Piano Tuner

I have needed a Piano Tuner for several different Pianos over the years - including a Goodwood Piano, a Grand Piano and a Pianola.

I eventually deserted Pianos with Strings and bought a Yamaha Clavinova. I now have a Roland Electric Piano.

Why have I abandoned the traditional piano with all those strings - those low wide slowly vibrating strings and the high fast vibrating strings? It's because these strings need constant TUNING.

It's not like a guitar which has just six strings, or a violin with only four. It has hundreds of strings - some notes have two or three strings each. The Piano needs Tuning at least twice a year. The Piano Tuner becomes a friend but he (it's usually 'he') may one day stop tuning pianos. Then what do you do?

Is it easy still to find a new Pinao Tuner? A good Piano tuner? This is a traditional craft and few young school leavers nowadays are interested in becoming a Piano Tuner.

Today is an age of automation. A Piano Tuner has to use just his Ear and a Tuning Fork to get the 'correct' Pitch. Even with electronic pitch machines a Piano has to be tuned manually - by a Piano tuner - a person, not a machine. The Piano Tuner has to visit the Piano. The Piano can't go to the tuner!

But to complicate things, the Pitch isn't really correct. The intervals are adjusted - untuned - just a little and that is skillful.

This is Very Difficult, believe me. I have tried it.

The first problem is to get hold of some Piano Tuning tools. This was more difficult than you would expect as at the time suppliers were unwilling to let just any old person have them. A sort of closed shop.

Having eventually got hold of the tools - the tuning fork, the levers, the spare felts and so on, I set about 'tuning' a Piano! Well, I knew I had a Good Ear......

Oh dear!