The piano in your home can serve many different purposes, not all involving someone sitting down and playing. Anyone who does might be looking to enjoy themselves casually, but many piano players are serious students. In some homes, a piano is a cultural essential, and the right instrument might get treasured as a family heirloom. Whatever role your instrument serves in your home, caring for your home’s piano is essential.
1. Regular Tuning
Your entire piano care plan needs to center around regular tuning. Pianos gradually slip out of tune with time and use, and it might happen so slowly that you don’t notice it happening. This is a potential DIY project, but professional technicians can do the work quickly and easily, leaving your evening or weekend free for other activities you might enjoy more.
2. Finding the Right Spot
A lot of effective piano maintenance is preventative. Ensure your piano is located away from heat sources such as air vents, radiators, and direct sunlight. Keep a consistent temperature and humidity in that room to avoid expansion and contraction of the wood.
3. Freedom From Dust and Liquids
Dust your piano as often as anything else in your home, and don’t use the top of it as a shelf or display area. If you want a mug of coffee or a drink nearby when playing, put it on a side table instead of on the instrument itself. Spilled drinks can stain the outer surface or make keys stick to each other inside.
4. Voicing
This goes beyond simple tuning and involves adjusting many different piano parts to make it sound better. Voicing can generally improve the sound quality or compensate for specific tonal issues.
5. Routine Playing
Someone in your home should play your piano at least once a week. This keeps the moving parts in good working order and minimizes the dust settling inside the instrument. Regular playing lets you notice if the instrument doesn’t sound or work quite right, extending the piano’s lifespan.
6. Covering Keys When Not Playing
Dusting was mentioned earlier, and you should do that regularly. However, covering the keys is best when no one is playing. Some pianos have covers you can pull out or lower, but you might also need to buy a cloth key cover. This prevents dust, dirt, and other contaminants from getting in between the keys, and it’s beneficial if you have any pets in your home.
Minimize Your Stress
The day you walked into a piano store or visited one online and bought this classical instrument was the day you brought something beautiful into your home. With the proper care, owning a piano shouldn’t be a source of stress but instead a place to unwind. Playing an instrument you love reduces anxiety, and mastering an instrument and the music you play helps your brain and self-esteem grow. Time with your piano should be one of the high points of your day, and to protect it, spend a few minutes each week being proactive about its care.
Brooks Reynolds 
Sarah Ross 
Staff Account