An excellent video, succinctly describing the pitch raise:

If you are a new client, don’t be scared if you are told your piano needs a pitch raise. Often when I see a new piano tuning client in Leeds or Bradford the piano will be far from A440 – particularly if the piano has not been tuned in many years. My philosophy is that any piano that can be brought up to concert pitch should be brought up to concert pitch as it will not only allow you to play ensemble but will greatly improve its tonal quality. On pianos unable to withstand a huge raise in pitch (many pre-1950s are in this camp), there is the cheaper option of ‘tuning the piano to itself’ – the piano will sound much, much better even with this type of tuning, but if the piano was constructed to be tuned to A440 then its tone will be at its best once it is tuned to that pitch.

For a pitch raise I have to make two seperate visits, two weeks apart. For the first tuning I do a overpull, raising the bass section slightly sharp (between 1 – 3 cents) and the middle and treble sections further sharp (usually 8 – 15 cents depending on how flat the piano was). A pitch raise always involves at least two tunings – an overpull tuning and a fine tuning. Some piano tuners do both on the same day, but I and many others have found better results if you space the two over a couple of weeks. This makes no difference to the pricing either, as a pitch raise generally costs an extra 50% of a standard piano tuning.

My pricing for a pitch raise:

• Vist number one, overpull: £45
• Visit number two, fine tuning: £20

I hope this clears things up. For further questions call me on 07542667040 or email me at richard@pianotunerleeds.co.uk