Pitch Anticipation

[Jon Page]

At 07:39 AM 11/26/98 -0500, you wrote:
>Friends:
>
>On rare occasions I do something similar.  Suppose I tune a piano every
>six months in September and March.  If I tune A440 in September, it can
>be 30 cents flat in the tenor by March.  Best solution:  humidity
>control.  Second best solution: change the six-month rotation to more
>moderate months.  Third best solution:  leave the piano slightly flat
>when it's VERY flat, and leave it slightly sharp when it's VERY sharp. 
>Although I make money from pitchraises, doing them over and over on the
>same piano, when the client doesn't seem to have an ear for music
>anyway, seems futile.  
>
>Which raises another subject:  For the average household, should the
>recommended tuning schedule still be every six months?  Most of my
>clients tune annually, which is what I usually recommend (key phrase: 
>average household).  This totally avoids the whole "pitch anticipation"
>question, and the piano is sometimes remarkably close to where I left it
>the year before.
>
>Clyde Hollinger

I recommend tuning after the heat has been on for a month and again
after it has been off for a month. On better players I would also include 
a January/February tuning.

When pitch raising, I would recommend the follow-up tuning to the next
season change if it were close. But urged them to follow that schedule.

Jon Page
Harwich Port, Cape Cod, Mass. (jpage@capecod.net)
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