Secondhand KAWAI PIANO | Musings on Piano Tuning

We just bought a secondhand Kawai CX5, which is shorter than a usual upright, but it fits cozily into our study. Also, I absolutely adore the shade of deep brown, and it matches our work desks as well!

After the move, the keys were extremely soft and muffled. Not to mention, the pitch seem to have dropped by a semitone. So I booked a tuning slot this morning to restore it (hopefully good as new!)

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I learnt new things from observing how our newly acquired piano was tuned and serviced. Am really grateful to the piano technician who diagnosed the problem right away upon arrival.

Apparently the muffler broke and was dislocated (my guess is from the move), thus rendering the effect of permanently "muting" the keys.

After he removed the muffler, the sound was back to normal. Then he pointed out that the heater was spoiling...and we had to replace that as well.

Higher repair costs, but it's all good if it can extend the life of our piano. My fervent hope is for this Kawai CX5 to last at least 5 to 7 years.

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This tuning session has given me renewed respect for all the technicians out there.

It has made me wonder why our society places so much emphasis on working in an office rather than working with your hands, glorifying the former and disdaining the latter.

I am hesitant to use "white-collar" and "blue-collar" workers, as inherent in such a classification is to make a comment about social status too.

Despite being so essential, blue-collar workers are looked down upon in society. Asian parents tell their children to study hard, "if not you will end up as a road sweeper or cleaner".

However, during the recent lockdown, who do we really turn to for essential services?

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The piano technician said that many clients were dialing him in desperation when their pianos broke down in the midst of the lockdown.

Since he couldn't travel to their houses to repair, he had to resort to giving them instructions for troubleshooting the issues via Whatsapp.

(P.S. I don't think any of us missed the incompetent middle management that much when we had to work from home. I, for one, definitely relished being away from politics and watching inefficient colleagues bootlick their way without actually offering any value.)

I believe that as a society, we should rethink the beliefs that had been instilled within us and question them. Is it really true that blue-collar jobs are 'low-status'? Who told us that? What agenda do they have?

And that process of questioning and unlearning starts with me.

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© Joey Lim, 2020. All rights reserved.