square piano pitch

[Anne Acker]

Hi,

Since I get the digest, I'm not going to cut and paste in the chain on this, but will get right to the point.

First off, what year is the piano, and what country?  If we presume it is last half of the 19th century American, you need to tune it to A430 or A435 depending upon the year, etc.  

Do not tune it to A440 which did not become the standard in this country until getting well into the 20th century.

As for tuning it, you do need a good back, and to use common sense in the process.  Yoga helps, and I'm not joking about that.  You can mark sufficient pins first, so you know where you are, saving time peering under the damper rack.  Take frequent breaks and stretch the back.

I charge by the hour to tune big squares instead of by the job.

Anne Acker