Monthly Archives: August 2015

The Summer Ends

For anyone who needs to get their piano tuned, now might be the perfect time. Pianos don’t like to be too hot or too cold and you may have noticed your piano has begun to sound less in-tune during the small bouts of hot weather we’ve had this summer. This is because the piano’s wooden soundboard warps slightly with these seasonal changes in humidity, which affects the tension of the strings, dragging them out of tune. This happens even in rooms which seem ideal for a piano. There’s little that can be done to combat this, save getting your piano tuned regularly (once every six months). Some people may recommend putting a jar of water in the bottom of the piano, but this is not advisable for people reading this in Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster (or anywhere else in the north of England for that matter) as the problem with our climate is dampness rather than dryness. Piano humidity regulating systems are available, which may be worth looking into for the more dedicated piano owner.

 

– Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield.

A year of piano tuning

So, according to my calender it was August of last year that I had my first paid piano tuning. Before then I had done free piano tuning for friends in Rotherham and Sheffield, but only a year ago did I start tuning professionally. It’s been a year of ups and downs, with some weeks busier than others, but I enjoy it more and more as it goes on and, even though I could tune a piano upon finishing my piano tuning course, my piano tuning has improved since then, in that my tuning is more precise (particularly unisons) and I can set the pins with more ease and tune the whole piano faster than I could a year ago.

 

Customers will receive a text reminding them that their piano has not been tuned in a year and asking them whether they want me to come round and tune it. Not wanting to seem pushy with new customers, I’ll continue this policy for the forseeable future.

 

– Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield.

Cleaning your piano

Recently, while out in Sheffield piano tuning, I was asked cleaning the piano, so I decided to make a quick post about cleaning the piano for my customers out there in Sheffield, south yorkshire and derbyshire.

To clean the outside of the piano, use a damp cloth followed by a clean, dry cloth. You can do the same for the action and insides of the piano, or you could use a feather duster. To clean the keys, it depends whether you have plastic or ivory keys. For ivory keys use a damp cloth and gentle soap, while plastic keys should be cleaned with a solution of vinegar and warm water. A consideration to take into account is that you are gentle while cleaning it and that yo aren’t using any chemicals that could stain the piano. Any questions, email me at richard@pianotunersheffield.co.uk

 

– Richard Lidster, Piano Tuner Sheffield.

Aiming for Facebook milestone

I might be 10 years behind the times but I’ve finally got into the swing of this Facebook malarkee. I’m aiming for my piano tuner Sheffield page to get 100 likes so that more people in Sheffield and South Yorkshire are aware of my piano tuning business. While a piano tuning business might seem like a strange thing to ‘like’, it would be helpful if anyone in agreement would do so, that way anyone who needs a piano tuner and hasn’t thought to look one up might be reminded by seeing my page.

 

– Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield.