（Capture From Youtube）


During the "one belt, one road" forum held in Beijing, with various heads of state from around the world gathered together under one roof, the media caught on camera Putin going over to a seemingly grand piano just prior to a meeting showing off his pianist skills. However, the piano had not been tuned for a while thus off key and seriously out of tune, but Putin kept going smiling wryly to himself. We asked some musicians their opinion, who confirmed that the piano was out of tune.

The Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) was held in Beijing on 14th to 15th of May with various world leaders attending, one of which was the Russian President Vladimir Putin. The piano incident happened on the 14th of May, when Putin was waiting to attend a meeting with the chinese president xi jinping at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, during which he went over to an outwardly luxurious grand piano to show off his pianist skills by playing a tune. While Putin tried to show off his talent, the piano was off-key and seriously out of tune, but according to sources, what Putin played were two Soviet classics: “Moscow Windows” by Tikhon Khrennikov, and “Evening Song” by Vasily Solovyov-Sedoi.

Many netizens left comments on the Youtube video (see below), pointing out “that piano is in need of tuning”, that the notes were off-key, some suspected that the piano was “probably made in china”, some ridiculed other heads-of-state such as xi jinping of not able to play the piano, and some pitied Putin that his skillful hands met an unturned piano.

Passion Times asked two musicians their opinion, both of which straightforwardly confirmed that the piano was out of tune. According to Passion Times’ show host Tam Lok Hang pointed out that each key in a piano has three strings but those in the bass register has only one or two, and as for the keys Putin hit, the three strings obviously have not been correctly tuned, which is why three different notes could be heard when a key is hit. Tam also noted that a piano in a professional setting would be tuned every day, as changes in the weather, temperature and humidity all have an effect on the piano. Another musician also said, a piano going out of tune have many reasons: the quality of the piano, humidity, sunshine, etc. they all can affect the tuning, while lack of maintenance is obviously also a factor.