I’m Bob Runyan, registered piano technician serving the north state from Redding to Red Bluff to Chico to Yuba City and all places in between. Whether it’s piano tuning, repair, or regulation, I can help bring the instrument to top playing condition.
Your piano, like your car, needs a good tune-up from time to time. Strings go out of tune with one another. The piano’s action gradually goes out of adjustment, making it more difficult to play well. The voice of your piano may become shrill, or dull. Sometimes, especially on older pianos, a note might not play at all. Trying to learn piano, to improve your playing, or to entertain yourself and others becomes more difficult and less fun!
Regular attention to piano tuning, regulation, and voicing keeps your piano playing optimally. Tuning brings out the best possible sound of chords and individual notes. Proper regulation of the piano makes it easier to bring out the beauty in your music making, with less effort! Voicing the piano can bring out the best that any piano has to offer.
How often should you have your piano tuned and adjusted? It depends. The rule of the thumb is that six months to a year should do for most pianos, and that is a good starting place. If you play your piano a lot, if you are an advanced pianist, or if you are sensitive to subtle tuning changes, then twice a year or more may be best. Piano tunings, even by the best of tuners, move over time with seasonal changes in humidity and other factors. After a year, your piano’s tuning can use some improvement. If you do have it tuned once a year, pick a month and stick to it each year. I can help you by sending reminders. If you tune it twice a year, then fall and spring may work the best, when the cycle of humidity changes brings your piano’s pitch to a mid-point in its seasonal changes.
If your piano hasn’t been tuned for years, then it will need a pitch raise and a final fine tuning. The pitch raise is included in my tuning fee. Your piano should be tuned again in a few months if it was way below pitch or if it had gone several years without a tuning.
You can schedule an appointment directly on this website by clicking on Schedule an Appointment.
1444 Fetter St., Chico, CA 95928 (530) 635-7852 bobrunyan@hotmail.com