The Piano and the Old Man

I have been thinking about this story for a number of weeks. The thought came to me when I was stretching my legs after sitting and writing for an hour at the University Club.

I was in the club’s “ball room” where there is a beautiful baby grand piano. An older fellow was laying over the top of the instrument tuning it. The moment I saw him, I had a flashback 60 years to my grandfather John Torborg, who himself was a piano tuner. I had seen my grandpa when he was well into his late 70s bent over many a piano tuning it.

I stopped and talked with the tuner. His name is Tomas and he is 78 years old. He is a retired high school music teacher and band leader who has been tuning pianos for many years. He told me that he has over 3000 customers for which he tunes pianos. That’s a lot of people!

I told Tomas about my grandfather and we had a nice conversation around the work of the piano tuner and the keys ( pun not intended) to doing a good job. Tomas told me that the most important attribute of the tuner is to be a keen listener and have no distractions while he is working. ( Perhaps he was telling me something then, but I didn’t pick up on it…). He also told me that regular practice makes perfect. In his “younger” years, when in his 60s, he tuned upwards of five pianos a day. Now he usually does only two a day. The last “ key” he mentioned is needing a dedicated and quiet environment. Even the furnace running can make it very difficult to hear the right pitches.

The more I thought about that encounter, the more I connected my grandfather’s many positive attributes to his profession of piano tuning. As a side note, he was a fellow who graduated college in 1910 with a teaching degree, and for many years was both a teacher and school principal, an accomplished organist and the choir director at St. Boniface church in Minneapolis.

I only knew my grandfather for a short time since he died in 1968 when I was 17 years old. My mom would speak of him often and the picture she painted, as well as my own limited experience, portrays a man whose personal attributes helped make him an exceptional piano tuner. If I were to use one word to describe my grandpa Torborg, it would be stoic.

I did some research and here are other characteristics he possessed that are in perfect alignment with the piano tuner’s profession:

1. Maintenance requires regular effort. Pianos go out of tune due to a myriad of items. Proactive tuning is necessary to maintain the instrument’s longevity and sound. Life, like a piano, falls out of alignment. Emotional and mental maintenance (self-care and reflection) is required to stay in tune. My grandfather experienced the death of two sons. One, Adrian—otherwise known as Sunny, died at age 2 in 1922 during the great Flu pandemic and the other, Richard, died during WW2 at age 19. I can’t imagine the immensity of those tragedies but he was able to “keep it together”. I suspect that had much to do with his Catholic faith and reflection on God’s plan for him.

2. A high quality tuning takes time and patience. In life, meaningful progress cannot be rushed. My grandfather was meticulous and steady in his life. He was also there for his wife, children and extended family, to take care of when their lives got out of alignment

3. Listening is essential as Tomas had told me. In life, true wisdom comes from listening. I fondly recall my grandfather as a voracious listener. And when he spoke, others listened.

4. Adaptability to change. Not all pianos, like humans, are created equally. In addition, the tuner must know who the intended user of the piano is. This is particularly true for professional musicians. My grandfather’s life was full of changes he needed to adapt to. Certainly, the death of his sons and, later in his life, my grandmother who was 8 years younger than him died at the age of 69 when he was 77.

5. The goal is joy and connection. A tuner’s goal is to turn discord into harmony. The ultimate goal of life’s lessons is to find an inner peace, create harmony and live a life filled with purpose and joy.

There is one attribute I share, for certain, with my grandpa Torborg. We both loved/love classical music. In some small way, I feel a connection to that peaceful, strong and stoic man whenever I listen to a beautiful piece by Beethoven or Bach. I also pray to have a connection to this man who I know was a person of immense strength through his faith in Jesus Christ. His life was full of many tragedies and challenges and, in spite of them, this special old man was able to make a positive difference in so many lives even now 58 years after his passing.