Alarming new studies have shown that most Americans are having their pianos tuned much less frequently in recent years. This is a significant drop from the frequency of previous decades and a cause for great concern.

By international agreement the note "A" above middle C is tuned to 440 vibrations per second and all other notes are tuned in relationship to that note. In the case of the piano, the wires (or strings) must be adjusted to these exact frequencies by a piano tuner.

Temperatures rise and fall. The air is moist or dry. Doors and windows are opened and closed. Your piano is constructed of wood, iron and steel. The moisture content of the ambient air will cause the materials, especially the woods of the pinblock, sounding board and bridges, to alternately swell and contract. This affects the tension of the strings. There is simply no way of avoiding the necessity of having the piano tuned annually (in order to restore it to the proper pitch) unless you have specially constructed a room that controls temperature and humidity variance. Absent of this you may have a serious problem.

It is critical that your piano is tuned on a regular basis to insure that irreparable damage is not done to the music appreciation faculties of small children and adolescents. Music cannot be correctly appreciated when the instruments are out of proper tune. Our children are suffering greatly due to this unfortunate trend. Neglecting to tune your piano on a regular basis can also stress the instrument itself.

The schools systems have eliminated most musical education from the curricula of their students so it has become the solemn duty of responsible parents, aunts and uncles, grandparents, family friends and neighbors to assure that future generations can appreciate music as it was meant to be heard by having their pianos tuned regularly.

It is important that you assess the state of your piano's tuning immediately. This can best be done by a professional and will not take long. Do not leave this assessment to an amateur because the piano may never be tuned again in that case. Music sounds beautiful on a perfectly tuned piano. If you are accustomed only to an out of tune instrument you may not know what you are missing! A competent piano tuner will be able to tell you immediately whether your instrument needs to be tuned. He can also advise you as to how often it should be tuned in the future.