Could you make a living out of piano tuning?

7 Responses so far to "Could you make a living out of piano tuning?"

1. 1 GosuStu
   July 11th, 2009 at 11:29 pm  

   Absolutely, accomplished tuners travel all over the place tuning instruments, it requires a very good sense of tone and some expensive tuners.

   I would suggest you visit your local piano shop and find information about the local players, whether there is a market etc.
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2. 2 Malcolm D
   July 12th, 2009 at 12:09 am  

   Piano tuners regularly make a living out of servicing pianos. You should be qualified and affiliated with the professional body associated with the craft (the Piano Technician’s Guild). See http://www.la-ptg.org/
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3. 3 del_icious_manager
   July 12th, 2009 at 12:33 am  

   Yes you can make a living as a piano tuner (and technician). Do not think you can just go out and tune pianos. Piano tuners undergo years of rigorous training for special qualifications. You have to have a VERY acute ear (more so than most musicians) and know about temperament, imperfect intervals and all manner of other things. You also have to learn how to service a piano: adjusting keys, arms and hammers, replacing felts, replacing strings and a variety of other maintenance procedures. A piano is a machine, after all, and needs care and attention.
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4. 4 Erunno
   July 12th, 2009 at 12:58 am  

   You can make a living…But you’ll have to find a good spot (with any occupation). You wouldn’t want to move to where there are less pianos.

   Most people charge $90 or more. But this may have gone up (it’s been a year or two since I had mine tune, I don’t play my upright for a few reasons).
   One woman last time, completely fixed my piano. The keys are broken (Reason 1 I don’t play it) and she fixed the two (A and Ab). She spent over 3 hours at my piano…charged me $100!! What a deal.

   The piano sounded good, until the keys screwed up once again (its an unfixable problem).

   But find a place, such as New York City, Boston, LA, and places that have campuses, and other studios and such around. Get your name out there, and you’ve got a business.
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5. 5 i. jones
   July 12th, 2009 at 1:28 am  

   Yes you can. But you’ve got to have a good client base. You’ve got to be a whiz with driving up business and staying on top of things. It didn’t work out so well for me. It helps if you have a theater company or piano store to work at in your area, but they probably already have a regular tuner.

   If you’re not a tuner/tech yet, you can be an apprentice to a tuner in your area or go through a formal course like Randy Potter’s http://www.pianotuning.com or a structured program at a school like the North Bennet Street School in Boston http://www.nbss.org/home/index_flash.asp (My "school", Niles Bryant, closed down some time ago.)

   Once you’ve got tuning and regulation under your belt, get your credentials through the piano technicians guild http://www.ptg.org ; through the chapter in your area. You’ll have to go through certification/tuning exam and may not pass on the first go.

   … And, yes, it’s going to be tuning by ear not by a needle or a strobe wheel on a box.
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6. 6 elfi
   July 12th, 2009 at 2:09 am  

   Well, you don’t need such a good ear as others here suggested – nowadays one needs this little instrument that does it for you ( I personally dislike it), but it makes your job easy. I think you can make living out of it if you are based somewhere in a big city and can befriend your clients. This is the key, because most of your clients would not even kow if their piano is tuned properly, but they are willing to pay as long as you keep professional appearance. Maintenance is an easy task too – at this point nobody changes one string if it is faulty, they simply change the whole set and you can earn several hundred dollars for a session like this. Easy. But the competition might be tough, so a big city is your best bet, or a rural area and just a lower price, then you should be set.
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7. 7 John Schaldach
   December 14th, 2011 at 11:39 am  

   Thanks for your site. Your posts are thoughtful and well-informed. Keep up the great work.

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