Tools and methods Piano tuning

some common piano tuning tools: top bottom: tuning lever, felt mute, rubber mute, felt temperament strip (left), , papps mute.

common tools tuning pianos include tuning lever or hammer , variety of mutes, , tuning fork or electronic tuning device. tuning lever used turn tuning pins, increasing or decreasing tension of string. mutes used silence strings not being tuned. while tuning temperament octave, felt strip typically placed within temperament (middle) section of piano; inserted between each note s trichord, muting outer 2 strings middle string free vibrate. after center strings tuned, felt strip can removed note note, tuning outer strings center strings. wedge-shaped mutes inserted between 2 strings mute them, while papps mute used tuning high notes in upright pianos because slides between hammer shanks.

in aural tuning tuning fork used tune first note (generally a4) of piano, , temperament octave tuned between f3 , f4 using variety of intervals , checks, until tuner satisfied notes in octave correctly tuned. rest of piano tuned temperament octave, using octaves , other intervals checks.

if electronic tuning device used, temperament step might skipped, possible tuner adjust notes directly tuning device in reasonable order.