It’s looking like a very hectic month for the Leeds piano tuner, be he’s still open to new clients throughout the month and into May. If you could be patient and understanding of his busy schedule, he will book you in as soon as possible – please don’t forget to check the availability page of this website for a regularly updated list of piano tuning availability. A well-earned holiday has been booked in late April which further complicates things – but he will always aim to book you in within a week or two of your enquiry.
Category Archives: Piano Tuner’s Availability
A few notes about my availability page
I like having a ‘Leeds Piano Tuner’ availability page on this website. It’s convenient for the customer to have an idea of how I can work around their schedule. At the moment, I can only update it while I’m home and at my computer, so I while I aim to update it daily, it’s sometimes out of date by a date or two. This is because, for various reasons, I sometimes stay over at my parents house after a long day. Or sometimes, if I have a lot of piano repairs on top of piano tuning to do I might not be home until 11:00 PM at which point I’m too tired to turn my computer on and start updating the website (in those cases I set my alarm earlier so I can update it before setting off for work the next morning). I would say, if you’re just visiting the website for the first time, please check the page and by all means choose an available slot – but if it says it hasn’t been updated in a day or two there’s a slight chance another piano tuning appointment might have been booked during that short space of time.
Another point is about my availability on weekends – at the moment if you’re in desperate need of a piano tuner as soon as possible, I can offer weekend bookings. I’m happy to do this if it helps the customer. Generally speaking, if you’re not in such a rush to have your piano tuned and serviced, I’m usually busy for a week and then my schedule becomes flexible after 7-10 days (most piano tuning bookings are at short notice). If you’re willing to wait a week or so I can be much more flexible with hours.
- – Richard Lidster, Leeds Piano Tuner
Prices remain the same… for now
Does anyone remember when a can of coke cost 50p, a chocolate bar was 30p and petrol was less than a £1 a litre? Inflation is rather worrying now. My prices will have to stay the same… for the time being. For piano tuning I have to travel long distances (although my main customer base is in Leeds), so I will have to see how cost effective my current prices are with these huge increases in the price of fuel, food, and utility payments. I am always upfront with my prices (everything on this website is wholly up to date) as I find “hidden charges” extremely annoying and wouldn’t want to inflict them on anyone else. But don’t be surprised if in two or three months I have to put my prices up.
More weekends hours open for piano tuning
My ‘Leeds Piano Tuner Availability’ page is best used as a guide to find an hour that fits your work schedule. I also work early mornings on a regular basis although these are ‘hidden’ piano tuning hours that I offer when no others suit you; they tend to be offered to theatres, schools, commercial venues and the like (usually in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield or Harrogate), but if you’re an early bird like me then a home booking at 7 AM or 8 AM might be your first choice. Piano tuning can be done at any time of day, as long as it isn’t disturbing a neighbour or relative, although I personally feel most energetic in the morning, afternoon and early evening.
As Christmas draws near, late evening bookings could be an option. While my stated last booking is usually 7:30 PM, I sometimes have a piano tuning booking at 9 – 10 PM as well if it meets the needs of the customer. I always like to have 2 hours available for each customer, even if it doesn’t take that long – this allows enough time to tune the piano and make any required adjustments to the mechanism.
Turning over a new leaf
Life has been a little bit hectic the last few weeks since my return from holiday. I’ve had lots and lots of catching up to do piano tuning in Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield, Harrogate, York, Morley, Thirsk and many bright and colourful places in James Herriot land – and I’m all the better for it. Because of this my Leeds piano tuner availability page fell by the wayside. I’m trying desperately to update it at least once a day but I regularly have days where I leave the house at 7 AM and arrive home at 10 – 11 PM too tired to log in. If the page has not been modified for a few days its purely because of a busy schedule, not because I don’t want to be doing more piano tuning and repair. If the side note says it hasn’t been updated in a while it might be easier to ask for a few days that works around your schedule, and in all likelihood I’ll be happy to arrange it.
- Richard Lidster, the Leeds Piano Tuner.
Back to normal hours
No more rest for the Leeds piano tuner I’m afraid, I’m back to my normal routine after a brief sojourn. I’ve updated my availability for the rest of the month. If you’d like to book your piano tuning further in the future, I have lots more availability in November and December (I just haven’t listed any of those hours just yet).
More opportunities for namedropping
It seems like anyone who works in anything to do with music loves to talk about the famous people they’ve worked with/for at every opportunity. It’s so pervasive it could almost be a Harry Enfield sketch. Well, I’m tuning a Yamaha C3 grand piano for John Grant and Richard Hawley on the 4th of September at the Piece Hall in Halifax. Please come along to hear how in tune the piano sounds once I’ve serviced it.
I’m pleased that concerts, recording studios, schools and churches that have booked me in recent months. Home visits are also valued. I treat each piano equally and give it the thorough care and attention it deserves!
When are my working hours?
I still like to update my ‘Piano Tuner’s Availability’ blog as often as I can. I regularly have days where I leave home at 8 AM and arrive home after 10 PM, at which point I’m too exhausted to log into this site, never mind write about Leeds and piano tuning (if I did, I’d sound tired and cranky!). In an ideal world I’d update my availability listings multiple times every day. If I can find a way to do that, I certainly will in due course.
Due to a problem with my browser, I’m unable to access the admin port of my website via my iphone which is somewhat unfortunate. If I could, then I could easily change the listings in my car when I’m early for a job (I usually park up on the road if I’m early). Because of this, I would view that page as a way to see whether my schedule fits yours and if there’s a particular day that would work well, if it hasn’t been updated in a day or two.
To earn a respectable living as a piano tuner, one must be willing to travel far and wide – only booking jobs in Leeds, Bradford and Harrogate would be a dead end. One or two days out of the week there will be nothing listed – this is usually because I’ll be booked up in a far away locality such as Scarborough or Whitby, where I get to have an enjoyable day at the seaside in between successive piano tuning. I didn’t used to like travelling, but I’ve learned that putting on some classical music or an audiobook makes such long drives much more bearable. Given that the last job of the day usually begins at 7:30 PM, driving back from Scarborough at 9 PM is a breeze.
There’s never been a better time to get your piano tuned!
If you’re looking for a piano tuning you’ve never had it so good! Not only do I have more working hours available than ever but my prices are extremely reasonable at £50 a tuning. Please consider calling me for a booking at 07542667040 or email richard@pianotunersheffield.co.uk if you are so inclined. Don’t let your beloved piano go to waste, keep it playing and performing at its best – get it tuned and serviced NOW!
Weekend Piano Tuning now available
Every piano tuner wants to be firing on all cylinders right now and fitting too many jobs in a single day can occasionally hinder this! For that reason I am now trying to spread my working hours across the week by adding a few weekend jobs to the list. If you’re looking for a piano tuner in the Leeds, Bradford and Wakefield areas, may I suggest a weekend booking? Depending on your schedule, it might be a quicker way to book my piano tuning services at short notice. Booking something a few weeks in advance can be helpful for me, but the customer is always right.
I will try to update my Leeds and Bradford piano tuning availability page as often as I can, but – on a personal note – I’m very rarely home at the moment. Outside of my long working hours, I’m usually visiting family or going for solitary walks in the countryside.