Joining PTG (to Patrick)

[Clyde Hollinger]

Patrick,

        Several things.  First, it does not take much time to join PTG.  You
need to get an application and submit it to your local chapter, and they need to
accept it, for which you will probably need to attend a chapter meeting.  If you
are accepted, I highly recommend you attend the chapter meetings regularly.
        Second, you do not need to pass exams to join PTG, but you must to
become an RPT (Registered Piano Technician).  I urge you to make this your goal,
as it forces you to learn things you may otherwise never get around to
practicing.  The PTG has assembled resources you can buy that are well worth the
price.
        Third, if you are "terrible" at replacing/splicing strings, you may be
going at it wrongly, or you may just need more practice.  And some of them are a
bugger for nearly everyone, I suspect.  Can you get a junker piano somewhere to
practice on?  That's what I did.  You can practice all kinds of things to your
heart's content without being embarrassed if you botch things up.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT
Lititz, PA, USA

Patrick Greene wrote:

> I have been busy trying to get my
> BS in business and have not had the time to join PTG.  I fully intend to do
> it, but feel a little worried that I would have a hard time passing the
> exam.  It is not the tuning part that I am worried about.  It is the string
> tying test.  I am terrible at replacing strings and/or tying them for that
> matter, therefore I feel that I would not pass that part of the test.