Can I buy my own piano tuning kit and tune my own piano?

I know they exist but I’m confused on what exactly I would need or not need. Do they come with instructions or are they tools that only a professional would know how to use? Obviously I’m clueless and would appreciate ANY info on this subject.

Yes you can buy a tuning hammer, some wedge mutes, and a book on tuning. It will take you ages to get it done the first time and you may decide to give up (especially if you break a string or two).

All your tuning hammer movements should be very small. If you’re twisting more than five-degrees and you don’t hear a radical change in pitch, you’ve obviously turned the wrong pin.

If you can do it well, a tuning hammer is a good thing to have around for tuning a few individual string (spot tuning) between your regular tunings. Don’t go with the $15 goose-neck tuning hammer though; get something that isn’t going to destroy the tuning pins in your piano. I have a Hale tuning hammer that was about $70 in the early 1980s. That same model is now offered by Schaff as their model S4

… I like fixed-length tuning hammers, adjustable length ones are available, but cost more.

Real Piano KIT 2011 – by HEXLOOPS