Tuning Time

[A440A@AOL.COM]

<< How long should It take to tune a piano if you are using an Accu-tuner and 
tuning from A0 to C8, in that order, and using the Accu-tuner to tune the 
unisons as well.  I am at 3 hours. >>

Greetings, 
  It depends on how long you have.  An bottom to top, emergency tuning for a 
recording session can take a very stressfull 30 minutes, but it is a tense 
bit of work.  A complete tuning for a solo piano session can take 2 hours.  A 
leisurely scheduled home tuning is usually 90 minutes.  My own piano at home, 
ummmm,  I don't want to talk about it!  
    Three hours means that you are taking too long to make a decision. With a 
machine handling the pitch for you, you have little to occupy yourself with 
but hammer technique.  (The following is all just guessing, If I am totally 
wrong, just hit that delete button right now!). 
    I would suppose that you hammer technique is rather jerky, with a lot of 
back and forth motion.  It is very difficult to get stable tunings this way 
without a lot of experience.  I would suggest a different approach,  if for 
no other reason than a diagnostic perspective. 
   Try to arrive at all pitches from above, in one smooth stroke.  From a 
pitch that is 6 or 8 cent sharp,  lower the string to the desired pitch in 
one movement. If it goes back sharp when you wiggle the hammer on the pin, 
you didn't go far enough.  If it drops flat when you give it one "complete" 
test blow, you went too far.  In either case, you will have invested only 3 
seconds of time, so pull it sharp and try again.  

       You hand will have to learn to read the stored-up torque in the tuning 
pin before it turns, so you can know how much past your intended pitch to go, 
or with some very loose pins, you need to leave it exactly on target, maybe 
even turning the pin back up a little after the pitch is set, so that the top 
string has a little more tension in it than the speaking length. On some old 
pianos in my care, I can move the pin back sharp without disturbing the 
speaking length.   
    The important thing, inre time, is not to waste it hunting up and down 
for a stable place to stop the lights. By aiming for pitch with one single 
motion, you reduce the variables as far as possible, and you will be 
surprised how close you can learn to leave strings.   With practise, (it is 
not unlike a Zen moment), you should be able to hit a pitch more than close 
enough to allow pin flex to stop the lights, exactly.  Once there, a 1 hour, 
broadcast level tuning is within your reach.  (on a big piano in good 
condition.  
       If you are tuning anything smaller than a 6 ft grand,  that machine is 
not going to do the whole job for you, so I really encourage you to tune 
enough by ear to pass the Guild tests.  
Regards, 
Ed Foote RPT