Built in 1975, a beautiful full Yamaha. My parents bought this piano, pre-loved, when I was in junior high school -> over twenty years ago. Since we have had it, it has only lived in two homes: my parents' previous home and my home with my husband. It sits in a little nook next to our dining table and is played nearly every single day. Whether I am just playing the right hand part of an old memorized diddy (like The Entertainer, Love Story, Für Elise, or Chopsticks), practicing scales and arpeggios, trying to play a quick bar of music by ear from a tv show or movie we are watching, or playing and singing tunes from my set lists, that piano gets played constantly.
I could not remember the last time it was tuned. I had begun to notice double-hits of the hammer on several notes, harsh or off-key tones on other notes, and even a little sticking while using the mute pedal. We had originally intended on getting it tuned within the first year of moving to this home, but like all things, plans got away from us.
With everything going on in isolation, once things opened up a little bit, we finally decided to get the piano tuned. It wasn't necessarily that it was horribly off, but I was more concerned that if there was any damage, we want to deal with it before it gets worse and becomes irreparable, or cost a small fortune to fix.
So we called around to find a reputable company and found a technician living nearby who was willing to come by.
I anxiously watched as he exposed the hammers and strings, as he went through my own checklist of keys that seemed off or were double-hitting, and quietly sat in the living room listening to him work. Once he worked through the more prominent keys, he began at the far end, tuning each set of strings precisely. It is a little difficult to convey the satisfaction of hearing the tone go from a little off, to less off but a little harsh, and then ultimately to crystal clear pure-sounding tone. It's that feeling we get at the end of a piece when the music holds the VII for just a touch too long before the resolution. It's that sweet spot of perfection - almost there, almost there, almost there, and then THERE. You can breathe a sigh of relief and know, for certain, that you have found the sweet spot.
I sat quietly and listened while all 88 keys made the transition from almost-there to that perfectly tuned & clear tone.
It was marvelous.
We were given mostly good news.
Considering the fact that it had not been tuned for approximately twenty years, he said it was in phenomenal shape and was not far out of tune. The only bad news is that there was evidence of a mouse having gotten into the piano - but no sign of droppings. This meant that it occurred before we purchased the piano. The mouse had chewed up a little bit of the mute felt, with some gnaw marks on the hammers and on the little tiny strings that adhered the springs to the hammers, which was the culprit for causing the double-hits.
It is not particularly expensive to fix these issues, but it is a tedious job. We will look into fixing those issues likely within the next year, but he did say that it will not damage the piano by waiting for a while to repair. It will simply continue to double-hit.
He was also very honest and forthcoming - I trusted him completely with my piano. He did mention that this piano is worth fixing as opposed to looking for a new one (which was a huge relief).
So my piano is now beautifully tuned and continues to be a focal point in our home and for my musical enjoyment.
Who knew listening to an instrument being tuned would be such a calming experience?
I thought I would be bored as he spent time with my instrument. Turns out, I could likely listen to a piano being tuned ten times over and not feel boredom.
I love My Musical Life!
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