Families with kids

[Clyde Hollinger]

Dave,

I'm with you there!  I enjoy kids, and, while there are some kids who
will drive you crazy, the majority of the ones I work for are polite,
interested in how the piano works, personable.  I enjoy teenagers as
well, which is how I could be a high school teacher for 17 years.  So
when they will actually speak to me, even with a smile sometimes, their
stock goes way up in my book.  I'm always disappointed when they ignore
me as if I weren't even there.

On a couple occasions I had a younger kid come and sit on the other end
of the piano bench and just quietly watch while I work.  After a bit I
would say, "Now you need to get up so I can move the bench, then you can
sit down again."  And that's exactly what they do.  I love it.

Sometimes I will teach a little.  "Want to know what this pedal does?"
Then I show them.  One time I told a little kid the names of a half
dozen piano parts and said I'll ask a little later if he still knows
them.  If my memory serves me correctly, he remembered them all.

I tune one piano every year where the mom gives each kid a set amount of
time to be in the room with me as an observer.  I'd think they would be
bored silly, but they sit quietly and watch until told their turn is
over, then the next one comes in.

I referred a customer to another tuner because their very nice grand
piano was hard for me to tune as a lefty.  (My long tuning head works on
all other grands, but not on this one.)  The customer agreed to the
change but later told me the kids said, "Aw!  We *like* our piano
tuner!"  Music to the ears.  But the new guy is nice, too.  This life
has its drawbacks in some ways, but it's got its blessings, too!  <G>

Regards,
Clyde

Dave Davis wrote:

<big snip>

> ... tuning for families with kids taking lessons makes it worth it.