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In order to properly tune a piano it must be in pitch. Standard
pitch is A440, 440 being the hertz reading of the 49th note on
the piano (A above Middle C).

The unit of measure for a tuner is called “cents”. There are
100 cents between each note of the piano. Therefore, A +
100 cents = A sharp or A – 100 cents = G sharp. Regardless
of the Octave, if a piano is more than 15 – 20 cents flat it may
require more than one tuning, although a quality piano can
often surprise you.

An aggressive player will beat a piano out of tune – resulting
in the need of more frequent tunings. Once in tune, the best
way to ensure tuning stability is to control the climate of the
room the piano is located.

I advise against humidifier units that attach to the pianos. I
liken these units to spraying your piano with a garden hose
during dry periods, and then rotisserie cooking your piano
during periods of high humidity. Simple use of a hygrometer
that measures humidity in a given area is fine, and that may
lead to you installing a humidifier on your heating and air
conditioning units.

Pianos are made of seasoned wood. This means the wood
is breathing. Metropolitan Washington DC summers are
humid, and as such, the soundboard draws in moisture
causing it to expand, which in turn increases the string
tension so that the piano goes sharp. Direct use of a heating
unit dries out the soundboard unnaturally, relaxing the
soundboard unnecessarily, and the piano goes flat. Dryness
alone can be the death of wood, causing it to lose its
strength and may become brittle.

Piano strings generally DO NOT go sharp or flat relative to
one another. The keys to the beautiful music that you play are
the interaction of the strings to the soundboard and the pins
within the pin block holding the strings above that
soundboard.