In Unit 120 of the Stirling Enterprise Park, along a grey corridor with a high ceiling, is Legacy Piano Services.
Behind the door pianos, models of piano keys, a 2000 piece puzzle, a piano-shaped teapot and milk jug, and a workbench await.
Chris Steedman of Legacy Piano Services is a piano tuner. Having been in the unit for a week and tuning since 2015.
After making tea and coffee and settling down, we got talking.
“Did you always want to be a piano tuner?”
I did not even need to ask this question. I asked him about Legacy Piano Services and he told me he studied law and politics at university.
His mum once gave him piano lessons for Christmas. He wanted to learn more, so he qualified in 2015 after a three-year course in Newark. Where he learned tuning and maintenance. He also learned organ tuning. But that is more complicated.
Before university he travelled around Europe and once met a man in a piano shop smaller than the room we were in. Chris told me he played a tune on each piano from Jazz to Debussy and the Thomas The Tank Engine theme.
He played it on his phone and I had not realised before that it has a complex tune to it.
After university Chris became a college teacher.
He almost didn’t get to do the course in Newark because they weren’t taking new participants. But luckily, the deputy head saved the course.
“How is a piano tuned?”
“Do you want me to show you?” He replied.
He stands up and shows me an upright piano. This kind is common in households due to its smaller size.
He takes off the panel above the keys and reveals rows of pegs and wires.
The strings are attached to the tuning pegs. To tune the peg, he places a tuning wrench around it. Turning it left lowers the pitch, making it flat. Turning the peg right raises the pitch for a sharp note.
Normally he tunes by ear but sometimes uses a phone app or a tuning fork. However, these are not always accurate.
Tuning forks can be helpful but temperature can make them less accurate. Heat makes it longer so notes are sharp, cold forks have the opposite effect.
As he tunes each peg, he listens to how the notes interact with each other. When you press a key on a piano, a hammer hits a string that can vibrate hundreds of times a second to play a note.
As he explains his work, I learn things that I didn’t know. I knew that the sound of a piano came from a hammer hitting a string, but I didn’t know about bass strings being longer, or treble strings being shorter.
Chris also told me that for a concert, the piano must be tuned to align with the temperature in the concert hall during the performance. And with body heat, the temperature will be even higher. Heat makes the wood expand, affecting the tightness of the strings and therefore the notes.
I knew piano tuning was complicated but there was so much more that went into it.
“What is being a piano tuner in 2024 like?”
“It’s tricky.”
For example, the tuning apps are only as good as the phone’s microphone. They are also really only helpful in the midrange. And are not designed for high or low frequencies.
People also think that they can tune pianos themselves. Tuning levers are also easily available online, but are mostly low quality. Higher quality levers can have various sizes and fits different kinds of pegs, making them more versatile. But it takes technique and years of practice to master this skill.
Additionally, digital instruments and electronic music are becoming more popular. But according to Chris, they don’t sound as good and digital instruments are nowhere near as authentic.
But, there is always a market. Serious musicians will always prefer acoustic.
He also told me that the pandemic helped his business as people spent more time at home with a piano they wanted to play but was out of tune. The market fluctuates, like many others.
“What do you enjoy most about music?”
“Working with pianos, meeting people…” He especially likes meeting people’s dogs.
Chris also loves working with concert grand pianos – then told me to never buy a “free” piano from Gumtree. “They’re never free.”
He enjoys reviving neglected pianos, seeing the joy of hearing pianos work again, restoration, “That’s where my passion lies with pianos.”
As he listed each reason, he looked more and more happy. He sighed happily and said “I love my job.”
“What is special to you about music?”
Music brings people together.
Music also teaches important lessons to people. In kids’ orchestra, the shy kids excel, and the boisterous kids learn teamwork.
“Music is different things to different people.”
It can make you cry or motivate you to run a marathon. There is music for everything
Conclusion
Over an hour and twenty minutes, Chris showed me the workings of a piano, the changing industry and what music means to him.
I even had a go at tuning a note. I can see why it takes three years to learn, but after a few tries, I got it to play the right note.
The interview was a privilege and I walked out with a new appreciation for the piano.
Featured Image Credit: Legacy Piano Services Facebook
Third year journalism student. 2025/2026 Lifestyle and Comment Editor at Brig. Published in The Yucatán Times, Mi Campeche and The Mourning Paper. Host of From the 40s with Air3Radio.
