Blind Germantown piano tuner makes beautiful music

by CAROLE VERONA

“When I had no eyes I listened.”

That line from Robert Pinsky’s poem, Samurai Song, is a fitting tribute to Dave Garnett’s career. Born blind, Dave has spent most of his life listening to pianos speak and sing.

Dave has been a professional piano tuner for 55 years — 25 of them working at Cunningham Piano Company & Factory in Germantown. At Cunningham, founded in 1891, Dave has the opportunity to work on instruments made by the world’s finest manufacturers, including Steinway & Sons, Mason & Hamlin, Knabe and Estonia.

As one of Cunningham’s two in-house piano tuners, Dave never thinks of a piano as a machine or as a piece of furniture. Although he may refer from time to time to a piano’s mechanical parts — pin blocks, pins, strings and keys — he says that an acoustic piano is a living thing. “People tend to leave the piano alone because it’s a big instrument. They think it doesn’t need attention because it’s going to be around for a long time.” A piano should be tuned at least once a year because air conditioning, heat, dampness and light all have an effect, he explains.

As a student at Overbrook School for the Blind from the ages of 7 to 20, Dave began studying music during his high-school years, focusing on the piano and pipe organ. He played jazz “by ear” and hymns, and although classical music was part of the curriculum, he didn’t come to love it until much later in life. He also learned other practical trades, such as woodworking, chair caning, and rug weaving.

When he left Overbrook School for the Blind in 1948, Dave found a three-month temporary position as a piano tuner with Lester Piano Company. Located in Lester, Pennsylvania, the company re-hired him in1953 and he remained there until 1961.

Jay Kline, an associate at Cunningham, said it’s obvious that Dave loves the work he does. “He comes to work every day on public transportation, taking a bus, train and trolley to get here. He inspires all of us.” In addition to his work at Cunningham, Dave can be found at the keyboard every Sunday morning at Gospel Temple Baptist Church in South Philadelphia.

Now that he’s 75, is retirement in the picture? “Absolutely not,” Garnett exclaims. “I love pianos and music too much to even think about it.”