Course in piano technology

[A440A@aol.com]

 Greetings;
Wally asks;
>Does anyone know of or have any published material that is in "widespread"
>use for teaching such a one semester (or quarter) course to college music
>majors? How many of you university piano technicians teach such a course?


     I just finished teaching a one semester course.  Eye opening experience,
 in that we get used to discussing the complexities of pianos with other
technicians, and forget that the average student is totally unprepared for
the combination of engineering and musical acuity that dealing with a piano
requires. The naive students  begin to show the whites of their eyes as soon
as you say "inharmonicity".   When you get to the circle of compression and
tension that downbearing pressure creates, you may be in a familiar system,
but describing the whole structure is quite a challenge.
        I found little in the way of teaching material.. Larry's "Piano Book"
is not a bad choice, or Braid White for that matter,  but I  ended up making
hand-0uts for most of my classes.  It was easier to get a focus on just what
informationI needed to use.

Regards,
Ed Foote