The Best Professional Piano Tuning Kit Tools for a New Tuner
I asked a group of piano tuners which tools jump-started their careers and my colleague Kevin Klemm made a short list of recommendations to give to future piano tuners in the piano tuning business.
Kevin Klemm, a professional tuner himself, shared with the group his favorite piano tuner kits that he got when he was beginning his career.
He provided a few of his own recommendations, specifically to those who would like to tune pianos for a living, a side gig, or just for fun.
Kevin's Recommendations to Piano Tuner Beginners
"I always suggest to buy the Amazon Miriamsong tuning kit, and tune 10 pianos. If you still like it, find a mentor or two. That's what I did."
Piano Tuner Resource: 5-Steps to Start Piano Tuning
1. "Buy the tuning kit" - Piano Tuning Kit
What tools are in a basic tuning kit?
The Professional Piano Tuner Kit Includes these basic tools:
1 Piano Tuning Lever/Piano Tuning Hammer with wood handle
1 Star Head Tuning Pin Tip Size #2 (star tip fits at several angles)
3 Rubber Wedge Mutes
1 Rubber Wedge Mute with handle
1 Felt Mute
1 Mute Clamp (Papp's Mute)
1 Temperament Strip
1 Tuning Fork (not included)
1 Case
It has all the piano tuning tools you need to start tuning. The temperament strip is used to mute all the outside strings of one whole section at once. The rubber mutes help to mute individual strings.
The basic tuning lever included in the MiriamSong tuning kit is a good option before deciding to upgrade to a high quality tuning hammer.
Whether you begin to use free tuning software or tune by ear, you'll have most of the piano tools that you'll need to get into a piano.
Other tools you may need to start tuning a piano:
screw driver
lid prop
clean cloth for keeping the workplace tidy.
2. "Get an Amazon Fire Tablet" - Amazon Fire HD Tablet
For those planning on using an Electronic Tuning Device (ETD), having a large screen enhances the overall tuning experience.
It allows you to fully enjoy the different displays available across all available piano tuning applications.
3. "Download Tunelab Free Version" - Tunelab Free Version
Scarcely, there are free electronic tuner apps available.
In fact, some of the most popular tuning apps cost between $600-$1,000. Read about the Expensive CyberTuner App.
Tunelab is a great choice for those starting out with piano tuning who have yet to purchase high quality professional piano tuning software.
4. "Tune 10 Pianos"
For Kevin Klemm, 10 seems to be the magic number as far as tuning goes in order to determine if you really want to get into piano tuning or not.
It allows you to try a selection of piano tuning test subjects, whether they are upright pianos or grand pianos, and across several different brands. Heck, even try working on your own piano!
It is most ideal to expand the breadth of pianos that you have tuned so that you can get a good sense of the pianos that you will realistically be tuning.
5. "If you still like it, find a mentor”
Similarly to Kevin Klemm, I also found mentors to be helpful (especially through the Piano Technician's Guild (PTG)), which was by far one of the best decisions I made that inspired a successful piano tuning career for me.
Often, I shadowed piano tuners, piano rebuilders, and attended monthly lectures provided by the PTG to push my learning forward.
*“I always recommend that if you would like to get into tuning, follow these few steps."
Kevin Klemm is a piano technician, music school owner, and professional musician in the Denver, Colorado area in the United States. Check out his website below.
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