Piano Tuner West Virginia on Strings in a Piano

As your piano tuner West Virginia and the surrounding areas, I am occasionally asked about the types of strings used in a piano. A piano has a wide range of pitches, requiring different sizes and types of strings. If you have a grand piano, it is easy to look at the different string types and sizes that we will discuss. If you have a vertical piano and are not able to see the strings, we will try to describe them well enough that you can visualize them. Please ask us to show them to you at your next tuning.

Generally there are two types of piano strings, but many sizes of strings. All the strings are made of high tension steel. The strings in the middle and treble of a piano are called “plain wire” strings, as they are made of a single piece of steel wire. The bass strings have a high tension steel core, but are covered with a copper winding. We will discuss each separately.

The plain wire piano strings come in many diameters and lengths. The reason is that a shorter and thinner string will have a higher pitch, and a thicker and longer string will have a lower pitch. The strings at the very top of the treble section are only a couple inches long and are the thinnest wire. Heading from there to toward the bass, each piano string is made slightly longer. The diameter does not change with each string, but changes every few piano strings. There are three strings per note in the area where there are plain wire strings. Three strings are used instead on one for greater volume.

The bass strings are wound with copper to make them lower pitched. If the piano construction had continued with plain wire all the way to the bottom of the bass section, the piano would need to be 20 feet long in a grand piano or 20 feet tall in a vertical piano. It would not be practical to have a piano that size. By making the strings thicker, then the pitch is lower. Because these strings are thicker, three strings per note will not fit in the piano. As a result, there are two strings per note in the tenor section, and one very thick string per note in the bass section.

If you have any other questions about pianos, please let us know. Harker Piano Service is your West Virginia piano tuning expert. We also provide professional piano services in the West Virginia surrounding areas.