It all began in 1969 when Sam's older brother, Alan decided he wanted to learn to tune pianos. Alan went to Chautauqua Institution in NY where there was a summer piano technician's school. Their father was impressed and followed suit. Dad taught Sam a lot of what he had learned and soon Sam was helping tune and repair pianos in schools, churches, and private residences when he was about 15 years old (using a strobe tuner). When Sam went off to study trumpet and bass at Eastman School of Music, he applied his skill there, getting a job at the school tuning pianos in the practice rooms (of which there are over 100). In his first year, he tuned nearly all of them. In 1980, Sam attended the Chautauqua piano technician's school as well, where he learned from Art Briggs and perfected aural tuning (using just a tuning fork), as well as the details of how each model of piano works and how to repair it. Not long after, Sam's sister, Diane, went to the Chautauqua piano technician's school and learned the same skills, making for nearly a whole family of piano technicians!

Since Chautauqua, Sam's been in the tuning business, although arguably it could be long before that. Officially, for him, it's a hobby. But that doesn't diminish the quality of service. He's tuned pianos for touring acts such as Harry Chapin and Michael Martin Murphy, and countless professional classical artists. Sam remembers Michael Murphy's crew in particular. They were touring with a Yamaha CP-70 (a popular semi-electric piano at the time), and told him prior to working on their piano that they had heard some "sad" things at prior shows in the octave below middle C. Sam told them to let him do his work and then they could listen to it and make any adjustments if needed. There were no adjustments necessary. They were happy with the initial result and were ready to have him join the tour. [He didn't].

Now you can have the same quality service right here, and for a reasonable price. In this age of proliferating electronics, *real* pianos are becoming less abundant. That means there are fewer to tune. The upkeep of a real piano is not free. Sam doesn't want to bolster the decision to acquire an electronic keyboard by being prohibitively expensive, so he sets his rates where he considers reasonable. What he really wants is for everyone to have a nice, in-tune instrument to play, whether it be for own enjoyment at home, for a service at your church, or for a solo concert performance.

Call or text 936-400-0703 or email sam@sheeler.com.