Friends, I know we oldsters know this, but this may be helpful to some "newsters." I was scheduled today to tune a spinet piano in a choir room. I've been tuning this piano every six months, and it seems reasonably stable. But this time when I arrived it was in the middle of the room, not where it was the last time. When I checked the pitch, the tenor and treble was up to 7 cents sharp (more than usual, but well, ok, that's the way it is). But the bass was to 6 cents flat, which I didn't expect and which made for some pretty awful-sounding octaves. Why? Yes, moving the piano really can change the pitch that much, if the weight distribution on the four legs is different after the move. I noticed the left leg was not touching the floor. I used my knee to exert upward pressure under the left side of the keybed and could get the bass octaves to come into pitch with the rest of the piano. I assumed the piano was going to stay in the middle of the room, so I put shims under the left leg to get the tuning close, then tuned the entire piano. Sometimes I get a call whether the piano will need to be tuned if the client moves it to the other side of the room. My answer? Generally no, but if it sounds more out of tune to them after the move, then they should call me and I will tune the piano. Regards, Clyde
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