What does a piano technician do?

We commonly talk about "piano tuners", but the person who works on your piano really should be  a "piano technician". 

A piano tuner only tunes the piano -- tightens or loosens the strings to put them all in the right pitch, so they play the correct tone when struck by a hammer.

A piano technician tunes and repairs and regulates a piano so that it sounds and plays its best.  A technician needs more skills and training than someone who only tunes pianos. 

Your piano won't need all the skills and training your technician has every time it gets tuned.  But it's great to know that the person who works on your piano will recognize and fix problems before they become critical.

Tuning a piano means adjusting the tightness of the strings so that they all play the correct tones.  It also means matching all the strings of a note (if there are more than one) so that they all play the same tone.  This can be a real challenge in some pianos.

Repairing a piano can mean anything from fixing a broken string to replacing parts that are worn out.  Pianos are full of moving parts, and they get old and brittle over time. 

Your grandma's piano might still be beautiful on the outside, but it probably has a bunch of aches and pains on the inside, caused by worn-out parts.  Sometimes a piano just needs new parts in order to play well, and you would be amazed at the difference it can make.

Regulating a piano is the process of making sure that all the parts move the right distance at the right time.  When a piano is regulated properly, it is easier to control and sounds much better. 

A piano that is out of regulation or has worn-out parts will never play or sound as well as it could.  That is why you are wise to have a piano technician maintain your piano.

Pianos are made almost entirely of wood and metal and wool felt, held together with steel pins and glue.  Parts get brittle, smooshed, and eroded over time.  Some parts can be repaired, and others need to be replaced -- but all pianos need to be regulated every 7-15 years.

So why bother with a piano?  What a pain!  We do it because nothing sounds or plays like a piano.  We do it because we love these instruments, even when they are in sad shape.

I play professionally when I'm not working on other people's pianos, so I tend to be pretty sensitive to problems that pianos have.  I want your piano to play as well as if it was my own. 

And if you have a new player in your house, then I want it to play even better than that... because I know that a new player needs all the encouragement and help possible.  And a piano that plays well is a piano that is more likely to be played.

For more information about piano technicians, please visit the Piano Technicians Guild.  The PTG has many resources for piano owners, teachers, and technicians, and I am a proud Guild member. Information about joining the Guild is available here.