Professional tips to fight humidity swings and preserve your piano's A440 pitch.
Toronto’s extreme climate—humid summers and bone-dry winters—is the ultimate enemy of an acoustic piano. Since the soundboard is made of wood, it swells and shrinks with the seasons, dragging the strings out of tune. Here is how you can stabilize your piano's tuning.
The single most important factor for tuning stability is relative humidity (RH). Pianos thrive in a stable environment of 40% to 50% RH. During Toronto winters, indoor heating can drop the RH to 20%, causing the soundboard to shrink and the pitch to drop flat.
Pianos that are tuned regularly stay in tune better. If a piano is left untuned for years, the strings lose their \"memory\" and the overall tension drops. When a technician finally tunes it, the piano will quickly slip out of tune again as the strings stretch back out.
For optimal stability, we recommend tuning your piano twice a year—once after the central heating is turned on, and once after it is turned off.
A highly skilled piano technician does more than just turn the tuning pins. They must carefully \"set the pin\" and equalize the string tension across the bearing points (the capo bar and the bridge). If the pin is not properly set, the first hard keystroke will knock the string out of tune.
By controlling your home's humidity and scheduling regular maintenance with a certified Piano Inside technician, you can enjoy a beautifully tuned instrument year-round. Don't let Toronto's weather ruin your musical experience.