Did you know that a piano can have up to 12,000 moving parts? It’s true. Not only that, but many of those parts are moving parts. And if you want your piano to stay in good working order, it needs a little bit of maintenance to stay its best.

Your first year of piano ownership will require the most maintenance (it’s kind of the opposite of owning a car). You’ll want to get it serviced two to four times that year. After that, talk to your piano technician to see how often it needs to be serviced. Serving includes tuning, regulating, voicing, and repairing or replacing worn out parts.

Tuning is the adjustment of the piano’s strings. There are over 200 strings in a piano. The piano tuner technician will adjust the strings so they are at the correct pitch. This is ensures the notes will sound in harmony when musical intervals are played.

Changes in humidity are the main thing that cause a piano to go out of tune. There’s typically a large humidity change in the spring and one again in the fall. Don’t have your piano tuned right after a humidity change because it won’t hold very long (probably only about two months). Instead wait a month or two after the humidity change to have the tuning done. It will hold longer.

Regulating a piano involves the adjustment of the mechanical aspects of the piano. Cloth parts compact and settle, and that rascal we call humidity can actually cause slight changes in piano dimensions.

Voicing a piano is an adjustment of the tone of your piano. As you use your piano, hammers wear and compact and some notes will become too harsh. At this point, your piano needs to be voiced. Most people find that their piano needs to be voiced every 1-5 years, depending on how much use your piano receives.

In addition to making sure the interior components of the piano are kept in good working order, take care of the case and outer components too. Clean the keys and the case with a damp soft cloth that is lint free (cheesecloth works well). If you want you can use mild white soap to clean the keys but don’t ever use chemical cleaning fluids or solvents on the keys. Avoid using furniture polish on the case. You may find it surprising, but most manufacturers don’t recommend using furniture polish on the case. Stick with using the damp soft cloth. Or check with your piano technician or piano store to see if they have any cleaners specially formulated for piano cases. If you decide you have to use furniture polish, be careful that it only touches the case and that it doesn’t contain any silicone.

Your piano will also need to be reconditioned occasionally. Some parts will get worn out from use and will need to be replaced.

If your piano has deteriorated severely then reconditioning it won’t be enough. You’ll have to get the piano completely rebuilt which involves completely disassembling the piano. As you might imagine it’s very labor intensive and quite expensive, but in some cases it’s the only way to restore the original performance level of your piano.

Your piano is a major investment which deserves to be protected through regular servicing by a qualified technician and regular care by you. Properly maintained, your piano will sound its best and give you and your family a lifetime of enjoyment.

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