Piano Tuning

Piano Tuning

Ford Piano has kept pianos in tune across the New York tri-state area since 1897. Our tuners and technicians work in private homes, schools, churches and institutions throughout Westchester, Putnam and the wider tri-state area.

A standard piano tuning is $185. If your piano needs a pitch raise first, your tuner will tell you before any work begins and explain what it adds.

How often should a piano be tuned?

Most pianos in a home do well with a tuning once or twice a year. A piano that is played every day, or one that sits in a room with large swings in temperature and humidity, will drift out of tune faster than one played occasionally in a stable room.

My piano has not been tuned in years. Can it still be tuned?

Usually, yes. A piano left alone for a long time often settles a half step or a full step below standard pitch. As long as the tuning pins are still tight, that piano can be pitch raised and then tuned, normally in the same visit. It takes two passes rather than one, and that is because of how far the tuning pins have to travel, not because we need to wait between them.

If the pins have gone loose, that is a different conversation. We will tell you honestly what your options are rather than sell you a tuning that will not hold.

What happens during the visit

Your tuner brings the piano up to pitch and sets the temperament and unisons across the keyboard. If we notice something else that needs attention, a sticking key, a noisy pedal, a worn hammer, we will point it out and quote it separately rather than surprise you on the invoice.

Where we tune

Westchester and Putnam counties are our home ground. That includes towns such as Yorktown Heights, Peekskill, Cortlandt Manor, Croton-on-Hudson, Ossining, Somers, Katonah, Bedford, Mount Kisco, Chappaqua, Pleasantville, White Plains, Mahopac, Carmel, Brewster, Putnam Valley and Cold Spring. We also travel more widely across the New York tri-state area. If you are not sure whether you are in range, call and ask.

Signs your piano needs a tuning

• Chords sound sour or wavy even when they are played correctly.
• A single note sounds like two slightly different pitches.
• It has been more than a year since the last tuning.
• The piano has just been moved, or the heating season has just started.
• A singer or another instrument sounds out of tune against the piano.

Why pianos go out of tune with the seasons

A piano’s soundboard is wood, and it swells and shrinks as the humidity changes. In the Hudson Valley, dry winter heat tends to pull the pitch down and humid summers push it back up, so a piano tuned in one season can sound different in the next. Keeping the piano away from radiators, heating vents and outside doors, and keeping the room’s humidity steady, helps a tuning hold longer.

Tuning after a move

A piano that has just been moved needs time to settle into its new room before it is tuned. If you can, give it a couple of weeks.

Tuning, repair or rebuilding?

Tuning sets the pitch. If keys stick, pedals squeak or notes do not play, that is repair work: see piano repair. If an older piano needs new strings, hammers or a soundboard, it may be a candidate for piano rebuilding in our shop. If the tone is too bright or too dull, ask about piano voicing.

Call or visit

Call 914-739-1224 or use the form below to request a tuning. Our showroom is at 650 Lee Blvd, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, open Mon-Fri 10-7 and Sat 1-5.