novice tuning question about concert pitch

Tony

I have a novice question: if the final result from Optimize is A4 = 442, what should I do? Should I keep 442 as the starting point for tuning, or should I bring A4 down to the 440 standard before starting? How can I lower it to A4 = 440?

Also I am prety confused about concert pitch...what is that? I thought concert pitch always 440Hz...but in PS User Manual it showed the final concert pitch at 443Hz.......sorry for the novice question.

Actually my piano sounds great at 442Hz (A4)...so should i keep it that way?

MilanDka

Hey Tony, it really comes down to personal preference. For home use, 440 Hz is the usual standard, since you might want to play along with a guitar or other instruments. In concert settings, 442 Hz has become the norm these days. Sometimes people go with 442.5 or even 443, but that’s more of a special request. The higher pitch is mostly to fit better with strings, winds, and especially singers.

If your piano is set to 442 Hz and you like the way it sounds, just keep it there — no problem at all. Dropping it by 2 Hz can actually be tricky if you don’t have tuning experience, since it usually takes at least two passes to settle. An experienced tuner can make that adjustment and keep the piano stable, but it’s also very much about how you handle the tuning lever and how you strike the keys while tuning.

Tony

MilanDka thank you so much for answering my question! Really appreciate!

Henry

‘Floating the pitch’ is quite a normal practice in commercial settings amongst tuners I work with and for.

If it’s a concert / studio / then you can assume A440 unless told otherwise. But ‘if it’s sharp leave it sharp’ is perfectly acceptable for most situations, anywhere from A440 to A443 as MilanDka says (442 is usually the highest in my tuning round)

It takes a bit of experience to assess the piano before tuning and deciding on the right pitch.

Optimise pitch feature can help with this, but also factor in where each section of the piano is in relation to a target pitch (the bass section is quicker to pitch correct than the middle for example so if that has skewed the optimise pitch measurement you may want to amend manually).

From the tuners perspective if you are fine tuning within that range you can achieve a more stable tuning by leaving it sharp rather than pitch correcting all the way to A440, and if the humidity drops then it will hopefully stay above a440 long after you’ve tuned the piano. 🤞 🌦️