We're considering the piano tuning business...looking for tips! Thanks!
@artsyfartsygal (121)
United States
March 18, 2010 2:17pm CST
Good afternoon~ I'm a piano teacher, and I have a great piano tuner whom I refer all my students to. My husband is now considering going into the piano tuning business. It sounds like most people learn from an online or at-home class. Have you found this to be true? Would you agree with that?
How is the piano tuning business these days? Unfortunately, we all know the economy is just a wreck overall right now. But my husband needs work, and I would automatically have some clients for him. (He'd do this at least part-time for now while looking for work.)
Unfortunately, my business is slow right now, too. But I'm thinking that if my husband did this, we could give each other students.
Is this a hard field to get into? Are you all able to get many clients?
Please give me any information and tips you can about getting into the piano tuning business!
Thanks so much!
~thepianoladie, aka, artsyfartsygal
2 people like this
1 response
@thyst07 (2079)
• United States
18 Mar 10
I can't really give you any tips for starting such a business. But as a musician and pianist, I can tell you that I would be uncomfortable having my piano tuned by someone who learned how to tune a piano from the internet or at home by themselves, and didn't have a great deal of experience. I would be concerned about the possibility that they got flawed information and learned how to do it incorrectly, and that my instrument could possibly be damaged. Having a regular tuning from a piano expert is also a great time to have that person look over the piano and make sure that everything is in good condition, or notice any problems that have arisen and get them repaired quickly. So I would strongly prefer a piano tuner who has expertise and experience.
@artsyfartsygal (121)
• United States
18 Mar 10
Hello, thyst07~
Thank you for your reply. I totally appreciate where you're coming from. I felt the same way when we were first talking about this. That said, it sounds like most tuners learn online/at home. Do you have any idea where or how your tuner was trained? I appreciate your concerns...I'm thinking that in order to gain experience, my husband may have to do some tunings for free (or super cheap) just to get started. I'm hoping that some of my students would allow him to tune their pianos in order to get started.... I'd be very interested if you'd happen to know where/how your tuner was trained.
Thanks again for your reply and for your candor.
Have a great day,
thepianoladie (artsyfartsygal)
2 people like this
@thyst07 (2079)
• United States
19 Mar 10
When I had a piano, I had a regular tuner. I don't know where or how he got his training, but I'm betting it wasn't on the internet, because he'd been in the business for around 30 years. He always marked with a pencil somewhere on the inside of the piano he was working on his name and the date of service. I once bought a piano from the classifieds, and when I had this guy over to tune it he showed me the mark he'd made when he worked on the same piano 20 years before!
