A DALES musician who is also is one of the area's most well-known piano technicians and tuners is bang on target to add another string to his bow.

For David Bracewell qualified earlier this year as an instructor in clay pigeon shooting, as well as air rifle target shooting and archery.

The 50-year-old, who was born in Laycock, but has lived in Skipton for much of his life, says he has combined the two major passions of his life - music and shooting - into a lifestyle that enables him to greatly enjoy earning a living.

Now he is combining his piano technician business with instructing would-be shooters at the Coniston Shooting Ground, Coniston Cold.

And David, who also plays bass guitar in long-standing local rock and pop covers group the Strong Beer Band, says his current working life could not suit him better.

He says: "I inherited a love of music from my mother and started learning to play the cello at the age of seven, going right through the grades.

"I took up the guitar later on, and I've had a go at playing most musical instruments at some time or other. My father had a shotgun and when I was 18 he bought me my own gun, so I have been interested in shooting for a long time too.

"I was approaching 50 and thought it was the right time to apply my mind to something new.

"So I applied to do the Clay Pigeon Shooting Association's instructor course. You have to qualify as a safety officer, go on to their instructor development course, then complete the 'full instructor' course. It's extremely hard work and they push you very hard too.

"More people fail the course than pass it, and you are put under a lot of pressure because obviously you are dealing with guns and everybody's safety is paramount.

"Luckily I really enjoyed it and since I started as an instructor I've found that I love doing that too - it's really satisfying and rewarding teaching someone to shoot properly."

Meanwhile, David's professional musical life in the Dales will not change, he says. As a child he gained a musical scholarship to the renowned Woodhouse Grove School in Apperley Bridge, then carried on his studies at Leeds College of Music, having added clarinet to his repertoire of musical instruments.

He opened the Music Shop on Belmont Bridge in Skipton in 1986, studying as a musical instrument repairer and qualifying as a piano technician. In 1996, he sold the shop and started Bracewell's Piano Services, becoming well-known to the pianists of the Dales for his piano-tuning skills.

David says: "Twenty years ago I really felt up for what I thought of as a 'lifestyle' change in my working life - I wanted to travel around the Dales in a kind of 'James Herriot, vet' kind of thing, but tuning pianos rather than healing sick animals! And it's great - I still enjoy doing that today. It's always nice to get out and about talking to people. Because I am able to work from a diary I can carry on with the musical work and well as taking on the shooting instruction. So far it has worked brilliantly for me and I'm getting an enormous amount of satisfaction from both."

And a third string to David 's bow is the Strong Beer Band, with whom he has played bass guitar since the late 1980s. The group has been well-known to Dales music fans for more than a quarter of a century, and though they don't play the three or four nights a week they did in the 1990s, the group still get out on the road one or twice a month.

And they they still like to play the eclectic mix of rock, soul and pop covers - Queen to Creedence Clearwater Revival, Wilson Pickett to Oasis - that made them such local favourites in the 90s.

Says David: "The band was fairly dormant for a number of years but gradually we picked it up again and find we are enjoying it as much as ever, though we don't play as often as we used to.

"On a personal level, things couldn't be better - I've got two jobs that I absolutely love doing and my wife Kelly is giving birth to our first child in March."

David also has two children, Jack and Sarah, from a previous relationship.

He adds: "Everything is going great - only the other day it struck me that I may be the only piano tuner in the country who is also a qualified clay pigeon shooting instructor. If there are any others I don't know of them!"

*To contact David about clay pigeon shooting, air rifle target shooting and archery instruction at Coniston shooting ground ring 01756 748586. For piano tuning or repairing, or to book the Strong Beer Band, phone David on 01756 796072.