Years of tuning and repair have convinced me that there can be a real love affair between the family and their piano, between the musician and their chosen instrument — and this relationship is best enhanced by the following:

•  A Well Tuned Piano — have you ever heard “bells” when your piano is being played? Those are the higher partials, overtones, that were designed into the piano when it was built. Bringing the best tone quality out of an instrument is one job the piano tuner has.
• A Well-Maintained Piano — do your keys stick in the spring and summertime? This could be due to a humidity change in your home. Or, it could be a sign of action parts that are wearing out or broken. Call your piano tech to check it out — do not live with a piano that does not play well.
• A Clean Piano — one customer asked me to encourage his kids to practice more since they had lost interest in their piano. They were not home when I worked on their piano, and after I had cleaned the keybed out to free up sticking keys and tuned the instrument, I called a couple days later. He thanked me and said his kids could not stay off the piano! It was simple: a clean piano which was in tune and all the keys playing easily — that encouraged the whole family to use their piano!