Piano’s pitch changes due to 2 major reasons:
1. The initial stretching & settling of strings when the piano is new. In the case of new pianos, the pitch drops quickly for the first couple of years as the new strings stretch and wood parts settle. It’s very important to maintain new piano at the proper pitch during this period, so the string tension and piano structure can reach a stable equilibrium.
2. Climate changes. That’s because most of the piano parts are made of wood. As the relative humidity goes up, the wooden parts swell, causes the pitch to raise. But contract during dry times and causing the pitch to drop. The drop in the dry season tends to exceed the rise during humid times, so the net result is a drop in pitch each year that the piano isn’t serviced.
(Most piano manufacturers recommend three to four tunings the first year, and at least two per year after that.)
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