Knowing just the right pitch - Akeley piano tuner is primo

By Sarah Smithssmith@parkrapidsenterprise.com Don Lindgren is a civil engineer by trade, but a tinkerer by profession. Since 2006, he has tuned pianos for a living. His later-in-life career started as a result of a church pianist in Paynesville, where he lived, complaining about the lack of professionals to help get her piano in tune. Lindgren, a member of the church choir, got onto his computer and Googled piano tuners. The first entry to come up was the Minnesota School of Piano Technology in White Bear Lake - practically in his back yard. It was a sign. He enrolled in the January course since it was late fall and he’d missed the September course, and three months later he was in business. “I was the oldest one in class,” he recalled. Last month he moved to the Akeley area and he’s ready to tune pianos all over the north woods. As a mechanical person, he finds piano tuning appeals to his mechanic side. “I always liked how things come apart and go back together,” he said. He doesn’t have perfect pitch, but that’s irrelevant since now there are a number of gadgets – and his ears – to rely on to get that pitch just right. One is a little item that looks like an iPhone hooked to the keyboard. “This is more mechanical than musical,” he said. He found that “business just picked up” once word of mouth spread. He never practiced civil engineering, though and his alma mater, UND, might be disappointed. But it’s not that his mechanical skills went out a window. He put them to the test for 37 years as a loss prevention specialist for an insurance company. He also performed loss prevention at companies like Daytons, Target and B Dalton stores. When he got laid off, his former employer, Factory Mutual Engineering, called and asked him to come back to work. He became a branch manager and salesman for the company now called FM Global, retiring in 2012. He got his start piano tuning at various churches in and around Paynesville. Word spread. Soon he was tuning school pianos and his customer base rose exponentially. He puts together software reports for each piano, so the owner knows things like humidity levels and repair maintenance records. The seventh tune-up is always free at his frequent tuner club. He uses both his ears and a computer to tune a piano, one backing up the other. “Weather has a big effect” on a piano’s tuning system, he said. He recommends tuning a piano at a minimum annually, School pianos should be tuned two to three times a year. Each tuning takes about 75 minutes if there are no problems or breaking strings. His own piano is a Korean model, a Samick. And he does have a player piano out in the shop that he’s tinkering on. But there are no Steinways or baby grands at his home. A computer guru, he also has programmed Christmas lights to music and will in his rural Akeley home next year. The sprawling single story home on Williams Lake is breathtaking. Lindgren said he and his wife looked at 50 homes between Brainerd and Park Rapids before settling on the Akeley property. He loves piano tuning, and loves even more the customer’s reaction when he’s done. “When I’m done they play it and go, ‘Oh my!’” he said with delight. He also installs humidity systems on pianos that keep them in tune. Each has a monitor that the owner can use to keep track of humidity levels.
He can be reached at 320-243-7431 or 763-360-7707. His email is lindgren piano@gmail.com.By Sarah Smithssmith@parkrapidsenterprise.comDon Lindgren is a civil engineer by trade, but a tinkerer by profession.Since 2006, he has tuned pianos for a living.His later-in-life career started as a result of a church pianist in Paynesville, where he lived, complaining about the lack of professionals to help get her piano in tune.Lindgren, a member of the church choir, got onto his computer and Googled piano tuners.The first entry to come up was the Minnesota School of Piano Technology in White Bear Lake - practically in his back yard.It was a sign.He enrolled in the January course since it was late fall and he’d missed the September course, and three months later he was in business.“I was the oldest one in class,” he recalled.Last month he moved to the Akeley area and he’s ready to tune pianos all over the north woods.As a mechanical person, he finds piano tuning appeals to his mechanic side.“I always liked how things come apart and go back together,” he said.He doesn’t have perfect pitch, but that’s irrelevant since now there are a number of gadgets – and his ears – to rely on to get that pitch just right.One is a little item that looks like an iPhone hooked to the keyboard.“This is more mechanical than musical,” he said.He found that “business just picked up” once word of mouth spread.He never practiced civil engineering, though and his alma mater, UND, might be disappointed.But it’s not that his mechanical skills went out a window. He put them to the test for 37 years as a loss prevention specialist for an insurance company. He also performed loss prevention at companies like Daytons, Target and B Dalton stores.When he got laid off, his former employer, Factory Mutual Engineering, called and asked him to come back to work.He became a branch manager and salesman for the company now called FM Global, retiring in 2012.He got his start piano tuning at various churches in and around Paynesville. Word spread.Soon he was tuning school pianos and his customer base rose exponentially.He puts together software reports for each piano, so the owner knows things like humidity levels and repair maintenance records.The seventh tune-up is always free at his frequent tuner club. He uses both his ears and a computer to tune a piano, one backing up the other.“Weather has a big effect” on a piano’s tuning system, he said. He recommends tuning a piano at a minimum annually,School pianos should be tuned two to three times a year. Each tuning takes about 75 minutes if there are no problems or breaking strings.His own piano is a Korean model, a Samick. And he does have a player piano out in the shop that he’s tinkering on. But there are no Steinways or baby grands at his home.A computer guru, he also has programmed Christmas lights to music and will in his rural Akeley home next year. The sprawling single story home on Williams Lake is breathtaking. Lindgren said he and his wife looked at 50 homes between Brainerd and Park Rapids before settling on the Akeley property.He loves piano tuning, and loves even more the customer’s reaction when he’s done.“When I’m done they play it and go, ‘Oh my!’” he said with delight.He also installs humidity systems on pianos that keep them in tune. Each has a monitor that the owner can use to keep track of humidity levels.
He can be reached at 320-243-7431 or 763-360-7707. His email is lindgren piano@gmail.com.