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Association of Blind Piano Tuners (ABPT)


Welcome to the Association of Blind Piano Tuners (ABPT)

Our website known as the "UK Piano Page". It contains information about everything related to pianos; we are the home of UK piano industry. We have designed the site to make things easier to find and allow professionals listed on this site to update their details. We have one of the largest collections of piano history information on the internet, with a special emphasis on the history of the piano industry in the United Kingdom. We also cover a wide selection of overseas piano makers, and provide links to sites with a piano history theme.
 

The UK Piano Page also contains a wealth of information on tuners, manufacturers, movers, accompanists, teachers, entertainers, hire companies, French polishers, piano part makers, and piano construction. You may even find places to wine and dine with live piano music in the background.

We have a database of pianos for sale by shops around the UK, as well as a free section for the general public to advertise their pianos for sale. We also operate an extensive online piano gift shop where you can buy piano stools, castor cups, metronomes and lots of other piano related gifs and accessories. If you would like to advertise on the UK Piano Page, please visit our advertising page.

Answers to a variety of piano-related questions are found on the pub quiz page. We have an active piano discussion forum where you can seek answers to questions on pianos, their history, and piano music.

The Aims of the Association of Blind Piano Tuners

The Association of Blind Piano Tuners exists to serve the professional and particular needs of its members and other blind and partially sighted piano tuners throughout the world. 
 

Students
Student Membership is open to all visually impaired persons in full time training.
 

Friends
A Friend is anyone wishing to be associated with the ABPT or who has helped the ABPT in the past, or made a donation.
 

International Members (MABPT)
This is open to visually impaired tuners from around the world who have attended a recognized training school and are qualified.
 

Members (MABPT)
This is for visually impaired tuners from the UK who have attended a recognized training school and qualified with the AEWVH (CTB) diploma or equivalent.
 

Fellows (FABPT)
This is open to members of the ABPT who have undergone extra training to enhance their skills.
 

Honorary Life Members
This is open to members of the ABPT who have been members for over ten years and have satisfied Council of their eminence in the profession or of the importance and value of their services to the ABPT. The status of Honorary Life Member is at the discretion of the ABPT Council, and no more than five may be serving at any one time.
 

Only Members and Fellows who are resident in the UK are covered by our insurance policies. Only Full Members, Fellows, International Members and Associated Members may add the letters to their name and use the ABPT logo. All membership is at the discretion and approval of the ABPT Council.
 

We encourage all tuners to gain and maintain the highest professional standards and to exhibit ethical and professional integrity at all times.
 

We offer ongoing training to piano tuners who wish to acquire extra levels of ability. This is open to all everyone, even if they are not yet members of the Association. We do this by running subsidised seminars for fully sighted and visually impaired tuners. We maintain close links with all of the professional bodies of the music industry, and in particular with piano tuning organisations worldwide. The purpose of the website is to educate the general public in the good practice of maintaining their musical instruments and using professional tuners to do this work. This follows the broad outline of our mission statement. If we may be of any further assistance to you, please contact us.
 

 

Mission Statement.

To continue as the leading authority and association for blind or partially sighted piano tuners, insisting that only those professionally trained, examined, and qualified are accepted into membership, ensuring that the public knows that an ABPT member will offer skilled, professional, and reliable service.

Featured Listings




How Often Should I Get My Piano Tuned

Tuning Old Pianos

There are many reasons why older pianos go out of tune, and some of them are unavoidable due to the age of the piano, the most common in the UK is central heating drying the piano out.. The most difficult piano for piano tuners to bring back into tune is one that has been neglected for a long period of time. The strings tension drops also because of wear the termination points change this can increase the length of the string thus changing the pitch of individual string in the grope of tree, causing what we call ìfalse beatsî. The pitch of the piano will fall far below 440 Hz (concert pitch). This means that the piano tuner must adjust over 240 strings within an unstable internal environment. The tuner spends time tightening each string in order to raise its pitch. This process takes some time as the tuner must tune each string several times to achieve the required pitch and tension. This is because the adjacent strings will change in response to sudden changes in string tension. To get around this problem, the tuner must first raise all strings to an average degree of tension. After this average level is achieved, the tuner can make minute adjustments to the piano string. It takes time to do this properly, which can be expensive. To avoid a long expensive tuning sessions on an old piano, the piano should be tuned every six months as regular tuning will pay off in the long run.

Tuning New Pianos

What the manufactures say...

Steinway

"We usually recommend our customers at least 2 or 3 tunings per year for a piano getting average use in the home. Ideally 4 tunings spaced through the year to cover the seasonal changes would be best. A new piano settling into a new environment may need more regular tuning for the first year or two. These suggestions only apply to pianos in the average home. Pianos in music schools and teacherís pianos should be tuned more frequently as they receive heavy use. Studio and concert pianos are tuned before every concert or recording."

Yamaha

Adopt a schedule of regular service:

  • Why schedule regular service? Having your piano serviced regularly is a lot like taking vitamins. As you regularly take vitamins, you generally feel better and you are able to perform at your peak level. Also, taking vitamins helps you avoid serious illnesses and other health-related problems. The same is true regarding regular service for your piano. Regular service will keep your piano's performance (and your enjoyment) at its peak level. It will also correct "progressive" problems early, before they turn into costly repairs. For these reasons Yamaha strongly recommends that you adopt a schedule of regular service for your piano.
  • Tuning and adjustment: Pianos are delicate instruments that need professional attention periodically. Basically there are two types of professional piano care: tuning and adjustment.
  • Tuning means correcting the pitch of every note by retightening the strings. Each piano string is normally stretched to a pressure of about 90 kilograms (198pounds). Eventually, though, it will stretch further with use and lose some of its tension, causing the piano to lose its correct pitch. The strings need to be tuned a minimum of twice a year to restore them to their proper tension.
  • Adjustment involves the entire piano action, keyboard and pedal movements. Proper adjustment is especially important for grand pianos. Whether the piano will perform properly or not depends how accurately the adjustment is made.

Tuning and adjustment should always be done by an expert. When your piano requires either one, ask your Yamaha dealer or call a specialist piano tuner. Your dealer can also advise you about the interval between adjustments for your piano under the circumstances in which it is used.