Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Piano Tuner-Technicians Forum Should I get into the business?

New to this forum but may end up remaining for a long time.

Short history. I come from 2 generations of piano tuners. Grandfather was a well known concert tuner in the tri state area. For those in the west that's NJ,NY and CT.
He was a band member in the Navy during WWII, He left the Navy with aspirations to play in a band but family obligations lead him to piano tuning where he made a comfortable living for just over 50 years.

He trained his son, my uncle many years ago and actually tried training me over 20 years ago but I was to busy drinking and chasing girls.

Certain factors have lead me to reconsider this field, one of them being an offer from my uncle to train me as a piano tuner. He has a thriving business and is well known in his region.

Now I have heard that there is something like 8 million pianos in the US or 10,000 pianos for each tuner. Est.. numbers may be off but point being there are a lot of pianos.

My question to the members here is how does the field look out there. I know digital pianos are supposed to be hurting acoustic piano sales but is it really hurting the tuning business. My uncle is experiencing times during the year when he is so busy he does nothing but tune 24/7.

Is it realistic to expect a steady business within a couple of years in this business.

Thanks!

Well, its not a "get rich quick" scheme that's for sure!

Make passing the Piano Technicians Guild exams as your first goal, but remember it is only a minimum standard. Some people say that RPT stands for "R.eady to P.ractice T.uning". Passing the test will boost your confidence and will put you on a good path.

I also suggest you avoid the "I've been at it for 3 years and now I know everything" that some people fall into. This field is a life-long learning experience. In fact nobody can learn it all in one lifetime. Don't get stuck in your own little comfortable world. Attend PTG conferences and workshops, and associate with high-end technicians. It will rub off.

Focus on "full-service" not just piano tuning. Learn how to work on pedals, make quick minor adjustments to the action, and improve voicing. As my friend Jeff Hickey says: "Always tighten the bench".

Make sure you have good people skills. Be friendly, courteous, and on time. Dress professionally. Have a breath mint.

Develop a business plan which will include a marketing plan. There is tons of info online about this. Read it, and do it.

Get a free or cheap project piano and when you have spare time (which is plentiful at the beginning) tune it, regulate it, voice it. Then do it all again. Then sell the piano and get another one. Repeat.

Figure out early on if you really enjoy the work. It really isn't for everyone. It's very tedious, nit-picky and nebulous at the same time. Perfection doesn't exist, right and wrong can be relative and subject to opinion, experts will disagree, clients will misinterpret, mistakes will be made. If you have a passion for pianos it will be worth it.

There is work out there but you have to earn it. Don't expect it to just come to you. It can easily take 4-5 years to build up a business. After 10 years it should get even better.

Invest in quality tools.

That's enough musings for a Sunday.

In addition to everything Ryan said....

I'd say it depends on your background, your personality, and what exactly you want to specialize in. If you have someone willing to train you, then you've got your biggest obstacle covered. If you have the discipline to be self-employed, and good people skills, you've got the second and third biggest obstacles covered. If you want to be a field tech, I'd say go for it; if you want to specialize in rebuilding, think about that one long and hard.... that market is really hurting.

And, focus on quality, honesty, integrity, ethics and morals. Said matter of factually, as my dad used to like to say, we have far more than enough horses asses tuning pianos than there are horses... Proper training is essential of course, but, if a person does rotten work regardless or even so so work, and expects clients to come running to them anyway, expect instead to lose clients to those that focus more on quality and honesty. We all had to earn our OWN reputation. You cannot ride on another persons reputation. Well, you can, but, it won't last long if your own reputation is lacking.

As for, is there enough work out there? Yes. If you live in the right area, learn how to do what I said above and learn how to run a business as Ryan points out. It is a business. Running it like a hobby will produce lack of quality and a poor living. Running it as a business, being honest and keeping quality at the front of your brain at all times will help to ensure success.

That said, expect to hear clients constantly telling you that their piano holds tuning beautifully and hardly ever goes out of tune which is total bunk. It means, they cannot hear it, it sounds good to them, therefore, to them it does not need tuning and of course will not be tuned.

I recently hired someone to help me. My son quit tuning by the way Ryan, he decided he didn't like it after 4 years of tuning with me and two conventions... To each their own. This new person is already an RPT so, that helps me a ton. I don't have as much training to do. However I do, still have to train him in concert work, better voicing skills and things of that nature. Stuff he has not done much of.

All in all, expect it to take a lot of time and a LOT of patience. The learning never ends.

Thanks a bunch guys. You know, with being a member of other non related boards, I was waiting for sarcasm. Instead I got some very useful information and honest opinions.

Knowing what I know now I wish I had learned this trade sooner but hindsight is 20/20.

Well I have a 30 day window coming up to go west and shadow my uncle while he tunes. This will be a good opportunity to decide if it's for me or not. I have a feeling it will be but doing is much different than thinking.

Thanks again!

Someone once described how to become a piano tuner:

Get a jar full of marbles.
Every time you learn a new task, throw away one marble.
After a year or so, when you've lost all your marbles,
You're ready!

I say go for it. The world needs more piano technicians! I just got into the business about four years ago, on a part-time basis. One reason being, it was becoming so hard to find someone to tune my piano. When I asked the older man who came to tune my piano, if he would like an apprentice he said, "Ryan, I'm 65 years old and want to be able to retire one day, I would love to teach you!" Now, I am so busy I can hardly keep up. I service an area about an hour south of St. Louis, known as the "Mineral Area". It is my no means a metropolitan area. Mostly a conglomeration of small towns from back in the day when it was known as the lead mining capital of the world, but as my mentor told me, there are enough pianos to keep 4 tuners busy full time. I thought he was exaggerating a little, but now I see what he was saying. So if that is the situation here, I'm sure that is becoming a trend in a lot of areas as older technicians retire.

One of the best ways to start is to take over, or purchase an existing, successful business.

Your Uncle is offering you a potential gold mine.

The most important thing to consider is are you crazy about pianos? I can't wait to see my first piano of the day - and that's after 30 years of tuning. If you love to work on pianos, that love will get you though any tough times that come along.

As far as the future for pianos? It's anybody's guess. Past results do not translate into future sales. People who have an acoustic piano are adamant acoustic is better than digital. Let's keep that thought alive.

plns, If I would have seen this thread earlier, I would simply have asked, " What could you possibly be thinking???".... but with further though, I realize the glamorous life style and riches that piano technicians experience is understandably attractive; But, please, realize this does not come without a price. The tedium of conventions and award shows is only the first installment.

Oh yes. The dizzying highs, the depressing lows, and the oh so creamy middles.

Thanks again for the info guys. Keep it coming if you have more to say.

Good one. How about I fill the jar with balls.

What a small world we live in. My uncle lives in St Louis.

I'm with the Uncle offering you a potential goldmine. This is a rare opportunity and my advice is to kick it hard and go for it! We're swamped here in SW Michigan (1000 pianos plus per year) and although not every tuner here is filled with work, the professional tuners are.

Ryan is correct in making training in PTG a goal...he's being classy and humble about the RPT status also...it takes a lot to pass the RPT tests and those who pursue that goal (I haven't, I'm in a different organization) prove themselves to be solidly qualified.

Best of luck! Rick

Although new to the whole piano scene this is something I have thought about doing too as I need a change in career to guarantee a future for my family. However there isn't much chance of that happening in the north east of england as there Seems to be nowhere around to learn (one in country and it's a 2 1/2 hour commute from what I can tell) and no apprenticeship's available.
It's seems to be a case of who you know.

If I had an uncle offering me a way in, i'd jump at the chance.