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Ok so I am visiting my grandparents and I am going to practice piano at their house for about a month. But, when I started playing it, I noticed that the piano was out of tune buy a full QUARTER tone. So, obviously, I need to tune it. But, because of COVID, no piano tuner is coming over.

So, I must take matters into my own hands. How do I tune a piano?

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    Is it basically in tune with itself and sounding OK? Or has it gone honkey-tonk?
    – Нет войне
    Jul 28, 2020 at 23:48
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    "If you can imagine an entire book that answers your question, you’re asking too much."
    – AakashM
    Jul 29, 2020 at 13:57
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    Hey, easier than trying to tunafish
    – Carl Witthoft
    Jul 29, 2020 at 17:15
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    "So I must take matters into my own hands." No, no, you definitely must NOT.
    – Carl Witthoft
    Jul 29, 2020 at 17:17
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    Sometimes tuners leave instruments flat deliberately because it's not clear that the instrument can withstand the increased tension needed to bring it to A=440 Hz. I would not try raising the pitch of a piano as my first piano tuning project.
    – phoog
    Jul 29, 2020 at 22:59

2 Answers 2

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The short answer is, "you don't". Without proper training, it's very easy to damage the instrument.

With that significant caveat ...

A search for "how to tune a piano yourself" will turn up a variety of instructional videos. Here's one that seems especially promising to me.

You'll need the right tools for the job, also. Again, a search for "tools for piano tuning" will give you the results you need.

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    While there may be "instructional videos," there is a huge risk of a random untrained and unskilled person totally borking the piano. IMNSHO the correct answer is "Don't do it"
    – Carl Witthoft
    Jul 29, 2020 at 17:16
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    @CarlWitthoft Thanks, Carl. I don't know why I didn't edit my post earlier to include your essential cautionary note.
    – Aaron
    Jul 29, 2022 at 19:06
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It might be obvious to one who has absolute pitch. But if the whole piano is out by that quarter tone, the majority of people would not notice. Unless they played along to a recording that was at concert pitch. It may have been tuned thus on purpose. If it's only certain notes, or one string out or two/three, then it's a different matter. But if it's in tune with itself, let sleeping dogs lie.

You will need certain tools, the hammer being crucial - use the wrong size, and you could end up wrecking the pegs. You won't be able to use a tuner, like you would with a guitar. It's often a few hours for an experienced tuner to pull up a piano, so I believe it's a bad idea for you to attempt this.

If it was my piano, I wouldn't let you near the inside, and would question the mindset of grandparents who are happy for you to experiment on their pride and joy.

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  • If it's their pride and joy, I assume they'd keep it in tune. Source: Have grandparents with badly-tuned piano that hasn't been used in decades. (Not that I'm disagreeing with anything else in your answer.)
    – user70370
    Jul 30, 2020 at 19:49

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