Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners
Repair percussion, stringed, reed, or wind instruments. May specialize in one area, such as piano tuning.
5,380 people do this job in the US. $46,420 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 24 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Disassemble instruments and parts for repair and adjustment.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 14% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair or replace musical instrument parts and components, such as strings, bridges, felts, and keys, using hand and power tools.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Reassemble instruments following repair, using hand tools and power tools and glue, hair, yarn, resin, or clamps, and lubricate instruments as necessary.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 10% | 1.3 h25 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Align pads and keys on reed or wind instruments.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 10% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Play instruments to evaluate their sound quality and to locate any defects.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 9% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Shape old parts and replacement parts to improve tone or intonation, using hand tools, lathes, or soldering irons.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | Stays with people | |
| Adjust string tensions to tune instruments, using hand tools and electronic tuning devices.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 6% | 33 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect instruments to locate defects, and to determine their value or the level of restoration required.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 50 min17 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Polish instruments, using rags and polishing compounds, buffing wheels, or burnishing tools.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min17 min to 2.1 h | Stays with people | |
| Assemble and install new pipe organs and pianos in buildings.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 3.3 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| String instruments, and adjust trusses and bridges of instruments to obtain specified string tensions and heights.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.1 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Compare instrument pitches with tuning tool pitches to tune instruments.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 3% | 21 min8 min to 50 min | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Timing Device Assemblers and Adjusters1% now, 1% by 2028
- Watch and Clock Repairers10% now, 10% by 2028
- Electromechanical Equipment Assemblers5% now, 5% by 2028
- Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers9% now, 9% by 2028
- Tool Grinders, Filers, and Sharpeners6% now, 6% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).