I am pleased to say that I  had my vaccination  over 3 weeks ago and am gradually getting back to business after the New Year Lookdown inline with Government Guidelines.  I certainly will be observing common sense measures such as social distancing and sanitising hands. 

Please contact me via landline 01728 453978 or email mwpianos@aol.com. 

I do carry a mobile phone but because the nature of my work means I am either driving or working on pianos I ask customers to leave a voice message on my landline (or call me in the evening) and I will contact you directly. I am generally always available all day on Monday, office day.

An email goes directly to my mobile phone and I can get back to you quickly if needed. 

I look forward to seeing all my customers old and new in 2021 and keeping your pianos in fine tune.

 COVID UPDATE JANUARY 2021

Indeed I am still in business and have been tuning pianos during 2020.

As we have been through such confusing times I discontinued my reminder postcards for the time being as I certainly don't want to put my customers in an uncomfortable situation and have only responded to requests.  

However in this recent 2021 lockdown I have thought it sensible to suspend house visits for tuning etc.

I have been assured I will get vaccinated in mid-February and will feel more confident to visit.

These precautions are for your safety and mine. During the pandemic I have been taking the recommended precautions of sanitising my hands and keeping social distance when tuning. No refreshments necessary and preferably online payment although I can accept cheques etc. 

Please DO contact me by phone on 01728 453978 or email mwpianos@aol.com and I will get to you as soon as it is possible.

I have had to make a small increase in my fee to £60. I haven't put my prices up for a few years and needs must. However I rarely make extra charges for repairs, etc and try to keep as reasonable as is possible.

Thank you for your patience, Malcolm.

My actual email address

My email address, which is not published on my Website is:

mwpianos@aol.com or use the contact form on website:

www.pianotuning.uk.com

One of the most frequently asked questions I get is: "How much does it cost to get my piano tuned"?
The answer is: "I have a standard charge of £55. It is very rarely more than this unless I have to use costly materials or spend a lot more time working on it. Distance makes no difference either"

Internet links for piano lessons, etc.

There are many free resources for piano players of all abilities and ages on the Internet.
You sometimes have to do the usual trawl through commercial sites and old/dead/confusing links, but there are some excellent, fun and educational places out there!
I have been suggesting the following to customers recently:

www.youtube.com Type in 'free piano lessons' or 'how to play piano' or 'how to read music' etc.
You can also type in the name of a tune/band/style followed by 'piano lesson'.
As an example I found this:
www.freepianolessons4kids.com

My long time favorite for theory practice is:
www.emusictheory.com
there is a great note drill exercise here. (You need to have Java installed, which is painless!)
Also, www.musictheory.net is a simple and clear site.
www.ptg.org click resources then 'learning center'. Yes its American, which is slightly different.
If you go to 'for pianists' you can print and cut-out/fold your own Grand Piano!

When you have a spare moment, the most obvious start is to 'Google' such phrases as:
'free piano sheet music for beginners'. Here I found www.8notes.com
or 'free sheet music', etc. There are many thousands of chord based songs on dozens of guitar sites which can be adapted to piano.

www.freebyte.com/music is for advanced music software, etc.

Happy hunting. If you find any fun/easy/simple games for children please let me know:
mwpianos@aol.com

Flying Piano Co.

Well, with all this talk of gloom and doom here is a touching tale with a hint of drama! ( I would like to also say that pianos are 'flying out of my workshop', but that would be obviously too corny)

Sometime in September I was contacted by a woman from Woodbridge who was interested in a Baby Grand. I had one in stock, a Murdoch, reconditioned & repolished for a very reasonable £1500. She liked and asked about delivery, adding that she wanted it in her living room on the first floor. Unfortunately the stairs were very difficult and a stair-lift made the situation more-or-less impossible. However, there was always the balcony! For a mild and sweet 'little old lady' she certainly had guts and determination, or that's what she was expecting in my dept.

She was quoted over £600 by a delivery firm 'near Woodbridge', cor what a rip-off I thought and made a few calls to some good ole local boys. The car restorer and vehicle recovery expert Peter Teager of Tunstall had a look, we agreed a sensible price and so it went.

I roped in ( almost literally ) the help of Carl, a large Lifeboat Man and allround strong person and we (they) got it up with out any trouble. Here is a picture of him sizing up the situation.

The touching part of this, as mentioned, was the fact that the woman was determined to buy this piano for herself, for her 91st BIRTHDAY!!! I must say it looked great in her living room and she was thrilled. So much so that she played a couple of songs before I left (which I attempted to sing along too). Oh Happy Days! Oh, and her name was Mrs.Diamond and she certainly lived up to that!

(I haven't really got the hang of spacing the pictures out on this blog, so please excuse my skills in this dept. I really am much better at tuning and restoring pianos. And occasionally moving them!)

My Tool Case

This is strictly for tool 'nerds', of which, I believe, there are plenty.

I have had most of these tools since the 70's when I completed my training in London. A woman came into The Piano Workshop, which was then on Fleet Road, Hampstead and asked if we would like to have her deceased husbands piano tech tools "yes pleeease" was the chorus of replies. As soon as she closed the door behind herself a disgraceful scrum ensued. I must admit I was pleased with my haul of a handful of ancient tools, some I have dated back to pre-1880's, when Buck & Ryans, tool suppliers,Tottenham Court Road, were simply called Buck.

I have tried new tools and have had to return them to the suppliers, slipping handles, poor steel, etc.

I rarely use power tools, sometimes to drill a hole, or polish ivory keys and can more-or-less rebuild a piano from this collection of hand tools.

On the right I have laid out the tools needed for tuning only, I could almost fit them in my back pocket! But I rarely visit an instrument that doesn't need a little adjustment here and there.

I live in fear that someone would break into my car and steal these tools, as they would have no use for them, except perhaps a screwdriver, pliers and a small hammer. The rest would probably get thrown over a wall as useless! Fortunately this is a rare occurrence in this part of Suffolk.

I hope you found this chapter interesting, especially all you other tool 'nerds' out there.