Adjust string tensions to tune instruments, using hand tools and electronic tuning devices.

“Adjust string tensions to tune instruments, using hand tools and electronic tuning devices.” is a core task performed by Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners. Among the occupation's 37 rated tasks, workers place it 36th by importance (#2 most important). About 73% of workers say it is relevant to their job.

This is a single occupation-specific task statement from O*NET. The figures below describe how central the task is to the job and what independent studies measure about AI and this kind of work — not a prediction that the task will be automated.

Work activities this task rolls up to

O*NET groups concrete tasks into broader work activities shared across many occupations.

• Adjust equipment to ensure adequate performance. in Handling and Moving Objects

AI exposure

The OpenAI / Eloundou “GPTs are GPTs” study rates this task E0. No direct exposure — current language models give little or no time savings on this task.

Exposure measures whether a model could meaningfully speed the task up — it is an estimate of overlap with model capabilities, not a measure of whether the work will be done by software. The study's intermediate score (β) for this task is 0.00. Automation potential label: T1.

Other tasks in this occupation

• Align pads and keys on reed or wind instruments. · importance 4.9
• Solder posts and parts to hold them in their proper places. · importance 4.8
• Compare instrument pitches with tuning tool pitches to tune instruments. · importance 4.7
• Play instruments to evaluate their sound quality and to locate any defects. · importance 4.7
• Disassemble instruments and parts for repair and adjustment. · importance 4.6
• Repair or replace musical instrument parts and components, such as strings, bridges, felts, and keys, using hand and power tools. · importance 4.6
• Reassemble instruments following repair, using hand tools and power tools and glue, hair, yarn, resin, or clamps, and lubricate instruments as necessary. · importance 4.5
• Remove dents and burrs from metal instruments, using mallets and burnishing tools. · importance 4.3
• Inspect instruments to locate defects, and to determine their value or the level of restoration required. · importance 4.3
• Adjust felt hammers on pianos to increase tonal mellowness or brilliance, using sanding paddles, lacquer, or needles. · importance 4.3
• Remove irregularities from tuning pins, strings, and hammers of pianos, using wood blocks or filing tools. · importance 4.2
• Shape old parts and replacement parts to improve tone or intonation, using hand tools, lathes, or soldering irons. · importance 4.1
• String instruments, and adjust trusses and bridges of instruments to obtain specified string tensions and heights. · importance 4.0
• Strike wood, fiberglass, or metal bars of instruments, and use tuned blocks, stroboscopes, or electronic tuners to evaluate tones made by instruments. · importance 4.0

See all tasks on the Musical Instrument Repairers and Tuners page.

Sources for this page

Every figure above traces to a named public dataset and the exact release below — not hand-written opinion. See the full methodology for what each measure does and does not mean.

• O*NET 30.3 U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development
• “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130 OpenAI / academic

Data compiled June 2, 2026. Figures are estimates, not advice.

@misc{singulariki-task-11866,
  title  = {Adjust string tensions to tune instruments, using hand tools and electronic tuning devices.},
  author = {{Singulariki}},
  year   = {2026},
  note   = {O*NET 30.3; “GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.) arXiv 2303.10130. Accessed June 7, 2026},
  url    = {https://singulariki.com/tasks/task-11866}
}