I'm liking what I'm seeing in this recent thread. 1) Career path research--I think there's some value in sharing career path information. Perhaps compiling that information would provide a direction not only for the CAUT curriculum group but also for PTG members in general. I've listed the top ten significant influences for my career at the end of this post. I'd be interested to know if others think this might be a fruitful avenue of PTG research. 2) Educational consultants--I also believe that there might be an educational consultant that might help us develop educational programs. Two requirements seem paramount to me. 1) The content and method of delivery in a classroom should be carefully crafted to deal with multiple learning styles. 2) Any program needs to be replicated across the country in regular on-going fashion. I think Ric was thinking along the same lines when he stated: "perhaps it (PTG) should take initiative to start forming a uniform curriculum for piano technology for the schools that already do exist, and promote the establishment of a few more university levels that offer it". Perhaps the consulting could come from within our own PTG membership. Many of us are, after all, teachers with teaching credentials. Kathy Maxwell in the home office should also be involved. 3. Task Force--Wim's idea of an education task force might be worth pursuing. Or maybe we already have one in Jim's CAUT curriculum subcommittee. In fact working on a more limited focused project might be the better approach. I agree with Ric when he says the process of reaching competency in our profession takes waaayyy too long. This gets back to the experienced based education process. I think PTG's biggest service would be to shorten that process through its educational programs. In fact I think this is one of PTG's primary missions. If we can find a way to organize the delivery of information, we fulfill our mission. I think we need to do a better job of working with schools, manufacturers, education "experts", and our own organizational structure (regionals, chapter meetings, "magnate" seminars, etc.). 4. Here are the top 10 influences on my career path. I'd be interested in hearing about others' career making influences: 1. 1 year piano tech school (Western Iowa Tech) 2. 1 semester woodworking class 3. a summer sabbatical working at a German piano factory 4. manufactures' week long seminars (Yamaha, Steinway) 5. just being a university tech raises the ante for high quality work 6. the obligation as a university tech to be involved with and support the profession and the professional organization 7. PTG conventions 8. teaching a class to university students 9. volunteering as a CTE 10. personal contacts with other technicians Richard West On Oct 20, 2007, at 4:41 AM, Richard Brekne wrote: > An interesting post from Richard West which echos many a familiar > theme. > I keep going back to a point I find central and at the very core of > the whole issue. There is no real uniform formal education for > pianotechs in the States, and many other places. Certainly nothing > that is uniform despite a few piano technology schools around the > country. And there is absolutely no form of accountability required > of anyone to in some fashion or another demonstrate they have even > the slightest idea of what they are doing in order to start working > as a <<paid piano tech>>. > > I look back at my own career and think time and time again... if > I'd only had even a reasonably decent starting point where would I > be now. At the age of 55 I am a fair ways down the road... but I > did nigh on 20 years before I walked through that RPT door (or > something similar) and found out how much more there was to learn. > That very door is the one we should be walking through after 3 > years of journeyman training. That was what was at the core of the > old German system which actually forbid by law the journeyman to > have his/her own workshop. You had to reach for and attain Meister > level. And you could not even start on that until you had at least > 5 years experience after Journeyman certification was achieved. > Something on these lines at least. > > Ok... so its kind of impossible to do exactly the same thing in the > US. But what should the PTG do ? Instead of trying to put > together essentially yet another school with its own ideas of what > a piano tech should do... perhaps it should take initiative to > start forming a uniform curriculum for piano technology for the > schools that already do exist, and promote the establishment of a > few more university levels that offer it. Establishing degree > requirements for what a CAUT head technician should be able to do > or not might be a bit easier that way. RPT and Masters memberships > requirements could be simply a matter of completing the required > courses at universities offering them. > > What should a CAUT head tech be able to do ? Well, he/she should > have a fair amount of physics and math under the belt... relevant > to piano design issues. A thorough knowledge of general woodworking > skills, a fair degree of administration skills, enough rebuilding > skills to either do a complete rebuild even tho such jobs may be > contracted out, and a fair amount of pedagogic skills in as much as > furthering the education of fresh journeymen is a necessity in any > large institution. At least an associates degree in music with > piano as the central instrument should also be in the picture. A > CAUT head technician is in the end responsible for all these > things, and more...even tho some of these things may be delegated > or contracted to others. > Of course such a person requires several years of experience after > a base education to get there. My point is that that journey is all > to all to often made wayyyy to long simply because there is no > requirement and nearly in practice no existance of a reasonble > starting point from which to begin that journey. > > The PTG does an admirable job of making the best out of a loosing > proposition IMV. The dedication to improving ones skills and > helping others relies in the end so much on idealistic principles > that the problems we face in reaching both techs, administrations, > pianists, and the general public is the most predictable of results > possible... and at some point we will IMHO reach a wall we will not > get through. > > Only when those that hire and use us truly have a sense of what our > work is about and how much learning, skill, and experience it takes > to get good at it will we break through that wall. I fear we > simply will not much farther in that effort by staying on our > present course. > > Cheers > RicB > > > > > > > Hi, Jim, > > After I got out of Western Iowa Tech, I thought I knew quite a > bit about pianos. I quickly learned that I still had a lot to > learn. I barely knew enough to pass my RPT exam. In the 35 > years since, then, I would have to say that the expansion of my > knowledge was based on experience, i.e. a problem occurrs that > I haven't encountered before and I have to deal with it. > Hopefully I fix the problem. In a nutshell that's what I mean > by "experience based." > > A little book that was particularly helpful early in my career > was a book titled The Piano Tuners Pocket Companion by Oliver > Faust. On one side of the page there was a symptom and on the > other was the solution. Early on that got me through a lot of > repairs, but as I expanded my knowledge, I realized that > repairs aren't always a simple symptom/solution question. > Dampers are a good example of what I mean. You have a ringing > damper, but a plethora of possible solutions including ones > that don't even have anything to do with the actual damper > you're working on (sympathetic vibrations or a duplex length of > string). But with perseverance you figure out where the > problem lies and learn what to look for. This becomes an > experienced based repair that you add to your mental data bank. > > Experience gives you a bag of "tricks" to draw from to help > diagnose problems, but these tricks of the trade aren't > compiled and written down and so it's hard for beginners to get > what they need to know, without going through the school of > hard kocks. > > The problem in developing materials is multifaceted. First > there's figuring out how to deal with the multilayered nature > of our work. Second there's the problem of who's going to be > using the materials. Let's face it, we aren't all equally > gifted in the mechanical arts. Some people hardly need an > explanation and others need detailed explanations and even then > may screw up. > > So when I pose the question: What does a university tech need > to know and how does he/she acquire that knowledge, I relate > first to my own experience. I learned to be less compromising > and more exacting in my work. If I wasn't, I'd hear about it. > I went to PTG meetings and picked up ideas there. I scratched > my head a lot and just spent the time it took to learn how to > work on things like harpsichords, an inventory, reports, etc. > etc. I persevered. But it would have been helpful if I'd had > a book like Oliver Faust's that gave straightforward solutions > to common problems. Also I realized that learning multiple > ways of doing something, forced me to think about what works > best for me. Key bushing is an example. I've tried a whole > host of different ways to bush keys. I'm still looking for the > perfect system. I've settled on a system that isn't > particularly fast and efficient, but it gives me fairly > predictable results. > > The first priority in concert work in getting it right. Speed > and efficiency should also be there, but not necessarily. > Especially for the mechanically challenged. Sometimes doing a > job slowly but predictably is the only way. > > I don't know if my longwinded explanation helps, but there it > is. I'm glad you asked, because it helped me try to try to get > a better grasp of how we learn this profession. We don't write > or teach in a vacuum. Perhaps the greatest challenge is > getting through to people. That means we need to know how > people learn so that our materials reach them. I don't know > that PTG has been particularly good at addressing this aspect > of learning. > > Sorry I took so long to reply. I've had lots on my plate this > week. Retirement isn't about just sitting around and getting > bored or watching a screen all day. > > Richard West
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