Michelle, the owner of Michelle's Melody Fine Piano Tuning, LLC (established in 2011) is a Certified and Insured piano technician, professionally trained in Aural Tuning at the School of Piano Technology for the Blind in Vancouver, WA. To schedule an appointment or for any questions, please contact Michelle at 904-864-1808 or [email protected]
Why aural tuning ...? The School of Piano Tec
hnology for the Blind is specially designed and well equipped for the teaching of piano tuning, servicing, and rebuilding. A graduation requirement for all technicians at the school is to thoroughly master all aspects of tuning, from unisons through temperament to the entire keyboard, along with regulation and repair skills. All students were trained to tune “aurally”, which is a rare trait in today’s electronics dependent society. Aural tuning is a method where the tuner uses tuning fork to tune a string to one note, then tune the other strings based on that note. There are 3 legs to the tuning method which uses only a tuning fork, and the technician’s ears. This is why so few tuners are aural tuners. Though the technology of expensive electronic tuning devices have significantly improved recently, the machine cannot replace a well trained ear. Electronic tuners “listen” to the frequencies of the piano strings and adjust the strings until the spinner of the electronic tuning device indicates the correct frequency. This may expedite the process, but for a truly excellent tuning, the piano technician should be able to aurally tune the piano and only use a machine as an aid.
“I have my piano, a Yamaha upright, tuned regularly. I decided to try Michelle because of her aural tuning method. The difference in outcome between the aural tuning and electronic device tuning was quite noticeable and pleasing. In addition, Michelle treated the piano with obvious care and respect. I will certainly use Michelle’s Melody in the future, and will recommend Michelle to family and friends.”
James S.- St.
