Piano Tuning & Related Services
For most pianos, tuning is only the beginning. Unlike with cars, where a “tune-up” takes care of a lot of little things, a piano tuning focuses on correcting the pitch of the 200+ strings.
Beyond that, a technician can do A LOT to improve your playing experience. To keep it simple, we’ve organized our services into how we can make your piano sound better, feel better, and look better, plus other related piano services.
Even if you don’t buy a piano from us, we’re happy to come out and service yours. We have the largest tuning team in the Chicagoland area, and we handle 1,000+ service calls every year. As professionals, we’ll never pressure you to upgrade or buy a piano from us!
All prices here are estimates – the technician doing the work on your piano will determine the final price. However, we try to be consistent, fair, and so darn good that you’ll want to recommend us to your friends!
Call (847) 574-2626 to Chat With Our Team Today!
Services for a Better Sounding Piano
Piano Tuning & Pitch Raises – $135/$195
In a tuning, our technician comes out to your home to finely adjust the tension for all 200+ of your piano’s strings, so that each is precisely the correct pitch. We use a combination of tuning-by-ear and specialized technology — the industry best-practice.
Piano tunings from Family Piano cost $135 or $195, depending on the piano’s condition and how long it’s been since its last tuning.
For most players, piano tunings should be scheduled at least annually. However, more discerning pianists will want tunings done at least every 6 months.
Letting a piano go for multiple years without tuning can cause long-term issues!
How long does a standard tuning take? Typically, a piano tuning takes about an hour and a half, depending on the tuner and the piano’s condition. At Family Piano, we’ll also include 15-25 minutes as necessary to make any minor adjustments too — at no extra cost!
Piano Voicing – $95 – $150
Voicing involves adjusting the piano’s hammers to subtly alter tone, usually making it brighter or warmer. It won’t turn a Yamaha into a Bösendorfer, but it will round out any inconsistencies between notes or harsh sounds and generally customize the sound.
Voicing a piano will run about $95 – $150, following a fine tuning and hammer shaping. Any additional regulation is extra.
Chicagoland’s Favorite Team of Piano technicians
My husband and I recently bought a c1940s Baldwin piano at an estate sale. We’d heard so many good things from our music friends about Family Piano Co. We absolutely loved the woman, Julie, who tuned our piano!! She was knowledgeable, professional and really a sweetheart.
She did not rush, even though we were probably the last appointment of the day. She answered our many questions, and volunteered some interesting facts about our piano. Thank you for sending her!
Melanie H.
My mom (Pat) had a piano that belonged to my grandmother. The piano was in pretty bad shape but meant the world to us as there were many memories of wonderful times spent around the piano.
When I first spoke with Alice she didn’t know if she would be able to salvage it. After some hard work done by Alice and the wonderful staff at family piano my mom has her piano back. It looks good as new as plays beautifully.
Alice and her staff are so compassionate, honest and hard working!! What wonderful people. Me and my mom cried the day it was delivered!! Thanks to all of you and you will always be HIGHLY recommended!!
Tiffany V & Pat P
My piano now looks and plays beautifully. Thank you! What a special place you have earned in my heart. I truly appreciate your hard work and help to make this happen.
Alison F.
I am highly satisfied with the tuning and repair I received for my very old piano. The technician was friendly, engaged, and knowledgeable and I could tell he loved pianos. I was very comfortable having him do the work, and the piano is in great shape months later!
Donna I.
Regulation for a Better Feeling Piano
A piano’s action is complicated — and each individual part is necessary to giving pianists the best possible control and expressiveness.
In a full regulation, we’ll adjust 60-80 parts for all 88 of the piano’s keys to make it as responsive and precise as possible. Regulation can be a time-consuming and skilled process, requiring a wide range of tools, supplies and technical knowledge.
Individual Regulation Jobs – $95/hr
These are just few of the items on our 30-point refurbishing checklist which we put all the pianos in our shop through. Our technician can also perform these jobs on your piano, to fix specific problems you’re experiencing. Just give us a call and explain the issue, and we’ll come up with the best solution!
All Day Piano Spa – $499
Our piano spa is perfect for situations where the piano hasn’t been serviced in over 5-10 years — especially if you’re just getting the piano now.
This unique service is the most cost-effective way of getting your piano to the best condition it can be in, and it’s tailored completely to your needs. Our technician, Julie Dodds, will spend 7 hours at your home, doing the “best of” items on our full regulation checklist.
Just $499 for what would regularly be $700 — plus a small mileage fee. We guarantee it’ll make a huge difference — and your piano will thank you!
Common Service Work
- Clean & Vacuum Inside
- Level Key Height
- Adjust Friction as Needed
- Damper Adjustments
- Set Blow Distance
- Adjust Key Dip
- Adjust Lost Motion
- Pedal Adjustments
- Shape Hammers
- Polish Keypins
Cosmetic Repairs for a Better Looking Piano
Julie Dodds, one of our main field technicians, is one of the best piano case repair people in the Midwest (in our humble opinion). Not only does she have an art degree, but she has also taken a wide variety of specialty classes on specific finishes, including polyester which is tricky and on most new “shiny” pianos.
She makes sure that every piano we sell looks as good as it can — and sometimes, customers even think the pianos look brand new!
We don’t promise miracles, but we can promise substantial improvement for a very reasonable rate – $95 per hour. Typically 1-3 “owies” takes 1-2 hours and a full case make-over takes 2-8 hours, depending. We don’t do a full refinish, which involves stripping all the finish off and re-doing the many layers of finish to make it look brand new.
Piano Benches
We work with a variety of suppliers, including benchworld.com, to get you the best matching piano bench at the best prices. Due to wholesale pricing, we can typically sell a bench to you for less than what’s listed on their sites.
Piano Lamps
We are a proudly certified House of Troy vendor, and offer very competitive pricing on piano lamps of all types and tastes. Please note that we only stock a limited amount of lamps in-store due to the very wide selection of styles available.
“Slow Close” Fallboards
Ideally, your piano came with a “slow close” mechanism, to prevent the key cover from slamming on anyone’s hands. If this is a frequent problem, contact us. There are even some decent products on Amazon that you can install yourself!
Cosmetic Repairs
- 1-3 Small Chips or Scratches – $95 – $190
- Full-Case Make-Over – $225+, depending
Bench Improvements
- Repairing a Bench – $95 per hour
- New Padded Benchtop – $150 – $225+
- Tie-on Bench Covers – $40 – $80
- New Bench – $200+
New Keytops
New set of white plastic keytops, grand or upright. $300 + mileage. We typically need to remove the keys for a few days, since it’s a pretty time-consuming project that is more efficient at our workshop.
Digital Piano Repair
Our Electronics Technician, Paul Durand, has decades of experience professionally working on a wide range of electronics, including copiers, amps, and other instruments. He’s also one of the best digital piano and keyboard repair technicians in the Chicagoland area!
Working with the rest of our piano tech team, he has solved some pretty complicated problems for our clients and made sure they’re all satisfied with the solutions. Below are his prices and makes he’s authorized to do work for although do note each case is handled by his discretion!
In-Store Estimate Fee
- $35 if you bring it to us
- 100% is applied to final repair bill
In-Home Rates
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$120 / 1st hour, $60 / each additional hour
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Mileage charge depending on location ($5 – $20 / mile traveled)
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Parts are additional charge
Authorized Service For
- Kawai
- Casio
- Yamaha (including Clavinova)
- Roland
- Kurzweil
- Korg
Note: Paul can service others, it just takes a little longer to get parts, manuals, etc.
Other Piano Products & Services
Piano Benches
We work with a variety of suppliers, including benchworld.com, to get you the best matching piano bench at the best prices. Due to wholesale pricing, we can typically sell a bench to you for less than what’s listed on their sites.
Piano Lamps
We are a proudly certified House of Troy vendor, and offer very competitive pricing on piano lamps of all types and tastes. Please note that we only stock a limited amount of lamps in-store due to the very wide selection of styles available.
“Slow Close” Fallboards
Ideally, your piano came with a “slow close” mechanism, to prevent the key cover from slamming on anyone’s hands. If this is a frequent problem, contact us. There are even some decent products on Amazon that you can install yourself!
Dampp-Chaser
This is a specialized humidifier / dehumidifier built specifically for your piano to increase tuning stability, especially for pianos with fluctuating temperature and humidity issues, like in churches and institutions.
Player Piano Systems
Give us a call if you’re interested in a piano that plays itself. We can discuss the differences between the major systems (PianoDisc, QRS, Disklavier, etc.), and help you work either with us, or with the company that best fits your needs.
“Slow Close” Grand Lids
Would you like to be able to close your grand lid with just one finger? With this Lid Assist system, you can! This standard feature on Hailun grands can be installed on most other grand pianos. Call for more details!
Silent Piano Systems
Related to player pianos, and often installed in conjunction with a player system, these sophisticated “silent piano” systems allow you to play a totally acoustic piano silently with headphones! Furthermore, you can even install one with abilities to augment your acoustic piano’s sound with external speakers.
Quieting Kits
On most upright pianos, we can install a switch to flip a piece of felt between the hammers and the strings, reducing the volume by about 50%. Typically runs about $250 for parts & labor, so significantly more affordable than an entire “silent piano” installation. Grands require a different, more extensive product.
Major Rebuilding / Refinishing
Although Family Piano boasts a very experienced and well-trained team of technicians, we do not rebuild pianos. If you want to replace a soundboard and/or take on other extensive projects, we can make recommendations to companies that specialize in this, based on your piano, needs, location, timeline, and budget.
Piano Moving
We exclusively use Kevin’s Piano Moving, and we wholeheartedly recommend them too. You’ll likely need to leave a voicemail (they’re usually out on the road), but they’ll take good care of you!
Selling Your Piano
Occasionally, we can accept certain pianos as donations, or even purchase them from you ourselves! Visit our page dedicated to selling or donating your piano.
Organs
Since they are pretty different on the inside than pianos, we do not deal in organs. However, we can recommend the right professional for you.