Hello Clyde Hollinger I too like families around and it's usually a great pleasure to reveal what goes on in the piano when they play it. The only thing I find disturbing is when they start to sing the note I'm trying to tune....! I regularly have battles with an On Stage vacuum cleaner as I'm tuning in the Pit. The vacuum cleaner is slightly sharp of middle C - and I can tell if it needs emptying! But Stage Management has got used to my requests for delaying their vacuuming now and, after twenty+ years of doing this, they actually schedule the vacuuming to not clash with the tuning! What I cannot understand, Clyde, why did you have to give up that grand on the basis of being left-handed? I'm left handed and cannot work out any reason for your doing that. I always use a "T" hammer on Grands (one needs a very strong wrist to turn the "T") and a Lever on Uprights. Some of the old Grotrian-Steinweg uprights are the very devil to apply any Lever to... their wrest plank is sloped which makes the handle of the Lever come into contact with the excessive over-hang of the casework. My Lever has changeable heads and I have one very long head about 4inches long. The stem is extendible with a collett mechanism in the wooden handle to grip the metal stem. The separate heads are simply screwed on to the Lever stem. They don't sieze on or anything like that. I rarely use the Lever on a Grand - or if I do it is simply because the wrest-pins are so darned tight. (Who re-strung this piano? Did they remember to dip the new pins in French Chalk before hammering them in?) Regards Michael G (UK) ----- Original Message ----- From: "Clyde Hollinger" <cedel@supernet.com> To: <dave@davispiano.com>; "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org> Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2003 2:01 AM Subject: Families with kids > 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. > > _______________________________________________ > pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives > >
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