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Here are a few basic rules that, if followed, will enable your piano tuner to do a better job for you and your piano:
- Use the same tuner consistently. If a tuner services the same piano over and over then he will become acquainted with the instrument and will be better able to alert you to potential problems that may be arising over time, but that he might not recognize the first time he services the instrument. Many people call a large dealer when they need service, who then sends out his next available tuner. Others lose the name of their tuner between visits then, when they get ready for a tuning, open the yellow pages and pick a name at random. While all may be competent techs, this method eliminates the probability of a single tuner getting to know your piano and its needs. Find a tuner you like, then when he comes out put his card somewhere so that you won’t lose it and add a note of when the piano should be tuned next. Once you make the next appointment, put a big sign up to make sure you remember the appointment.
- Be on time. If you make an appointment for 10 a.m. and go to the gym at 8 a.m., don’t come out of the locker room at 9:15 and decide to join your workout buddy for a coffee break before going home. Your tuner has scheduled his work day around starting on your piano at 10 a.m. If you are late and he is booked solid, as is hopefully the case (means he is good and is in high demand), he will either have to rush somewhat to get through with your piano and get to the next client on schedule, resulting in a less-than-top-quality tuning, or your lack of punctuality may cause him to be running late for all of his other clients for the rest of the day, at the very least inconveniencing them and him, at the worst causing him to have to cancel or re-schedule a few appointments, resulting in a loss of income for him.
- Try to give the tuner a reasonable period (1-2 hours) of relative quiet. While it is not reasonable for a tuner to insist on absolute silence for the whole period (it won’t happen anyway), it is very reasonable to expect a client to turn off stereos and TVs in the room with, and in rooms adjoining, the piano. It is reasonable to expect the client not to run the vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, laundry or dishwasher while the tuner is working. It is reasonable to expect the client not to schedule the tuner on the same day as a plumber, roofer or carpet layer (as examples). We know that emergencies happen, so if the air conditioning fails, there is a plumbing emergency, or there is a major storm and a falling tree branch leaves a major hole in the roof, let us know ASAP. We would, in most cases, rather re-schedule in that type of situation anyway, but what is not acceptable is for you to wait until the tuner arrives at the appointed hour to let him know about the problem. If you give him notice, he has the opportunity top try and schedule another job to fill that time slot and, if that fails, he has the opportunity to surprise his wife and take her out to breakfast.
- Remove all pictures, knick-knacks, etc. from the piano before time for the appointment. This is not the tuner’s job although it often gets left for him to do. I was rarely more terrified than when I was put in the position of removing collectible porcelain from a piano. I could always visualize myself stumbling and dropping the most expensive piece in the collection.
As stated at the beginning, if you follow this list of simple rules you will give your tuner a much better opportunity to do a good job for you. If you think of something I left out, please leave a comment.
Photo Credit, jaegercar
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