Alfred James Hipkins spend a lifetime surrounded by music. Born on June 17, 1826, in England, he began his career at the age of 14, working as a piano tuner. He was such an expert at it, that by the age of 20 he was in charge of training other tuners for John Broadwood & Sons Ltd, where he worked for the rest of his life. Despite his expertise on tuning, he was not professionally trained to play, but became well-known for his ability to play, especially pieces by Chopin. He also became an esteemed writer of musically related books, namely on history and construction of instruments.