Tech Training Help

[Jim Busby]

FYI, as my colleague stated we try to commit students to stay for the
duration. The goal is to produce an excellent technician who loves what
they do. 

Here are some of the things we have students do here. We ensure they do
good work on each item before adding another duty. 

1.	Water pianos 
2.	Replace broken strings (As needed. Later more restringing)
3.	Touch-up new strings (Daily, as needed)
4.	Clean shop and office, machinery, etc.
5.	Clean practice room pianos 
6.	(When ready) Touch up unisons on grand pianos in practice rooms 
7.	Repair/replace castors 
8.	(After 3-6 months training) Regulate upright pianos
9.	(After 1st year) Regulate grand pianos at technician's request
10.	Repin 
11.	Rebush 
12.	Mate strings w/ hammers (level strings, etc.)

Of course there is much more than this. They help us rebuild, etc.

In a nutshell here is our philosophy;

1st year is mostly menial work. The tuning they do is mainly unisons.
They focus on vertical regulation and repetitive work. We feel they need
to "pay their dues". The ones who want to make a "quick buck" quit. 

2nd year students start heavy into grand regulation, rebuilding skills,
and tuning. They take over (as they are able) the practice room
verticals, and later, some grands. We continually evaluate their work
and help them. By this time they have repinned and rebushed dozens of
pianos, and know vertical regulation well. 

3rd and 4th years focus on refining all their skills. They are
encouraged to pass all RPT tests. (We don't teach "how to pass the
test".) They learn voicing methods and improve tuning skills. Anything
we can pass on we will.
  
We use PACE lessons, 37 steps videos, All PTG books and journals, Danny
Boone's grand regulation book, and other videos and books. BYU has a
large number of training materials.

I hope this is of use to you.

Jim Busby RPT


-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Keith Kopp
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 12:00 PM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: RE: Tech Training Help

Avery, 
Here at Brigham Young University we both now have an informal program
with no credit given and also now have a history of a formal credit
program that has been dropped. I will address some administrative things
to look out for and let Jim address the training challenges. This could
actually be a very in depth study. There most likely should be a chapter
in a CAUT handbook on this subject. The main problem we find now and the
main reason the formal program was done away with is the competition you
are training for other technicians in the area. In the past as well as
now we have had students leave the program before they are fully
trained. They then go to work in the private sector and start making
four times as much as then would make in a work study program. We train
them and before they are an asset to our program we are left high and
dry. The private sector then has half trained tuners who say they have
been university trained. We are committing new students HARD to
basically a four year program. This is basically how we see a successful
program work. First year they are trained at no charge and they receive
no reimbursement. You mentioned that you would have four hours help. Our
experience is you will not receive help. You will train them for four
hours. They will not be a real help for the first year. I think Jim will
say it cost you four hours. Second year they are hired at somewhere
between 10 and 15 hours week. It is only then that you be able to get
some help from them without being right there with them at every step.
They receive more training. In return they are paid a little more than
minimum wages. We are current working our detail to have a third year at
higher wages and a fourth year when they would finally get a healthy
wage and finally be worth the time we will have invested in them. We
like to start freshmen. We are also looking into ways to keep them from
leaving before completion. We feel a need to design a program so that
they will be RPTs by the fourth year. There is a waiting list of
students who desire to enter this type of program. We have been
approached by at least eight students in the past two years. I would
like to write in more detail but do not have time now. This might be an
interest discussion at annual convention at a CAUT get together. Keith

-----Original Message-----
From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of
Avery Todd
Sent: Friday, March 26, 2004 9:33 AM
To: College and University Technicians
Subject: Tech Training Help

List,

I recently had a grad student come to me and ask about learning to
do piano work as a TA or Work Study. To make a long story short, it's
been approved and he'll probably be starting some time next week.
He's a composition major and also a pianist and is a TA already, so
they're just transferring 4 hours a week to me. I know it's not much
but it's 4 hours help I've never had before and at least it's a step
in the right direction!

Since I've never really trained anyone from scratch, can someone
who maybe has, give me any ideas about the best way to go about
it? I figured probably mostly shop type work in the beginning and
later, start him learning to tune. I'm going to try and get the
Reblitz book to at least give him something to study and learn a
few things that way. Any suggestions to make this work smoothly
and be beneficial to him as well as me, would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks.

Avery
________________________________
Avery Todd, RPT
University of Houston
Houston, TX


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