Amos Littrel

In a previous blog, I explained stretch tuning. Here, I go into more detail on it's application. Most people assume piano tuning is simple: each note is tuned to an exact mathematical frequency and everything lines up perfectly. That would be true... if piano strings behaved like perfect theoretical objects created in a physics lab by emotionally unavailable robots. Unfortunately, pianos are built from steel, wood, felt, tension, age, humidity, and decades of accumulated personality...

Disclaimer : I am NOT a psychologist or psychiatrist. While I did major in psychology in college, I did not go through the necessary steps to make it a career. What follows is simply an opinion, albeit maybe a more educated one. To learn how to play piano is to unlock the full potential of the mind. Learning music in general is always a good way to expand one's mind and exercise the ol' grey matter. However, unlike most instruments that play either single notes at a time (not knocking those...

Two things are certain in this line of work. One, I’ll eventually come across a piano I can’t bring back. It’s simply too far gone. Time, neglect, or damage has taken its toll, and there’s no safe or meaningful way to tune it anymore. Those are never easy conversations. Many of these pianos carry stories with them. Sometimes it’s an instrument someone grew up with, or one that’s been passed down through generations. In rare cases, people choose to restore them anyway, even when the cost far...