Striking the right chord

Piano tuner makes a living keeping players in key

MOSES LAKE — The number one problem Peter Meyer hears about is sticky keys.

It makes sense when you factor in that Meyer is a piano tuner.

"Usually, it's nothing," he said. "I would say, 98 percent of the time, it's some foreign object in there. Usually a pencil. There are some times, especially newer pianos, where they just need to be used."

Meyer began tuning pianos in 1996, while he was living in Montana and working as a baker, a job he held for more than 35 years.

"It can take a toll on your body, because you work all kinds of weird hours and you're on a hard concrete floor eight, 10, 12 hours a day," he said.

Meyer's sister suggested he learn to tune pianos, citing his musical nature.

Meyer moved to Moses Lake in 1999, following the death of his employer in Montana. Considering returning home to the Midwest, he talked to his brother, a resident of Moses Lake since 1968, who suggested he move to town and go out on his own as a piano tuner.

Upon arriving, Meyer said he was told it would take five to seven years to get name recognition in Moses Lake, which was pretty close to the truth. A big help has been working with area churches and schools.

"Once you get in with those people, then the word of mouth goes a lot better," he said.

The busy season begins in the middle of August and runs until about October. June and July are empty, because "they've got better things to do with their time," Meyer said. "They have baseball to go to, they've got soccer and those kinds of stuff." Then in August, the music teachers and various students begin calling him.

Meyer was expecting a spike in calls during the holiday season as people begin to prepare for Christmas programs and the like.

The bulk of his business is private, in-home. He is the sole employee, although a neighbor helps him with phone calls. He is interested in working with anyone interested in learning to tune a piano, he said, although they should understand that it doesn't happen over night.

A piano tuner is not required to know how to actually play a piano, Meyer said, but it helps.

"You need a good ear, but you can develop that," he said, noting that he knows the very basic rudiments of what the instrument sounds like —the chords, arpeggios and up and down the major scales. "But nobody's ever accused me of being a piano player."

The first thing Meyer wants to find out is if a piano is on pitch. About 100 percent of the time, he said, it isn't. Once a piano is on pitch, then he looks for a clean, pure tone.

"A lot of people don't know this, but each note has three strings to it," he said. "Every string, they all have to sound the same. If one's just a tad off, you can hear it, and it will drive you nuts. That's the big thing, get the unison set right, and the intervals."

When Meyer began, it took him two hours to tune a piano. Now, unless there's a major problem, he is able to get done in about an hour and 15 minutes, he said.

The business also involves moving pianos, more than Meyer originally thought it would. He estimated that he moves an average of two pianos a week.

"Normally, they're not too bad, but once in a while, when you've got to pull out of a basement," he said. "The old upright that belonged to Grandma that's got to come out of the basement, oh my god."

Meyer's favorite part of the job is the people he meets.

"It seems like anybody who has the trouble to own a piano, doesn't matter what kind it is, they're nice people," he said.

At one time, potted plants were also a common topper, which is no good, because if any water runs through, it can mess up the piano's finish. Most customers usually place their family pictures atop their pianos, he said.

"Family pictures, graduation, soccer pictures, football, all that kind of stuff," he said. "After you go back there three, four, five years in a row, you get to know them all. And once in a while, you find one where Grandpa or Grandma have passed away in the last year, and you actually miss them, because their picture's there, but she's gone."