I have been serving the music community as a professional piano technician since 1978. I have represented Steinway, Yamaha, Baldwin, and other major piano manufacturers as a service technician, working with some of the best pianists in the country. I provided technical support for over 1,100 piano clients, schools, theatres, churches, synagogues, and performance venues in the Capital District and surrounding communities from 1978 - 2008. Since 2008, I have limited my technical piano services to residential clients. I am always happy to work with new clients. Currently, I provide piano tuning and repair services to over 200 clients. As a result of this experience, I always provide the following information to help potential clients to understand the nature of my services. I know tuning seems like a pretty straightforward issue, but, in fact, it can be more complicated than most people imagine.

Piano Tuning: The cost for the tuning depends on the condition of the piano and the number of years since the last tuning. A piano can only go about a year between normal tunings, otherwise you have to re-adjust the pitch across the piano (which is called a pitch-raise), which increases the cost of tuning. This process may also require a follow-up, with a normal tuning (within 4-6 months). Otherwise, the piano will usually fall back to where it was before, wasting your initial investment.

Piano Assessments: Whenever I schedule a piano for the first time, I also remind clients that I cannot, in advance, guarantee that a piano is actually tunable. I can't tune an instrument that can't hold a proper tuning, but I still have to charge my minimum service call fee of $100. (If you're superstitious, you can be glad I told you this, because it only seems to occur when I forget to explain this risk.)  For general assessment purposes, most older upright pianos that have gone more than 3-5 years without tuning are considered at "high risk" of being unable to hold a proper tuning.

Piano Repairs: All of this assumes the piano doesn't need any repairs (such as sticky keys or any other malfunctioning that would interfere with the proper tuning of the instrument).  It’s difficult to quote prices on repairs, until I can physically check the instrument, because any given problem can be caused by several different factors.

Piano Rebuilding: From 1978 – 1982, I maintained a piano workshop where I rebuilt pianos, refinishing cases, repairing soundboards and bridges, re-pinning and re-stringing, and regulating piano actions. I rebuilt a variety of pianos, including fine Steinway grand pianos valued at $50,000 - $75,000 each. However, I no longer do these complex rebuilding projects.

Scheduling a Service Call: To schedule a piano appraisal, tuning, or repair, please email me to schedule an appointment. I typically schedule two weeks in advance. However, I do reserve a limited number of “emergency” openings each week.

Get in touch at markhughesphd@yahoo.com