must be tuned many times in the factory before they are shipped to the
salesroom; there they must be kept in tune until sold. When, finally,
they take up their permanent abode in the homes of the purchasers,
they should be given the attention of the tuner at least twice a year.
This means work for the tuner. But this is not all. Presuming that the
average life of the piano is about fifty years, it is evident that
there exists in this country an accumulation of instruments variously
estimated at from four to five millions. This means _more work for
tuners_.

While production and accumulation have been increasing, there has been
little, if any, effort made to provide tuners to look after the needs
of this ever-increasing number of instruments, no provision for the
thorough instruction of the learner of Piano Tuning, outside the walls
of the factories, and of the few musical colleges where the art is
taught. Doubtless there are many persons who are by nature well
adapted to this agreeable and profitable occupation--persons who would
make earnest effort to acquire the necessary skill and its honest
application if they had a favorable opportunity. Musical colleges in
which tuning is taught are few and far between; piano factories are
built for the purpose of producing pianos and not tuners, for
mechanics and laborers and not for teachers and pupils; furthermore,
very little fine tuning is done in the factory; rough tuning is the
bulk of the work there, and a long apprenticeship in the factory, with
its meager advantages, is rarely sufficient to meet the demands of the
would-be-thorough tuner. This may account, in part, for the fact that
many who are incompetent are following this profession, and that
there is an increasing demand for tuners of skill.

In view of these facts the author came to the opinion that if a course