 because any thing higher the c#6 is more in tune and anything lower than f4 is mor in tune too please respond

[PiotrBarcz]

I have a 1942 Francis Bacon upright player piano that is about a semi-tone flat. It is in tune with itself (more or less).

[robinsonmertilus]

When I get a tuning and pitch raised in the next month or so, how long should the tuning last?

[JohnnyAGraves]

So very simply, tune the piano back standard tuning?

[tyrantwitness]

Throw it away and get a digital piano.