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Hello to all. My name is Ken I'm brand new here and I'm aspiring to learn the art of piano restoration and maintenance. I'm looking for some advice on how to best proceed. A little background info on me first. I'm 44, a God loving Christian, married to my best friend and have 4 great boys. I've always had love for woodworking, fine furniture, and have been working with wood as long as I can remember and am very skilled. By day I repair large ( some over 25' long) production digital printers and am just about topped out in my trade. I've been a tech for 24 years and am frequently called to fix the problems no one else can. In 2001 I placed in the top 1% out of 10,000 techs at a friendly in house world wide competition my employer had...not to shabby. Lastly I have been a F.O.H sound engineer for my church for about 14 years. Up till recently I was on every Sunday, for all 3 services. I have handled the sound for or largest outreaches of 2500+ people. Now I mainly take care of our Christmas Production...usually a 2hr show with 4 performances serving about 2000+ people in it's 4 day run. Here I run my little LS9 maxed out...28 mics at once, custom fader layer and the choir is mixed in 5 part harmony in 5 sub groups right down to the individual...and it only take about 125 hours of programming to get started!  SO ......why a piano tech right? Well I'll try to land the plane so bear with me A little longer. My dearly departed MIL had a love for antiques, and wound up with a parlor grand that was supposedly from Carnegie Hall in NYC. My FIL just sold the house up here and is moving to Florida for good. My wife has always wanted the piano, it was her mom's and they were very close. SO...Sitting in my dining room is a 1902 6' Knabe parlor grand. Trouble is it needs a lot of work....a full rebuild actually. The case isn't too bad...it's the soundboard. It has multiple cracks and has been butchered by someone in the past, even the bridge is cracked. I popped out the key frame for some housekeeping ( it had a plant spilled in it...thank God it wasn't in the action!) and that's when I fell in love. I am in awe of the workings and the the fact this was hand made over 100 years ago. Before everyone goes there just wait...I am NOT going to lay a hand on this instrument....well..not yet  . Have you ever had a God moment? I think this was mine. Here comes the landing... I love woodworking, am super mechanically inclined, and have an ear for sound.....enter piano and bam....seems obvious to me. I'd like to start doing some training and learn to tune, both aural and ETD, take on a few smaller project pianos and flip them, and at some point do a full restoration ( not just repair...) on my wife's Knabe. I like my job...but it's very, very, very high stress. If I start now this could very well turn out to be a great retirement job. My 3rd oldest son loves music ( plays the sax) and just started wood shop in school. Turns out he loves it also...hmmmm could be a " & son" here. SO...I'm starting with Reblitz's book, are any of the correspondence courses worth it? I'd love to be able to take a week of vacation and apprentice somewhere. Yes I know..it gonna take more than that..it's getting the hands on with a master. It may take me 3~5 years just to tune well..I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my sound EQ'S, I don't imagine I'll be any different at this. Sorry for the really long post.....all comments and help are welcome..thanks...Ken.
Last edited by kennyz; 10/28/13 09:59 PM.
Ken Zaleski
Once upon a tune...old world piano tuning and restoration
Friendsville, PA
Dampp Chaser certified installer
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Hi Ken,
I wish the best for you, but in my experience, really successful technicians are also accomplished musicians.
I have been teaching piano tuning for eight years and have taught students from many different musical backgrounds, from zero to gifted, and I would say 100% of the time, the student with the most musical background is the one who takes off with the tuning part. My courses are now geared specifically for musicians; the better the musician, the better they do in my course.
I'm not saying you wouldn't be successful, just that it will be a struggle without the music background. Now, maybe I'm wrong but I didn't read anything in your bio about being a musician, I just assumed. Correct me if I'm wrong.
The other part, the action work, etc, could be tackled in a strategic way I suppose, if you are careful and use the services of a qualified technician, who also has "the heart of a teacher". (You might get that quote.)
The Reblitz is a good start. (Not for tuning, IMHO) Study piano theory and learn to play the piano (if you don't know how) and see where it takes you.
Good luck.
P.S. I do not recommend correspondence courses; this skill must be taught with a personalized element. The correspondence courses I've seen are sorely lacking in that department. Again, IMHO.
Last edited by Mark Cerisano, RPT; 10/28/13 10:26 PM.
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Hello Ken,
It sounds like you have everything it takes from what I just read. I would suggest getting a piano that you can start turning pins on. Get a feel for the tuning hammer on the pins, tune some unisons everyday and then learn how to tune intervals. Just get an older piano for cheap... or possibly even for free somewhere that you can practice on without any apprehension. This will give you a pretty good idea of what the tuning part is like and whether or not you'll enjoy it before you decide to invest more time in having someone teach you how to tune. Some people put a tuning lever on a pin for the first time and decide it isn't for them right away.
You might want to look into joining the Piano Technicians Guild as an Associate Member, if possible.
I personally think the Randy Potter course is a great 'everything in a nutshell to get started' package. You can check out more on that in the archives.
One thing I might mention. This work isn't all that low-stress once you get going full-time. It might seem like a low stress occupation but it really isn't, unless you learn how to pace yourself.
Good luck, have fun!
Last edited by Jbyron; 10/28/13 10:39 PM.
Tuner-Technician
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Mark...well not a complete non musician. I do play drums..poorly now but used to be pretty good (haven't had a kit in years, it had to go when my last son arrived) and I am learning music theory and to play piano as well...I know it's important and I've always wanted to.
Jbyron...Thats what I'd like to do..get something else to tinker and start to learn on and I would LOVE to be acomplished enough to join the Guild someday.
Stress...well let's see I'm an hour and 15 minutes from home at 9:30 at night, I've already worked over 12 hours and they expected my to drive 5hrs to rochester ny that night without going home to fix a bookletmaker that no one else knew how to fix. You be the judge.
Last edited by kennyz; 10/28/13 10:36 PM.
Ken Zaleski
Once upon a tune...old world piano tuning and restoration
Friendsville, PA
Dampp Chaser certified installer
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 6,714
6000 Post Club Member
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6000 Post Club Member
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Posts: 6,714 |
I know several drummers who are excellent professional piano technicians. If you have already trained your ear for handling sound reinforcement-that is a plus because you have to hear the entire ensemble together to balance the parts. This kind of hearing skill is very important for the tone-regulation process.
To learn tuning, rebuilding, regulating. and repairs all at once would be a formidable agenda. I suggest you contact your local PTG chapter and attend some meetings if you can. Visit any rebuilding shops nearby. Learn something about the business before making a learning plan. You could go into Philly and see Cunningham Piano. Out in Robesonia is David Snyder.
Good luck.
In a seemingly infinite universe-infinite human creativity is-seemingly possible.
According to NASA, 93% of the earth like planets possible in the known universe have yet to be formed.
Contact: toneman1@me.com
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My mentor was a jazz drummer, and an outstanding piano technician.
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Joined: Oct 2013
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First..thank you all for the great comments and all the advice. Just a footnote about my stress comment, By no means did I want to belittle what anyone does. Tuning a for a high end client, a full schedule, and approaching deadlines all sound stressful to me. It's the unrealistic schedule along with a total lack of regard for myself and my family that my current employer has that lead me to my comment Admittedly the situation I posted is usually not the norm, (however this happened several times this fall). The idea of setting my own schedule and working for myself, someone with morals and integrity, sounds wonderful.
Ken Zaleski
Once upon a tune...old world piano tuning and restoration
Friendsville, PA
Dampp Chaser certified installer
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Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 307
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Hi Ken,
I wish the best for you, but in my experience, really successful technicians are also accomplished musicians.
I have been teaching piano tuning for eight years and have taught students from many different musical backgrounds, from zero to gifted, and I would say 100% of the time, the student with the most musical background is the one who takes off with the tuning part. My courses are now geared specifically for musicians; the better the musician, the better they do in my course. This is the first time I've ever heard that being a musician was a requirement or even helpful in order to learn tuning. Au contraire, being a musician just made all the theory behind tuning clash with the music theory that I knew. No matching partials here!! Make a minor 3rd wider??? Make a Perfect 5th narrower?? Octaves are not really perfect??? I'm still bothered by all this confusion. Playing some arpegios up and down the keyboard to show off your tuning don't make you a musician. Herr Weiss
"Respond intelligently, even to unintelligent treatment."
-Lao Tzu
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 3,087
3000 Post Club Member
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3000 Post Club Member
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Hi Weiss,
I didn't understand your post. Did you you mean "...don't make you a tuner."?
PM or post in a new topic any questions you have about tuning theory and I'l try to help.
I wasn't implying that non-musicians couldn't learn to tune, only that in my course, they are the most successful.
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Joined: Mar 2009
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2000 Post Club Member
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Being a musician (specifically, a pianist) and learning the tuning and voicing a&s can be a double-edged sword.
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Ken: Welcome aboard! Get a freebie baby grand and practice on that. You may want to contact: http://haydenpiano.com/ I have never met him but have heard good things about him. He could point you in the direction of the Local PTG Chapter. Or if you get over my way, give me a call and drop by for coffee.
Jeff Deutschle
Part-Time Tuner
Who taught the first chicken how to peck?
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Hi Kenny, welcome to the board. I wish you good luck on your quest! One minor point, could you break up your future posting using paragraphs? It is very difficult to read a post that long without breaks in it. Thanks!
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Hello to all. My name is Ken I'm brand new here and I'm aspiring to learn the art of piano restoration and maintenance. I'm looking for some advice on how to best proceed. A little background info on me first. I'm 44, a God loving Christian, married to my best friend and have 4 great boys. I've always had love for woodworking, fine furniture, and have been working with wood as long as I can remember and am very skilled. By day I repair large ( some over 25' long) production digital printers and am just about topped out in my trade. I've been a tech for 24 years and am frequently called to fix the problems no one else can. In 2001 I placed in the top 1% out of 10,000 techs at a friendly in house world wide competition my employer had...not to shabby. Lastly I have been a F.O.H sound engineer for my church for about 14 years. Up till recently I was on every Sunday, for all 3 services. I have handled the sound for or largest outreaches of 2500+ people. Now I mainly take care of our Christmas Production...usually a 2hr show with 4 performances serving about 2000+ people in it's 4 day run. Here I run my little LS9 maxed out...28 mics at once, custom fader layer and the choir is mixed in 5 part harmony in 5 sub groups right down to the individual...and it only take about 125 hours of programming to get started! SO ......why a piano tech right? Well I'll try to land the plane so bear with me A little longer. My dearly departed MIL had a love for antiques, and wound up with a parlor grand that was supposedly from Carnegie Hall in NYC. My FIL just sold the house up here and is moving to Florida for good. My wife has always wanted the piano, it was her mom's and they were very close. SO...Sitting in my dining room is a 1902 6' Knabe parlor grand. Trouble is it needs a lot of work....a full rebuild actually. The case isn't too bad...it's the soundboard. It has multiple cracks and has been butchered by someone in the past, even the bridge is cracked. I popped out the key frame for some housekeeping ( it had a plant spilled in it...thank God it wasn't in the action!) and that's when I fell in love. I am in awe of the workings and the the fact this was hand made over 100 years ago. Before everyone goes there just wait...I am NOT going to lay a hand on this instrument....well..not yet . Have you ever had a God moment? I think this was mine. Here comes the landing... I love woodworking, am super mechanically inclined, and have an ear for sound.....enter piano and bam....seems obvious to me. I'd like to start doing some training and learn to tune, both aural and ETD, take on a few smaller project pianos and flip them, and at some point do a full restoration ( not just repair...) on my wife's Knabe. I like my job...but it's very, very, very high stress. If I start now this could very well turn out to be a great retirement job. My 3rd oldest son loves music ( plays the sax) and just started wood shop in school. Turns out he loves it also...hmmmm could be a " & son" here. SO...I'm starting with Reblitz's book, are any of the correspondence courses worth it? I'd love to be able to take a week of vacation and apprentice somewhere. Yes I know..it gonna take more than that..it's getting the hands on with a master. It may take me 3~5 years just to tune well..I'm a perfectionist when it comes to my sound EQ'S, I don't imagine I'll be any different at this. Sorry for the really long post.....all comments and help are welcome..thanks...Ken. Hello, welcome etc but I could not read by lack of paragraphs . Please separate your phrases, it is very uncomfortable (coming from me it is funny,as I write a lot in pidgin Frenglish ,but really think that others will have trouble and give up before understanding what you want.) Viva le folklore P.S by chance, ... did you marry Barbie ?
Last edited by Olek; 10/29/13 05:00 PM.
Professional of the profession.
Foo Foo specialist
I wish to add some kind and sensitive phrase but nothing comes to mind.!
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Sorry for my lack for proper English spacing....Lol. No...I didn't marry Barbie,....but she's the best woman I could have asked for!
Ken Zaleski
Once upon a tune...old world piano tuning and restoration
Friendsville, PA
Dampp Chaser certified installer
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Joined: May 2013
Posts: 376
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Ken,
If I were in your shoes, I would go for it! You are only 44. Sure, it will take several years to become a decent piano tuner. But customers WANT an older guy tuning their piano. (even if you've been at the game a couple of years, you will come across as "experienced" simply because of your age.) Also, you indicated you have a woodworking background. You could possibly do great in the rebuilding of pianos. What matters most is that you love pianos! I wish you the best of luck.
Making the world a better sounding place, one piano at a time...
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