Most piano tuners were trained in the piano factory over a period of between five and seven years. The Broadwood historian, Dr Alastair Laurence, whose family have worked for the firm since 1787 has said that:
The general practice at Broadwood was for the tuners to carry out a five-year apprenticeship and thereafter, if they chose, to remain with the firm, they did so on a piecework basis.
One of the earliest books on tuning dates from around 1840: The Tuner’s Guide: Containing a Complete Treatise on tuning the Piano-Forte, Organ, Melodeon and Seraphine; together with a Specification of Defects and their Remedies. This anonymous booklet published by the Musical Bouquet periodical offers advice to the would-be tuner, presumably aimed at those in the provinces who had difficulty in obtaining the services of a piano tuner.
The Pianomaker, a magazine ostensibly designed to inform the trade of new developments, was very enthusiastic about the apprenticeship system and keen to prevent its extinction. In 1913, the publication featured an interview with Frank Challen, manufacturer, and asked him: “Had the apprenticeship system utterly died out in the industry?” and he replied: “It was very nearly dead and could only be said to exist with any degree of animation in the tuning branch of the trade”.
A subcommittee of the Piano Manufacturers Association had reported on the indenturing of apprentices, and had concluded that:
only lads of good character, respectably connected, and who have a good school record, preferably at a secondary school, should be indentured at the age of 15˝ or 16.
As to remuneration, they decreed that:
the workman under whose charge he will be placed may add a “tip” of a shilling or so … the days of the “half-a-crown-a-week” apprentices are gone forever
The following month, Ernest Gowland , an established tuner, wrote to say that:
No lad should be apprenticed to tuning alone. I think a lad should be taught the main idea of pianoforte construction before he is allowed to go forth as a fully-blown tuner.
Be a man the finest tuner existing, he may do a lot of harm to a piano in his care purely through lack of knowledge of its construction … all men engaged at any calling should be masters of their craft.
The south London family of Morleys has been associated with the music trade for many years, both in music publishing and in musical instrument manufacture. Their initial instrument connection was with harps, one of the family having working with Erard at the time of his flight from the French Revolution and subsequently inheriting the Erard patent harp action. One Robert Morley still worked for Erards in 1871 as a piano tuner and following a brief interlude at Broadwoods founded his own business making pianos in Lewisham in 1881.
Morley’s apprenticeship system seems to have been a little more ruthless than that of Broadwoods: apprentices were taken on at 14, ‘chipping up’ the newly strung pianos roughly to concert pitch. By the time they got to 21 or so they were competent tuners, and were then actually fired, and replaced at the bottom end of the factory system. However, they were generally found work with the factory’s agent, so the system is not quite as heartless as it might first appear.
By Gill Green MA
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