Piano tuning can be a somewhat expensive maintenance task, but it's very important for several reasons. Here are some of the most important benefits to getting your piano tuned regularly. 

It Helps You Learn Pitch

Playing a piano that's in tune will help you learn what the correct pitches sound like. It helps you understand what the chords should sound like when they are in tune as well. It's all part of becoming a musician, and it's a skill that you can learn somewhat passively through playing a piano that sounds right. 

It's Easier for Others to Hear

When you're learning the piano, even if you can't tell whether it's in tune at this point, some of your neighbors probably can. It's a courtesy to them to play a piano that's in tune and sounds nice. 

It Helps Your Teacher

Your piano teacher also probably has a more refined ear when it comes to sensing pitches that are off. But when they are listening to your playing, they may sense that something is off about it, but have trouble distinguishing the off-tune piano from other issues with your playing. In other words, playing an off tune piano is distracting, and it won't help you grow as a musician as quickly as being able to focus on issues other than tuning. 

It's More Gratifying to Play

You might not be sure which notes are off pitch, but surely, you'll be able to tell overall when the song that you're playing matches up with recordings that you've heard professionally. A tuned piano helps you get there faster, and playing on a piano that's well tuned can be motivating in that it makes you feel more accomplished in a shorter amount of time. 

It's Good for the Piano

And finally, get your piano tuned because it's good for your instrument. Each piano string is supposed to be at a certain tension; the amount of tension in the string dictates the pitch. When some notes are not tuned correctly and others are, it creates uneven tension. The bar that holds tension on all of the strings becomes stressed. You could risk having a string snap, which could damage other piano parts, or you could simply weaken your tuning mechanism. Either way, the routine costs of piano tuning are well worth it to get all of the benefits above, while at the same time preventing damage to your expensive instrument.