I grew up learning to play on a 1906 Bush & Gerts piano. Under the top door (it was an upright) all the piano tuners that had ever tuned it had signed their name and the date they had tuned it in pencil. Is this a tradition among all tuners? I have tried to research this online but could find nothing. Other than the obvious reasons, I'd like to find out more about why they did this, and if tuners still do it...THANKS!

It's useful for piano owners to keep track of maintenance. Often different tuners see the same piano over its life. If a piano is majorly flat, it's helpful to know whether it was tuned last year, or five years ago (in terms of diagnosing problems).

It's out of fashion, I think, for tuners to write directly on the piano (except perhaps in pencil). Most often a service record or business card is left inside with the date of the tuning.

I also think it's important to record temperature and humidity each time. I measure and record the starting pitch as well. But I leave all this info on my invoice.

--Cy--