Originally trained at a Steinway showroom in Manhattan, Annie Hayden brings pianos into tune for purposes that range from practices to recitals and performances.
Every piano has 88 keys, and each key, beyond the ivories, has three strings and a hammer. Hayden's tool belt includes a foot-long piano hammer that has a finely polished oval wooden handle and a metal cap that fits over each of the rounded heads — the keys — that hold the long strings tightly in place. She also totes a small leather-covered mute wedge that she gently pushes between the strings so that she can clearly hear a single string and determine if it is in tune. To further isolate the keys and their respective trios of strings, she lays a long stretch of red felt — a temperament strip — a tucks it around a series of strings to quiet them.
She then first selects a key, such as an A-four, to tune, so that she has a baseline. From there, she will work her way outward, up and down the keyboard. Her fingers plunk and prance across the keys, hitting chords that are common for pianists and across multiple octaves. Sometimes she verbalizes the waves that she hears — "wah, wah, wah" — to determine whether to tighten or loosen a key and reduce the waves, or to flatten or sharpen the tuning. While listening, she also feels for whether the hammers are striking their respective trios of strings at the exact same time. Within an hour, she can ready the piano for a practice or performance.