Why Do Piano Strings Last For So Long?

Question

Hi,
On every stringed instrument I know of, strings wear out in a matter of weeks and must be replaced. Piano strings don't. They hold an enourmous amount of tension and are subjected to thousands and thousands of hard hits, and yet they manage to last for decades. How come?
Also, how can they keep their tension so well that they only require tuning twice a year? I have to check the tuning of my guitar every day. Violin players do the same. How come piano players can get away with tuning their pianos just once in several months? Why do piano strings stay in tune so much longer than violin or guitar strings?
Thank you.

Answer 1

Piano strings are made with different materials, primarily a very stiff center wire core that is known amazingly as "Piano Wire". This wire has almost no stretch and would be near impossible to press down with the fingers, even on the thinnest strings. The wire is wrapped also with at least one other stiff wire. The strings are held in place on one end firmly and the other end with a metal pin than can only be turned with a special tool. Basically since the strings don't stretch and the pin doesn't move the strings stay in tune. They are only really effected by the changes in weather from season to season. BTW, violin strings can last up to a year, not weeks like guitar strings and that is because they are made better and from higher grade materials, and thus much more expensive. Probably it is a lot more technical than this, but that is the basics as I understand it.

Answer 2

They are made of steel, not nylon. They are not subjected to the huge amount of flex based on low tension instruments like guitars. They are hit by soft(ish) felt, not strummed with a hard pick. You will rarely see a piano string flex more than a few millimeters, even the seven foot long ones. On the other hand, you will see a guitarist bend strings half an inch or more on the neck, rubbing it against the fretboard and fret and that's on a 30" string.



Here's a secret: Piano _strings_ hold their tuning so well, they don't ever have to be tuned. It's the flex of the instrument based on heat/cool and humidity cycles and the torque applied to the tuning pins that causes a piano to need tunings.



The problems with piano strings are:

1. Rust, if they rust they will break at the tuning coil, the pressure bar, the bridges or the hitch pins. It happens.

2. Copper coils clogging with dirt. Bass strings have a lovely attractive property to dust and moisture in the air. They become dead and dull over time. With regular maintenance (tuning) the tuner will knock some of that crud off.

3. Copper coils unwinding. If they start to unwind, all you hear is buzz buzz buzz.

Answer 3

Not as constantly as a violin, but it's usually recommended to tune it twice a year, or anytime it's moved from one location to another. If the piano hasn't been tuned in a long time (or depending on what repairs it needs) it may not be possible to tune the piano to standard pitch in one go. The tuner might have to bring it close to tune, let it sit so that the mechanical stress in the instrument evens out, and then tune it again. Also, something that I've always been told--don't put the piano against an outside wall if you can at all avoid it. Changes in temperature and humidity can make it go out of tune pretty quickly

Answer 4

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