Along with becoming an adept piano tuner, his goal is teaching music and arranging and composing.ĭon, who used to tune one or two pianos a day, now tunes one or two per week. According to Nathan, he’s living his dream come true. At Apollo, Nathan is working alongside second-generation piano tuner and owner Vince Chambers, learning the long, intricate process of tuning pianos with 230-255 strings. Today, Nathan is working as an apprentice piano tuner and tuning the floor pianos at the Apollo School of Music in Chico, CA, where he spent a few years observing his father’s work. An apprentice tuner and a dream come true Along with the piano and these Irish instruments, he also plays the Cajon, beatbox, and mandolin. Not long ago, the family traveled to Ireland, and Nathan soon found himself playing a tin whistle, also called a penny whistle, in the local pubs, and later learned to play an Irish bouzouki, an adaptation of the Greek stringed instrument. Twenty-year-old Nathan, however, has significantly benefited from his early days at his father’s side. Though Don started playing the piano when he began tuning them, he doesn’t claim to have a great talent. Early days lead to playing, arranging, and composing music He discovered it to be a challenging but rewarding job where he can experience the fruit of his labors by playing a freshly tuned piano. It wasn’t long before Nathan saw how satisfying piano tuning could be. Nathan remembers traveling with his dad to tunings when he was four years old. Of all their six boys, Nathan accompanied his father most often to his piano tunings. For two decades, he drove buses while he and his wife, Lisa, added son after son after son to their family.
#PIANO TUNER APPRENTICESHIP DRIVER#
When he moved back to Northern California, Don took a steady job as a bus driver for a school in Orland and kept tuning pianos as a side job.
Lyndo offered one of his most practical pieces of advice, saying, “Eighty to ninety percent of people won’t notice that their piano is in tune, but they will notice if it has been cleaned.” A challenging but rewarding job He soon became acquainted with piano tuner Lyndo Hollingsworth who offered to apprentice Don as a piano tuner down in the small community of Ripon, CA, in the San Joaquin Valley. The piano at that church needed tuning, and Don thought he would give it a try. When he was 33, an invitation to Bible study at a church in Vina, CA, a small town in Tehama County, led to what would become a lifetime relationship with pianos.
He then went on to play drums in a band in Tahoe, CA, while running a lawn mowing business. Tuning In - A Lifetime Relationship with Pianos for Don and Nathan TownleyĪfter majoring in percussion at San Jose State University, Don Townley earned a teaching credential in music. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree! Don Townley’s love and aptitude for piano tuning are flourishing in his son, Nathan, who is an accomplished musician, arranger, and composer.
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