Piano Technician

(picture)
August 2009, tuning for the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium inaugural concert.

Mike Terrill Piano Service.

Piano notes for parents.

Don't let your child grow up tone deaf. Unlike string players and singers, piano students cannot practice playing in tune. Keeping your piano in tune helps children learn pitch during their developmental years.

Tune your piano at least once a year (I'll send you a reminder in the mail). A piano is a wooden stringed instrument, like a violin or cello, and goes out of tune whenever the humidity changes. Seasonal tuning ensures the best pitch stability, a must have for serious students using the piano daily.

Invest in a decent piano. Give your child the right tools to do the job. Cheap old pianos and electronic keyboards typically do not have enough key-weight. Students are frustrated when they have to perform on a grand piano that is twice as heavy as their practice piano. A poor piano is a deterrent, a decent piano is an incentive, a good piano is an inspiration.

Let me help you inspect a piano before you buy it. I can help you from spending too much or buying a lemon. Remember, I want to service your piano for years to come.

Keep a stable temperature and humidity. There is no correct temperature, but stable humidity is the best environment for a piano. Plenty of air conditioning is good because it removes excess summer humidity from the air. Too much heat is bad because it dries and shrinks the wood.

Have your piano serviced. A piano needs to have its moving parts cleaned, lubricated, regulated and mothproofed every few years. Proper cleaning and lubricating keeps the keys easy to play and prevents delicate parts from wearing out too quickly. Regular mothproofing keeps moth larvae from eating vital felt under the keys and throughout the action. I currently tune and service pianos for Baylor University, Centenary College, Collin College, Tarrant County College, International Piano Competitions, local churches, schools, homes, piano stores, special guest artists, and you.

I was fortunate to have been trained by factory piano technicians from Steinway, Kawai, and Baldwin. I have a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of North Texas College of Music, and I am over a 12 year member of the Piano Technicians Guild. My piano rebuilding shop is located in Richardson, but I serve the entire DFW metroplex. I have also been installing and servicing QRS Pianomation Player Piano systems for over 10 years. Over 15,000 pianos serviced!

Average tuning price is 100.00. More if it has been three or more years since its last tuning. Less if it was tuned within the last 13 months.

I am called on to fix 50 dollar tunings all the time.

Serving all your piano needs.

Reviews

• May 2, 2011

  

  If you are looking for a Piano tech, you can stop looking, Mike Terrill is the BEST!!!!
  I bought a Parlor Grand piano w/a player and he has been so helpful in not only tuning it but also assisting me with music and detailed information on it's value, condition and abilities.
  
  Thank you MIKE !!!! We are so grateful to have found you!!!!!
  

  – Joy

• 5/5 stars April 21, 2011

  

  Mr. Terrill is very experienced, and is an expert at his craft. He did an excellent job at tuning our piano, was very considerate, and did a first class job. We would highly recommend him for tuning any piano from a spinet or console to the most expensive grand piano.

  – Bob

• February 14, 2011

  

  Mike came to our house today to tune our 1941 Steinway. He was on time, friendly, knowledgeable, and EXTREMELY talented. We could have listened to him play all day (just an added bonus to the tuning)!!! There wasn't a question we had that he couldn't answer. He was very professional and charged a very fair price!! We will definitely use him every 6 months from now on.

  – Mark

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