The Tuning Snob

If a piano is not in tune, surely it is out of tune! Simply put, it is one or the other!

Imagine if we piano tuners would turn up to work, flick some kind of switch, tinker about for an hour or so, play the 'Tuner's Waltz', have a cup of tea, get paid, smile and... on to the next job!

But alas, a tuner's life is not so black and white, not so easy. Whatever the piano may be: Steinway, Schimmel, Schiedmayer - just a few of those beginning with S - but Bluthner, Bechstein etc. and all the rest. All these good pianos, need regular tuning and maintenance to keep them sounding good.

Videos posted online, recordings heard on the radio, programs on the TV, all demonstrate the vast spectrum of ideas about in-tune-ness. The concept of 'in tune' can range from the boringly bland to the ridiculous clang of a poorly tuned street piano. Some people seem able to tolerate the most terrible twangs and jarring noises, oblivious to the blatant affront to musicality, while being quite serious in their playing.  

Perhaps being a piano tuner, one is unable to appreciate the honest effort of sincere musicians wanting to express their musical abilities. I find it surprising however that there is not a more widespread appreciation of the concept of being 'in tune'. 

Unhappily, we tuners are not among the most accommodating of people, often disagreeing about ways of doing things. For some, their own ideas and practices are the right ones - anything different, is simply wrong!

There is no point in being snooty about other ways of getting the job done - it is good that the profession is still alive and well! The truth is we can all improve. I'd be embarrassed to be met with some of my earliest tuning efforts. Thankfully, after so many years, nobody is going to complain now. We can only deal with the pianos we tune today with our very best efforts. Building experience one piano at a time. 

Tuner's Journal
© Steve Burden
Pianology

Top Piano Manufacturers

The top piano manufacturers like Steinway, Bluthner, Bechstein, Fazioli and Bosendorfer have established their well-deserved reputations by continually building great pianos. They use the best materials and production methods available and go about the business of building a piano using the unique traditions handed down by their founders as the basis for their pianos. The finished product is an inspiration for any pianist!

In any year, a manufacturer can produce thousands of the same model of piano, but no two of them are exactly alike. A particularly good piano will command a lot of interest and mysteriously, pianists will select it from among others to use for a recital or recording. 

There are plenty of superb pianos makers that would not be listed in the Super-League of Piano Manufacturers, but whose pianos are superbly put together and reward their owners with faithful and ruggedly reliable service year after year.  

In days of old, piano makers used to categorise the various sizes of a grand piano by giving names to the different size-groups, e.g. boudoir grands, semi-grands and cottage grands mini grands. All these charming names, seem to have had precise meanings when the pianos were sold originally, but now, these meanings are not so clear and certainly, the top manufacturers ordinarily categorise grand pianos by size.

The pianos from the top manufacturers will always be expensive to buy, and will need plenty of tuning to keep them sounding good. Most people manage to come to terms with the best of what their own piano can give. But, dreams of one day buying a Steinway or something similar is not so out of place. Ah! One day... 

© Steve Burden