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Here are some tips for moving that piano. Every once in a while, it becomes necessary to move a piano. We’re not talking about moving it to another room either. When you move to a new home, one of the biggest headaches can be the question of how to move that piano. Most of the time, it’s best to hire a company that advertises that it specializes in moving pianos, not just furniture transportation. There are sorts of ticks and tips that these people know, through trial and error (luckily on someone else’s piano). When they show up and get going, you’ll be surprised by how they package up your piano and the seeming ease with which they get it out of the old place and into the new place. Regardless of how easy it seems, and how many gadgets and tricks they have, rest assured that it does indeed take some serious back power.

If you’re brave, or decide that the budget doesn’t allow, you may chose to move that piano on your own. Or, more properly with your brother in law, and your buddy’s truck. If that’s the way you chose to go, here are some thoughts you might take into consideration as you make preparations. For ease of use, assume you are moving an upright piano. If you have a grand piano to move, you might be a little bit crazy in thinking you should move it yourself.

First of all, never push the piano all the way up onto its end. The insides of the piano have hundreds of high-tension wires in there, and some of that is used to having gravity go in a certain direction. Changing the direction of gravity by moving the piano onto its end can cause some pretty serious damage, not the least of which could be a serious torque of the soundboard, the area used to amplify the sound of the little hammers hitting strings.

Make sure to wrap the piano in moving blankets as well – lots of them. But remember to leave the handles at the back exposed for you to use. Also make sure to unscrew the two front legs. If you don’t you will need to find out how you can order more of them, because they almost certainly will get damaged in the move. Check the casters as well. Doe they swivel, or are the uni-directional? This will help you determine whether it will need to be lifted to go around corners, or if it can be pushed. Also note the material the casters are made from – some are wooden, and as such may be chipped or otherwise out-of-round. That won’t make it fun either.

Any way you slice it, moving your own piano can turn out to be a stressful and sweaty proposition.