ClassicPiano Gayle's Blog

26 January 2007: A Testimonial to the Old Upright
6 February 2007: Considerations When Choosing a Piano Tuner.
(For those who have not had experience with pianos and their maintenance)
22February 2007: Thanks Be To The Piano Or How I learned to love my work while tuning pianos.
28 May 2007: Feng Shui and Your Piano

17 December 2007 : Tuning Pianos in December

Suddenly it is December and the race is on in the piano tuning world. Hustling all over and around town is on my agenda every day, bringing out of tune pianos back to Caroling standards.

Just after Thanksgiving the first Nativity Scene was atop a client’s piano and I set about removing its parts and putting them out of the way. Over the years I have come to discover that care must be taken in moving these treasured icons (whatever the quality, or lack of) and respect must be shown if I expect to darken their doors again.

Often I feel like a being from another planet when it comes to human religious traditions so learning respect for them all has become an important attitude for me to cultivate in this profession. Some of the most bizarre things people believe in have taught me to keep a straight face and continue on with the business at hand. Music will always find common ground.

Back to that Nativity Scene – off it came and on went the tuning. Reminiscing about last Christmas was on my mind during that tuning and I recalled a story that I shall relate because it touched me deeply.

It was Christmas Eve and a friend of mine prevailed upon me to accept a job to go out to the East Mountains for a tuning. These people were friends of his and he was going to a Christmas Day event at their house and wanted the piano to be in tune as he would be playing it. It was early enough in the day so out I went.

The family, Mom, Dad and two boys, greeted me and pointed in the direction of the piano and on with it I went. As I sat tuning there was some commotion in the mud room next to my space and I was saddened to hear that their dog had died that morning and he was being ‘stored’ there until the burial could take place. The boys came into the living room and told me about their dead doggie and that they were going to bury him shortly. Their grief was palpable and they were so conflicted to feel bad at such a ‘happy’ time. One of the boys said ‘but why did he have to die on Christmas Eve?’

Of course with that we all shed some tears and decided it would be nice to sing a few songs before burying Sparky. Mom & Dad were out digging the grave so the boys went out to fetch them for our impromptu funeral. Luckily they had a hymnal in the piano bench and I chose a few appropriate numbers that they would probably know and we proceeded to sing them. This ritual seemed to lighten the grief and they went on with the burial. When in difficult times a hymn will always lift or comfort the spirit and here that proved exceptionally true.

In this experience I found the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson to be relevant.

‘To finish the moment, to find the journeys end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.’