Times are tough financially and if you are lucky enough to have a piano for entertainment or lessons, you may not have the money in the budget to pay to have it tuned. There are a few things you can attempt yourself to learn how to tune a piano. If you are able to tune the instrument yourself even in part, you may be able to continue to play until you can pay to professionally tune. Or it is possible you may learn enough through your studies and trials with tuning that your instrument may not need further servicing. If you find this is something you have a knack for, you may even tune a piano for friends, family or as a side job for part time work.

Tuning a piano is a precise, delicate process. Be warned that it will probably not go perfectly the very first time, or even the first few times. Above all, it is important to be gentle with your instrument. Try not to scratch anything or break any strings. It is best not to learn on an expensive piano and it is always easiest to learn when another individual is teaching you.

If you have a piano, you will need to tune it from time to time in order to keep the keys on the right notes. To learn the basics, read this guide on how to tune a piano.

You will need some specific tools to tune your piano. Here's a list:

1. Tuning hammer - A tuning hammer is also known as a wrench or a lever and is not really a hammer. You won't be using this instrument to pound on anything, it is simply a tool used for turning the pins. While it looks like a wrench and socket, this lever is specially made for tuning pianos and is not something that you should look for a cheap substitute for. As part of the tuning, you will use this tuning hammer to turn the pin ever so slightly to get the correct note sound. The hammer will have a star socket which fits the pin head and helps with a good firm grasp. Many come with interchangeable star sockets so you can fit different pic head sizes.http://www.tuningyourpiano.com/A_pictorial,_step-by-step_tutorial_presenting_a_simplified_method_for_tuning_your_piano_yourself.html#axzz0mBOwA2h3
2. 2 Muting wedges- you will want at least two, one for each string beside the one you are working. More may be used to begin with as you may interact with more strings are you are learning to tune. The muting wedge helps silence all but the string you are tuning.
3. A tuner, either hand-held or an online version - This is critical. Unless you are going to tune totally by ear or with a tuning fork, having this tuner is critical. It is possible to tune from another instrument but the electronic tuner makes the process much faster and the cost is minimal considering it can be used for years.

1. Make sure the room is free of noise and distractions
2. Open piano
3. Find the tone for middle C on your tuner
4. Find the pin for middle C
5. Start with the middle string
6. Place wedges in surrounding strings to stop them from creating any sound (there are up to 3 strings per key, all tuned to the same note)
7. Slowly and carefully turn the pin with the tuning hammer
8. Turn to the right to raise pitch, and to the left to lower it
9. Take care not to loosen pin by wiggling or moving jerkily
10. Move wedges and proceed with the next string
11. Repeat until all keys are tuned

You may not be ready for a full tune and may just want to work with the one pesky note that seems a bit off. Just remember if you damage that one pin, you may risk not being able to get things back in tune ever. If there is a problem, and the simple tuning on your own does not seem to work, before you damage something to the point of needing a costly repair, call someone professional to come take a look.

Some professional piano tuners will not accept an instrument which has to many issues because it is not possible to get it totally in tune after damage has been done, or if in tune it may not hold for any length of time. You may consider having the professional look at your instrument regularly so there is no concern later about being able to work on it. You may consider doing every other tuning yourself.

If you want the best possible sound quality from your piano immediate;y, call a professional tuner. These specialists spend years learning how to coax quality tones from the instruments, and you are highly unlikely to replicate their results as a newbie (it is also easily to accidentally cause damage). Just look online or in your local yellow pages to find a piano tuner near you.