Why is tuning so important? Everyone who enjoys music, whether it is country, jazz, Christian, classical, etc., should realize that to produce this music requires exact tuning standards that have to be met by every instrument and voice. If this were not true, our ears would immediately discern the differences and we would immediately find the music unacceptable. Just watch shows, like American Idol or America’s Got Talent to see that any contestant who can’t stay in tune is laughed off the show. Why? Because tuning is so critical to music.

Piano tuning is the aligning of the musical pitch of the various notes of the piano, by adjusting the tension of the piano’s strings, in order to achieve a desired musical effect. Preferences in desired musical effects and methods in achieving those preferences will vary. Piano “tuning” does not involve the functioning of a piano’s key mechanism. (The “tune-up” of an automobile engine may involve keeping machinery running smoothly, but piano “tuning” by itself does not.)