Our History

 

 

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F.W. (Fred) Musselwhite
My Grandfather, F.W. (Fred) Musselwhite, was trained in England as an Organist, and apprenticed as an Organ Builder to Henry Willis in Liverpool. After a brief post as Organist for the Duke and Duchess of Westminster, he came to Canada with the “Barr Colony”, finally settling in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 1903. Along with teaching music, Fred was the Organist and Choirmaster for Third Avenue Methodist (United) Church. In 1903 he formed the Saskatoon Choral Society, and on March 16th in 1905 conducted the very first concert of the Saskatoon Orchestra at Cairns’ Hall, with John Jackson as concertmaster. Shortly after his marriage in 1905 he went to Ottawa to meet his new relatives and while there, worked for a brief period at the Martin-Orme Piano Factory as a piano technician. He returned to Saskatchewan and with his new family settled in Prince Albert, where he owned and operated a music store as well as tuning and repairing pianos.
At the outbreak of World War I, Fred accepted a commission into the Canadian Army and served in England and France. When the War was over, he returned to Canada and settled in Winnipeg. In about 1922, he started work as a full time Piano Technician for J.J.H. McLean & Co. ltd. in Winnipeg. He continued to work in this field until his passing in the early 1950’s.

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dadCaleb Henry (Cal) Musselwhite II
My Father, C.H. “Cal” Musselwhite, left public school early to work with his father, Fred. When he turned twenty one, he bought a used Model “T” Ford, packed up his tools, and went from town to town across the prairies, tuning and repairing pianos throughout the depression. He would try to arrive in a new town just before supper time, book a hotel room, and walk through the town as darkness fell, noting the lighted parlour rooms of the houses he passed. He’d make a note which houses had pianos, and then knock on their doors the next morning. His fee of two dollars per service was an expensive luxury for most families during those hard times, but he carried a secret weapon with him: a vacuum cleaner. Most housewives of that time had heard of this “new-fangled contraption” but had never actually seen one. He would offer to clean the inside of the piano for a dime, and many women accepted this offer just to see the device in action. While he was cleaning, he would speak about the many important reasons to keep a piano in tune, and would often walk out with two dollars and ten cents in his pocket. One day, while tuning the home piano for the owner of the Norquay (SK) General store, he met my mother Florence and soon they were married.
Too old to enlist when World War II broke out, his services became in great demand as many piano technicians left to fight overseas. In 1942 he was hired by Heintzman & Co. to be the head technician for the Calgary Store and he remained in Calgary for the rest of his life, becoming the Official Piano Tuner for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, Mount Royal College, the Banff School of Fine Arts (The Banff Centre), and the Rural School Division of Rockyview. He was instrumental in forming the Calgary Chapter of the Piano Technicians Guild in the mid 1950s.
In the early 1960s, my father saw a new Japanese piano called “Yamaha” at a conference and immediately recognized the potential of this piano. Forming a partnership with his friend (and my godfather), Don Ritchie, they opened a small store selling the new instruments. As business grew and the pianos readily sold, they needed someone to watch the store while they were out and hired my mother Florence to look after the new “Musselwhite-Ritchie” piano store. Mom began bringing in sheet music and books and soon MR Music was in full swing. A name change suggested by family friend Lord Shane Rideau (now the Earl Alexander of Tunis) occurred soon after and Rideau Music was born, operating until a few years ago under new owners after Mom retired. After retiring in 1985, my father passed away in 1996 two weeks short of his 90th birthday. Mom passed away in November of 2009 at the grand old age of 92.

johnJohn A. Musselwhite, RPT
I apprenticed with my father from an early age, beginning with taking old actions apart, sorting screws and parts and learning how to clean pianos and do small repairs. Our Saturday afternoons would often be spent in his workshop, with the smell of hot hide glue and the sounds of “Saturday Afternoon at the Opera” filling the shop. When Dad became the Yamaha dealer in the early 1960’s I helped un-crate and prepare new pianos for sale and delivery and helped get trade-in pianos ready for sale. During this time I studied pipe organ under Robert Bell and piano under my teacher, the late Dorothea Johanson, taking the Royal Conservatory of Music exams as well as studying harmony and music theory. I also studied singing under the esteemed local voice teacher, Elgar Higgin.
Through much of high school and after graduation I worked in the Yamaha guitar and small musical instrument department of Rideau Music before entering into a career as a professional touring musician, playing bass and guitar as well as singing. Most of my career was spent playing with dine & dance Showbands across Canada, though I did many great gigs as a single act playing everything from the Beatles to Tom Lehrer.
While still playing gigs I attended the Broadcasting program at Mount Royal College from 1973 to 1975, learning the radio and TV industry and after graduating, worked at CJFB-TV in Swift Current as both a technical operator and “on-air personality”. I was hired by CHCT-TV in Calgary shortly after that, as it changed to Independent status with the call letters CFAC-TV. For several years I worked in the VTR editing, Audio and Master Control positions and did many voice-over commercials before being asked to join the news staff by Ed Whalen as the anchor man and producer of the late night “Action News”. After leaving the industry in 1980, it had been nearly a decade since my last exposure to the instrument before I returned to my first love… the piano.
With my father’s tutelage and working with my brother Jamie, I became a full-time tuner/technician in 1980, tuning and preparing new pianos for the local Kawai and Steinway dealer. Within two years I was accepted into “The Steinway Academy” in the company’s factory in New York under instructors William Garlick RPT and Joe Bisceglie. I joined the Piano Technician’s Guild in 1983 and soon passed all three exams, earning full Craftsman membership in the PTG in 1985. Further Steinway training in New York under Franz Mohr and Scott Jones as well as personal tutoring by Steven Romeo focused on concert service and the same year I became the concert tuner for the Southern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, giving me the opportunity to tune for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, the Calgary Opera and many visiting artists. Jamie and I continued to work together under “C.H. Musselwhite & Sons Piano Service” until he moved to Saskatoon to open our Saskatoon branch. Jamie now makes his home in St. Cathrines, Ontario, where he continues to tune and repair pianos as well as being a published author, composer and grandfather.
Over the years I have attended many conferences and seminars, receiving additional training from factory technicians from many different manufacturers including Steinway, Kawai and Yamaha. I was fortunate to be selected for additional training at the Steinway Piano Factory in Astoria, Queens, NYC, learning the special skills that a Steinway Concert Technician requires. In 2009 I received highly specialized training from factory-trained Yamaha technicians, focusing on concert-level service and the highly acclaimed “Disklavier” reproducing piano. I also attend skills upgrading seminars every year, leaning new techniques and working with the latest tools of the trade. In 2017 I was selected to be an Authorized Yamaha Canada Music Ltd. Piano Service Centre/Depot providing warranty support for Yamaha Pianos, Disklavier and Hybrid pianos for Southern Alberta.
Although I’m trained to tune aurally and still perform aural tunings occasionally, along with great many concert technicians world-wide I have adopted the excellent “Verituner” electronic tuning assistant, which allows the freedom to accurately perform pitch corrections and fine-tune a piano in many different styles and temperaments to suit the varied tastes of piano owners. The intermediate and final checks of a piano’s tuning are always performed aurally to ensure musicality as well as accuracy and stability. See the FAQ section for a comparison of Aural and Electronically Assisted tunings.
On a personal note,  I was a full-time volunteer with the Calgary Stampede for 30 years spending most of that time on the Visiting Bands Committee with my wife, Cherie, acting as the arena announcer and M/C of the annual Stampede Marching Band Competition known as “Showbands Live“. Cherie and I also enjoy playing ukulele with our group, Pirate Jim’s Kanikapila and I still play guitar and bass and occasionally write music. I’m a member of SOCAN, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada. I also ring church bells (see the North American Guild of Changeringers WWW site for more information) in the English style and have rung in many towers in Canada, the USA and Australia. I’m also a Master Freemason and a member of Ashlar Lodge #28, A.F. & A.M. where I currently serve as Worshipful Master, as well as a being a member of the Al Azhar Shrine Temple, where I play the Calliope with the Clown Unit under my Clown Name of “Cal E. Ope”. Cherie and I have three delightful grandchildren.
One final note since the question does come up at times, I do not smoke, I don’t use any scents such as after shave or colognes to which some people are sensitive or allergic, I have no allergies and I love dogs, cats and other pets!
 

(Last updated September 2, 2023 – Copyright © 2023 Musselwhite Piano Services )