Little Red School House

Bill Brandom enjoyed playing piano as a kid and was even voted “most musical” in high school.  He later was given a book on piano tuning, which changed his life because he realized it would be his passion.  He attended a piano tuning school and opened his own shop in Kansas City before being asked to join the Yamaha team in 1980.  His first role with the company was to manage the service department for the Everett Piano factory in Michigan, which was owned by Yamaha at the time.  He later moved to the Yamaha corporate headquarters in California and joined the Yamaha piano service

LaRoy Edwards was the celebrated piano technician who began his long association with Yamaha back in 1961, the year before the company officially entered the United States market. Along the way he helped create the bond assurance program for retailers to track customer satisfaction, and the Little Red School House program for piano tuner training on new products. LaRoy was the first person to receive the Yamaha Life Time Achievement Award, an honor that was deeply meaningful to him.  

Jim Funada has dedicated the past four decades to serving the music products industry with passion and commitment. His journey began at the Yamaha Corporation, where he delved into keyboard retailing and laid the foundation for a remarkable career. In the late 1960s, Jim took on the responsibility of overseeing Yamaha school programs across the San Francisco Bay Area, spearheading their success and subsequent expansion to multiple cities and states in the western region. His expertise led him to Yamaha's headquarters in Southern California, where he continued to contribute signifi