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Nov 8, 2009 11:24 pm US/Central
Finding Minnesota: Piano Man In His Workshop
STILLWATER, Minn. (WCCO) ―
When it comes to music, the piano is one of the most familiar and versatile instruments around. Many people have childhood memories of taking piano lessons or singing along as someone played a piano in church or at school. So in this week's Finding Minnesota, travel to a place where old pianos from around the country are delivered and then restored to their original glory.
When you think of the piano, the image that comes to mind is that of ebony and ivory keys and fingers delicately dancing across them.
But this is a view of the piano most of people never get to see -- the inner workings that make the beautiful music happen. That's where Ken Hannah spends much of his time.
Hannah is a piano restoration expert, with a national reputation for bringing new life to old instruments that others have given up on. He does it in the privacy of his shop, right behind his house, near Stillwater.
"It's fun to breathe life into these instruments again. You think about the fact that they are going to be playing and performing long after I'm gone, so in a sense you're leaving the world a little better than you found it," said Hannah.
When you walk in his shop, it kind of resembles a place Santa's elves might hang out. Grand pianos and upright ones are all around, in various stages of disrepair.
Some need new parts, some need a gentle adjustment, while others need to be completely rebuilt.
Hannah's healing hands have help. He has two good buddies, each with their own area of expertise.
Paul replaces strings on the board and Charlie Ames has figured out how to delicately weld together the cast iron plate the strings are attached to, when something goes wrong.
Ames is rather proud of his latest life-saving feat -- fixing this terrible crack in an upright piano built in 1898.
"It gives me a good deal of satisfaction to be able to bring something back like this that most people would probably consider scrap, you know there's just nothing more that you can do with it. But it's a very old piece, it's a beautiful piece and the reward is in bringing it back," said Ames.
After weeks of being here, this piano is now ready to be returned to its owner, who's had it since she was a child.
Hannah has some advice for parents with children taking piano lessons and practicing at home.
"If they're banished to the basement to go practice the piano, they're never going to succeed," said Hannah. "I tell them that your best place for the piano is as close to the kitchen as you can get it. Because there's usually someone in there with an encouraging word like 'That sounded good!' While you are busy working away."
Hannah has rebuilt more than 425 pianos in the last 27 years. Restoration work is time-consuming and expensive. The fee can range from $8,000 to $24,000.
To learn more about Ken Hannah's piano business, click on the link below.
Ken Hannah Piano Restoration
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