{"id":1758,"date":"2014-05-06T15:05:21","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T07:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/?p=1758"},"modified":"2021-09-19T19:12:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-19T11:12:58","slug":"history-of-piano-tuning-the-trained-tuners-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758","title":{"rendered":"History of Piano Tuning \u2013 THE TRAINED TUNER&#8217;S WORK"},"content":{"rendered":"<h5><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FPiano.Technician.HK%2Fphotos%2Fa.770794476272210%2F773441149340876%2F%3Ftype%3D3%26av%3D188148231203507%26eav%3DAfaBKhiGT_9plDKKC5e3T_U0doCla3OrCWBBd9B4EgGCSywa8YGkHpD7Bfkns3ZtFiY&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"583\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/h5>\n<h5>The larger London piano houses produced many pianos, all of which needed to be strung, chipped up and then fine-tuned, and at the height of the 1850s and 60s boom there were between 60,000 and 100,000\u00a0pianos made in London alone, so a huge number of tunings was required in the factory alone, long before the instruments reached shops, showrooms and homes.<\/h5>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h5><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FPiano.Technician.HK%2Fphotos%2Fa.770794476272210%2F773441166007541%2F%3Ftype%3D3%26av%3D188148231203507%26eav%3DAfZg0GLOLNrCvaGfGAKTtqczL5PJrGtZOHqftSE6ApZ3ZLMDMimnvduDDrkXoGG_Apc&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"616\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/h5>\n<h5>Piano demand was from September\/October until just after Christmas,\u00a0so a large proportion of &#8216;ordinary&#8217; workers were laid off from the factories around springtime and went into other trades such as building, and returned at the onset of bad weather around September.\u00a0 The permanent staff consisted of foremen and managers.<\/h5>\n<h5>Under Morley&#8217;s system, pianos were then tuned four times a year under contract, and large numbers were being sold. \u00a0 Tuners who had left the factory were employed directly by shopkeepers.\u00a0 Depending on the size of the shop two or three tuners would be taken on: more, if the size of the business warranted it.\u00a0 Each of these tuners would have tuned between twenty-five and thirty pianos a week, which is roughly the same as a modern-day tuner on a five-day week. \u00a0 Unlike the modern tuner, however, the tuner in the Victorian age had no car.\u00a0 Various modes of transport have come to my notice: Mrs Wells, whose father tuned in Lewisham around 1900, remembers pictures of him on a bicycle, sporting a top hat.\u00a0 Edward Elgar&#8217;s father rode a horse, and later used a pony and trap. \u00a0 The large piano houses whose tuners tended to travel further afield had to make allowances for mode of travel in their tuning charges. \u00a0 A Broadwoods catalogue of 1905 lists tuning charges as follows, evidently taking into account the time (and money) which travel cost the firm:<\/h5>\n<h5>To have one piano tuned four times a year: &#8211;<\/h5>\n<ul type=\"circle\">\n<li>\n<h5>London districts, \u00a31.1.0;<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>inner suburban districts, \u00a31.5.0;<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>outer suburban districts, \u00a31.11.6;<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>country districts &#8211; within two miles of a Railway Station, \u00a32.2.0;<\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<h5>Beyond two miles from a Railway Station &#8230; terms on application.<a title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.piano-tuners.org\/history\/piano-tuner-history.html#_ftn29\" name=\"_ftnref29\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/h5>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none; overflow: hidden;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FPiano.Technician.HK%2Fphotos%2Fa.770794476272210%2F773441179340873%2F%3Ftype%3D3%26av%3D188148231203507%26eav%3DAfZdrkLfTlr3PcemYvy0mfj935Pqyqvuh7qqpYcmv2bhIdEhYW0lzfv0LWpMTa3YGSA&amp;show_text=true&amp;width=500\" width=\"500\" height=\"616\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/h5>\n<h5>A footnote to the page reads:<\/h5>\n<h5><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">It is respectfully pointed out that, as tuning contracts can only be carried on by careful organization and strict punctuality, each visit of a tuner, though he may not be allowed to tune the piano, will be charged for, unless sufficient notice to defer the visit be given by customers.<\/span><a title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.piano-tuners.org\/history\/piano-tuner-history.html#_ftn30\" name=\"_ftnref30\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/h5>\n<h5>One of Broadwood&#8217;s casual tuning books from 1904 lists a claim for 10\/6d &#8216;travelling expenses to Colchester&#8217;.\u00a0(A casual tuning was a tuning which was carried out for a client who did not have a contract with Broadwoods.) \u00a0 Another claim dated 5th December 1904 lists &#8216;railway expenses to Hatfield Peveril, 6\/2d&#8217;.<a title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.piano-tuners.org\/history\/piano-tuner-history.html#_ftn32\" name=\"_ftnref32\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/h5>\n<h5>Broadwoods did carry out their threat to demand payment for calls: the Japan Mail Company was charge 4\/6d &#8216;for fruitless visit to Away House&#8217;, on 14th December 1908, and a Miss Dodds objected to paying &#8216;one tuning charged for three refusals &#8211; 7\/9d&#8217;.<a title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.piano-tuners.org\/history\/piano-tuner-history.html#_ftn33\" name=\"_ftnref33\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/h5>\n<h5>The tuner&#8217;s life could on occasion be made difficult by the client &#8211; the\u00a0<i>Music Trades Review<\/i>\u00a0cites a case of a London manufacturer who supplied a lady with a grand piano.\u00a0She complained that it was out of tune and demanded that the tuner return, which he did, but could find no problem with the tuning.\u00a0 The lady then complained again and the owner of the (unnamed) manufacturer went himself, but again could find nothing wrong with the tuning.\u00a0 &#8216;The Lady admitted this fact, adding &#8220;It is allright when you play on it, but directly I begin to sing to it, it appears entirely out of tune&#8221;.\u00a0 The reply of the manufacturer is not given to us&#8217;.<\/h5>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-1758\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-1758\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-jetpack-whatsapp\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=jetpack-whatsapp\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on WhatsApp\"><span>WhatsApp<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-1758\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span>Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The larger London piano houses produced many pianos, all of which needed to be strung, chipped up and then fine-tuned, &hellip; <a class=\"kt-excerpt-readmore\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758\" aria-label=\"History of Piano Tuning \u2013 THE TRAINED TUNER&#8217;S WORK\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-1758\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-1758\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-jetpack-whatsapp\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=jetpack-whatsapp\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on WhatsApp\"><span>WhatsApp<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-1758\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\"><span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-email\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-email sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758?share=email\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to email this to a friend\"><span>Email<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-print\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"\" class=\"share-print sd-button share-icon\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1758\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to print\"><span>Print<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"spay_email":""},"categories":[88,58],"tags":[1756,1963,1961,1962,947,91,781,404,167,1945,10,216,11,1959,743,181,1944,13,1960,943],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ik8h-sm","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1725,"url":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1725","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":0},"title":"History of Piano Tuning \u2013 TRAINING AND APPRENTICESHIPS","date":"May 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Most piano tuners were trained in the piano factory over a period of between five and seven years.\u00a0 The Broadwood historian, Dr Alastair Laurence, whose family have worked for the firm since 1787 has said that: The general practice at Broadwood was for the tuners to carry out a five-year\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;English Articles&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1814,"url":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1814","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":1},"title":"History of Piano Tuning \u2013 WOMEN TUNERS","date":"May 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"It will be noticed that no mention has thus far been made of women who tuned pianos - either professionally or just for themselves: and it is probable that the reader has thought nothing of the fact.\u00a0 After all, one would not expect to hear of women piano tuners in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;English Articles&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1810,"url":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1810","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":2},"title":"History of Piano Tuning \u2013 TUNING AND THE BLIND","date":"May 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Piano tuning is nowadays regarded as an unusual profession and upon meeting me for the first time, many people express surprise that I am a) female and b) sighted - not necessarily in that order.\u00a0 One person memorably said 'but I thought you had to be deaf ...' The entire\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;English Articles&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1700,"url":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1700","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":3},"title":"History of Piano Tuning \u2013 A NEED FOR TUNERS","date":"May 2, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Prior to the advent of the piano, most musicians tuned their own instruments. \u00a0 This was a necessary part of owning one; to call someone in to tune a harpsichord would have been as preposterous an idea as calling someone in to tune a violin for a professional violinist. \u00a0\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;English Articles&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1803,"url":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1803","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":4},"title":"History of Piano Tuning \u2013 TUNING MONOPOLIES AND REGULATION","date":"May 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"By 1887 Broadwoods were in trouble for excluding tuners who were not employed by them or their agents; Messrs Broadwood admit that they send out men through the country to tune their own pianos ...\u00a0 Messrs Broadwood believe that in certain country districts their pianos have been improperly tuned to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;English Articles&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1740,"url":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/1740","url_meta":{"origin":1758,"position":5},"title":"History of Piano Tuning \u2013 BUSINESS AND EMPLOYMENT","date":"May 5, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Broadwoods and other leading piano houses began to establish a pattern of service which was quickly followed by the smaller businesses when they could afford to do so. Piano ownership now was common outside London, and Broadwood started to supply piano dealers up and down the country with their instruments,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;English Articles&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1758"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1758\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1758"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1758"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tongtuning.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1758"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}