Monthly Archives: May 2015

Guitar lessons

I’ve started offering guitar lessons as a way to make a bit more cash when I’m not tuning pianos. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do but I never knew the right way to go about it until recently. Even though this is a piano tuning website I’ll advertise anyway (it’s still music-related I suppose). As posted on the Sheffield forum:

I charge £10 for an hour lesson, £5 for a half hour lesson. I can travel to your house or you can learn at my house (I’ve got a collection guitars and amps you can use if that’s easier) in the S10 area of Sheffield. Parents are more than welcome to sit in on lessons.

What I can teach:

– Pieces in the following styles: rock, blues, jazz, classical, metal, shred, country, pop, punk and more.

– A thorough knowledge of scales, modes and music theory.

– How to learn your favourite songs by ear.

– How to improvise.

– How to sight read.

– A range of techniques than will improve your muscianship (finger tapping, sweep picking, hybrid picking and more).

– Grades 1 – 8 in the Rock School and Trinity syllabi. I can help prepare you for these exams if you prefer the more formal route.

 

My youtube channel contains videos of me playing the guitar. I get a bit embarrassed showing off my shredding skills but I have to post it as proof that I know how to play: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzlVvtpcoLhyYkdI6j1tp2g/videos

 
Contact: 0754 266 7040 or 0114 2304100
Email: richard@pianotunersheffield.co.uk

Thanks

Richard , Piano Tuner Sheffield.

Site Updates

My parents have just returned to Sheffield from visiting my aunt and uncle in north Yorkshire and they’re brought back some photos of me piano tuning and playing the guitar to use on this website. They were taken a few weeks ago when the family were in Sheffield and popped round specifically to help me with this piano tuning website. Thank you Sue and Phil for all your help.

 

I’m trying to keep on top of this website, I ‘ve told myself to make at least one post a week related to my piano tuning around Sheffield and South Yorkshire to let customers know what I’m up to. Unfortunately there’s not always a lot to write about! Hopefully some people out there are interested in piano tuning.

 

– Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield.

Booking Time

My preferred working hours are between 10 and 6, but I can make a piano tuning earlier or later if your schedule is too busy to fit me in during those hours. Let me know ahead of time (please give me at least 12 hours notice) if you require the piano tuning a bit later or earlier than the time we decided on. Occasionally it is convenient for me if we book the piano tuning outside that timeframe, but that’s usually if I have a long journey from a piano tuning job outside Sheffield and need an hour or two in between piano tunings.

I prefer the room to be reasonably quiet when piano tuning but I don’t require complete silence. Vacuum cleaners and the TV on at a high volume in the same room are my worst enemies when piano tuning! I can usually concentrate more on the piano tuning and get it done faster during the day when there is less noise distracting me; it can get a bit hectic if its early in the morning when people are getting ready for school/work.

– Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield

New piano tuning photos taken for this site

My aunt and uncle (who have helped me create this website) came round from Robin Hood’s Bay to take pictures of me tuning pianos (we’ve got some photos of me tuning the piano in our living room and some of me playing the guitar, my first love). I will add them to this website as soon as they email them to me.

– Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield.

Pitch raising

I’ve just been reminded by a Sheffield customer to write another piano tuning post on pitch raising out of tune pianos. Let me briefly explain the options:

If your piano hasn’t been tuned it over a year it may probably be a quater of a semitone (or more) flat. To get it back up to concert pitch a piano tuner has to tune the whole piano 7 cents sharp of concert pitch so that by the time the piano tuning is finished the piano will have slipped back close to concert pitch (but will still be a bit out of tune). Then the piano tuner fine tunes the piano to get it nicely in tune with itself, starting on middle C.

If you’re someone who only plays solo and owns an aged piano that’s well past its prime, a standard tuning is a better option. Pianos that are very old are less stable and raising the pitch too much will add too much tension for it to bear, and the whole thing will slip back out of tune almost immediately. Tuning it to itself is the best way for it to stay in tune and stay sounding as good as it can.

 

Whereas I charge £50 (£40 if you’re my first customer) for a standard tuning (where I tune the piano to itself starting with middle C) I charge £60 for a pitch raise. A full pitch raise effectively means I have to tune the piano twice which adds an hour onto the job.

 

– Richard, Piano Tuner Sheffield

Piano tuning time

Depending on the condition of your piano a tuning may take longer than 90 minutes, but this usually only applies to grand pianos (which involves a more difficult piano tuning technique) and older pianos which haven’t been tuned in a while. A piano tuning on a well-maintained piano will take approximately 90 minutes.

– Richard, piano tuner Sheffield.