Doubts about tuning...

[elviro]

Hello! 

Lets see: I have been playing guitar for some years. And now I'm starting to teach myself piano with some books and a midi keyboard. As I want to get serious with practice, I've started dreaming about purchasing an acoustic piano.

My question is: How frequently must a piano be tuned? A guitar must be tuned nearly each time you pick it for playing... and if a piano is similar, maybe this kind of maintenance would bee too expensive... or, with proper learning, could I tune it myself?

Thanks in advance!! 

[faulty_damper]

When a piano should be tuned depends on numerous factors primarily heat, humidity, and how much you bang on the keys.

Heat - the action parts, wood, iron frame will expand when it increases in temperature.
Humidity - the more humid it is on the outside, the more moisture will seep into the wood.
Loud banging - the louder you bang on the keys, the more likely the strings will go out of tune faster than if you played softly.

So it depends on where you live, the location of the piano in your home, and how much loud banging you give your piano.  At least twice a year is what tuners recommend, though they are probably biased.   New pianos usually need more tunings the first year because it takes time for it to acclimate itself.

I tune my piano at least once every 2 months but that's because I tune it myself.  It's not that difficult to learn how.