At 05:07 PM 5/22/98 -0400, Ralph wrote: >There haven't been enough replies for any kind is accurate poll so the >validity of the following is certainly questionable: > >Randy Potter School......18% >Self taught....................... 41% >Other schools.................. 24% >University schools.......... 18% There's an important category missing here, possibly because myself and some others I know who are second, third and even fourth generation tuners haven't spoken up yet. There are others we haven't heard from who learned their craft one-on-one from craftsmen in rebuilding shops and stores who would also fit into the missing category, which might be labelled "Apprenticed". To give some of my background, I apprenticed with my father beginning in the 1950s when I was old enough to hold a screwdriver without it being a deadly weapon. The earliest sounds I heard were pianos and pianos being tuned, and there were always jobs for a young boy to do in a piano shop. My father had apprenticed with his father as a young teenager after Grandfather returned from overseas serving as an officer in the CDN armed forces during The Great War. My grandfather had grown up in a residential London music school, apprenticed with Henry Willis as an organ builder after his voice broke and later worked as the organist and choirmaster (and piano tuner) for the Duke & Duchess of Westminster before emmigrating to Canada in 1903. He worked at the Martin-Orme factory in Ottawa for a brief time before returning to Saskatchewan to teach music, play and tune pianos. (See the reference in the Canadian Encyclopedia of Music.) He was a fine tuner and technician but did no rebuilding, and other than his factory work he learned what he had to by doing it. My father learned basically the same way, and although he was a superb tuner he did very little rebuilding and confined most of his technical efforts to regulating and reconditioning. Both my father and grandfather had been active in tuner's organizations in the past, and Dad had helped set up the first PTG chapter here in Alberta back in the 1950s, although he later left the Guild. Some of my earliest memories are the Guild Christmas parties I attended as a very young child. Back to my story. I worked with my dad (who was the first Yamaha dealer in Alberta in the 1960s) until I left high school in 1969, when I became a professional touring musician playing any instrument they'd pay me to play in dining rooms and bars across Canada. In between tours I managed to get a college education in broadcasting, and finally left the road and worked my way up from sweeping the floors in a TV station in small-town Saskatchewan to producer and news anchorman in a fairly major market. In 1981 I decided to return to pianos, where the pressure (and the pay!) is a lot less than in TV news. My father, who was the tuner for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra and the local Steinway dealer, and my brother both worked with me as I built up my piano skills again. Shortly after that I was introduced to Joe Bisceglie, and after working with him here for a few days, went to NY and had my first of several factory experiences at Steinway, with Joe and Bill Garlick. I joined the PTG in 1985 and became an "RTT" in 1987, and since then have attended as many conventions and seminars as I can as well as enjoying private tutoring in specific skills. >In all cases the respondents furthered their education (sometimes years >later) with books, PTG affairs and MPT affairs. It is only fair to assume The Guild has been the major influence on my skills in the last ten years. Every issue of the Journal, almost every chapter technical, many of the messages here and of course, the Pianotech live chat have all added something to my own knowledge and perhaps showing me a new skill to master. Being born into the piano business and having wonderful role models in the family was a great help in my learning about pianos, but the Guild has been almost entirely responsible for my learning about piano *technology*. John John Musselwhite, RPT Calgary, Alberta Canada musselj@cadvision.com
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