Case studies from my work tuning pianos in Northamptonshire and beyond.

Below are some examples that best illustrate the kind of piano tuning work I do and how I go about doing it. You will see that so much experience has left me quite skilled at piano problem-solving and using initiative to get the job done. No day is the same for the Piano Man!

Piano tuning case studies.

• 1) I visited a customer who had recently moved to a new house. The beautiful Viennese concert grand piano had previously been standing in a relatively unused music room in a large country house with little heating. Now it was in a modern, centrally heated sitting room next to a radiator! When I arrived, I found that the wooden parts of the piano had dried so much that it was almost impossible to tune it. We saved the piano just in time and it has been fine ever since. Had the piano been left any longer, it may not have survived. 
• 2) One autumn I was called by a regular customer who organised the tuning of the local church piano. I had tuned the piano many times before and it was a fine instrument. Now, however, many of the keys didn’t play and when pressed, stuck down. With a Harvest Festival service looming, what was to be done? On opening up the piano, the cause was immediately evident. Mice! Although not nesting IN the piano, (they get in through the pedal holes), they had found lots of lovely felt and leather to nibble on and had left their droppings on the backs of the keys. The droppings had fallen between the keys causing them to block. The problem, although great, was not too serious and now all is well. 
• 3) I had tuned a piano for a new customer and I drew her attention to the fact that it was not playing as well as it should. Many of the red-nosed tapes in the action were broken and playing the piano was difficult. After replacing the old tapes and regulating the piano action, my customer was amazed at the improvement and she is now able to play pieces that she thought were beyond her capabilities. 
• 4) I was telephoned by a new customer who had just bought an inexpensive, second-hand upright piano. But when they tried to play it the carpet below the keyboard was sprinkled with white dust. Why? The piano was riddled with woodworm! 
• 5) I was asked to tune a grand piano for a famous professional musical duo at a concert venue to raise money for charity. However, on arrival, I found the sustain pedal was totally out of action. I tuned the piano, which sounded gorgeous but what about the pedal? Well, with less than a few hours to go before the concert, time was running short. I ensured that the piano worked perfectly for the concert, but I needed to return to do additional work later. 

The case studies above best highlight the manner and variety of the problems that I face as a professional piano tuner. For more information, please don't hesitate to get in touch.