[CAUT] U. of Northern Iowa position

[tannertuner]

I think to clarify what I am trying to say is (and I've said it before), the musical skills one needs to be a very good piano technician do not require a very expensive college degree in music, and a music degree will confer very little of the knowledge and skill needed to be an excellent college piano technician.

If a piano technician feels he/she needs a college degree, the degree which will benefit him/her most will be a degree in business administration. Far more of what we do is taught there than in the music school. There is no college degree for the manual labor skills required of our work. That's got to come from your mother and father's chromosomes. And, I'm not so convinced that those same chromosomes can't also contain the musical aptitude required as well.
Jeff

--- On Wed, 8/11/10, tannertuner <tannertuner at bellsouth.net> wrote:

> From: tannertuner <tannertuner at bellsouth.net>
> Subject: Re: [CAUT] U. of Northern Iowa position
> To: caut at ptg.org
> Date: Wednesday, August 11, 2010, 6:29 PM
> Based on my experience and education
> background, it is a misconception that having (or pursuing)
> a music degree gives one a better understanding of music and
> musicians, nor does it mean one can or cannot play. The
> collegiate system of earning academic credit hours is a
> grossly inefficient method of teaching music. Ask those
> folks who wrote that music Mr. Schnabel was speaking of
> where they got their music degrees.
> 
> Pursuing a music degree can help those who are inclined,
> but at the same time the collegiate system may be also
> guilty of holding them back.
> 
> Jeff Tanner
> 
> 
> --- On Tue, 8/10/10, Don <pianotuna at accesscomm.ca>
> wrote:
> 
> > From: Don <pianotuna at accesscomm.ca>
> > Subject: Re: [CAUT] U. of Northern Iowa position
> > To: caut at ptg.org
> > Date: Tuesday, August 10, 2010, 5:08 AM
> > Hi Tanner,
> > 
> > That is nothing--except good taste and a better
> > understanding of music and
> > musicians. I do not say you can not be a wonderful
> > technician/tuner if you
> > do not play--but it surely helps.
> > 
> > At 06:27 AM 8/10/2010 -0700, you wrote:
> > >I'm always baffled as to why they would require a
> > bachelors degree in
> > music. Nothing learned in the curriculum of a music
> degree
> > prepares you for
> > the responsibilities of a piano technician. An
> appreciation
> > and ear for
> > music is all that is ever required. Inventory
> management,
> > record keeping,
> > manual dexterity, acknowledgement of physics and
> > engineering, and common
> > sense are not taught in the music department.
> > >
> > >(and, yes, I do see that they have somehow
> justified
> > that an associates
> > degree and 3 years experience as a professional tech,
> or
> > high school and 6
> > years experience may be substituted. But where is the
> logic
> > in that?
> > Doesn't this logic somehow suggest that the music
> degree
> > substitutes for
> > experience as a professional piano technician?)
> > >
> > >As for the 1/2 time position, they probably need a
> full
> > time person or two.
> > >
> > >Tanner
> > Regards,
> > Don Rose, B.Mus., A.M.U.S., A.MUS., R.P.T.
> > Non calor sed umor est qui nobis incommodat
> > 
> > mailto:pianotuna at yahoo.com   
> > http://www.donrose.ca/
> > 
> > 3004 Grant Rd. REGINA, SK, S4S 5G7
> > 306-539-0716 
> >
> 
>