Looking after an acoustic piano, is not hard at all. There are a few things that will make such a difference to keeping your piano in tip top condition, as well as assisting with maintaining the tuning. In some ways, I think an acoustic piano, is much like a fussy pet – you have to take into consideration the little things, or else it won’t sound very pleasant.
The first thing that you can do to look after your acoustic piano, is place it against an internal wall. If you place a piano against an external wall, the piano is going to experience more temperature variations and temperature variations can and do make a piano go out of tune quicker. For the same reasons, it is not advisable to have a piano near a draft or cooling or heating source. The best place for a piano is somewhere near the middle of your home that has the least temperature fluctuations.
Another cause that will make your acoustic piano go out of tune quicker is moving it around. Even though a lot of people think that a piano is sort of a piece of furniture, it will not like being moved around. Again, think of it like a fussy pet, that likes its spot and doesn’t want to move from it. I have heard it said that you should wait a couple of weeks after every time you move it, to get it tuned. The ideal is to get it tuned after you move an acoustic piano, and if you move it a lot, then it is going to need a lot of tuning.
Speaking of tuning, I believe that a piano should be tuned at least every year. I have heard that it should be tuned as frequently as every six months. A good piano tuner will be able to be more specific about what your individual piano might require.
One thing that you must never do with a piano, whether it is acoustic or electric, is to ever put any drinks on the instrument. If that drink spills, it would be disastrous as you would ruin the electrics in an electric piano, or cause the wooden internal components to swell and render part of the piano as useless. Both would be quite expensive to fix. So, don’t ever put drinks on a piano.
The last thing I wish to mention is that you shouldn’t treat an acoustic piano as a piece of furniture. It is not the place to dump random stuff on – you should only be having music books, or a metronome , or a lamp – that is all. This way you will be looking after the exterior of the piano.
Obviously a piano tuner can give you more information about looking after your acoustic piano, but following my tips is at least a good place to start.