Sustaining problems

I get a lot of questions from clients who call after an appointment and report that something is wrong with the sustain. It’s often described as follows: “the top octave is sustaining starting at the second F from the top.” 
 

This is normal, and all pianos are designed to do so. The reason the rest of the notes don’t sustain all of the time is due to the dampers, or, the felts that mute the sound when the key is released or when the pedal is returned to rest. Well then, why? 
 

One reason is to allow the notes in the top, which aren’t used as much, to vibrate and ring sympathetically with the notes that are being played below. The sounds from the discant add to the overall voice of the piano, and give it more complexity. 

Another reason is because those strings have a much shorter sustain that the longer strings. Play the first A note (not the very last one on the end!) and watch the time it takes for that note to completely stop ringing. On a Boston upright 126E I measured it to be over 40 seconds! Now play the second to last A in the treble, do you notice a difference? That note only rang for around five seconds. So, the dampers stop at around F6 because there really isn’t much use for them up in the top octave. 
 

Included is a photo from an upright piano to show you the dampers and exactly where they stop. The piano is a well used Boston 126, designed by Steinway & Sons. 
 

How Long Does It Take To Tune A Piano?

A qualified technician can tune a piano in less than 1.5 hours.  An appointment to tune your piano is expected to be around 2 hours to allow for unforseen repairs or adjustments and a little banter with you, the piano owner.

Pianos that are very flat or very sharp need what we call a pitch correction.  A tuner brings the pitch of the piano up to A440, measured at the A above middle C, in a quick pass to apply the correct bearing on the soundboard.  Next they will fine tune the piano.  This still may only take 1.5 hours, but can take as much as 2 hours.  Unlike a guitar with 6 strings, or a violin with 4, a piano has over 230 strings!  Tuning is a skilled art, and requires an extreme amount of concentration.   

Don't be surprised if your piano tuner takes less than an hour to tune your piano.  An upright piano at pitch often takes me less than an hour, but this is not the standard.  If you haven't had the piano tuned in more than a year and your tuner only takes 15-20 minutes, then I would be concerned they weren't completing the job correctly.