school or home course

[David Smith]

Julie, I also would tend to agree with Phil, Jim, Ed.   My experiences in 
the last 9 months as a student of piano technology have been:

1. The Randy Potter course (great course, probably the best home study 
approach there is).  For me that is time and money well spent so far.  The 
only negatives seem to me to be first, the lack of rapid, blunt, and 
immediate feedback on my progress in skills, and second, the occasional 
digression in the written material-- all good stuff, but would still benefit 
from some tight editing.  All that said, I would
follow this same path again, given my personal situation of retired, family 
and living in S Florida.  I would be happy to discuss The Randy Potter 
course with you.  Email me privately if you wish.

2.  PTG participation.  Attended the Chicago convention and sponged up as 
much knowledge as this sponge could hold.  Great experience which also gave 
me a shot of energy and enthusiasm, along with making several new friends.  
Also this LIST is invaluable to me.  Don't understand much of what I read, 
but hope to someday.

3.  Beginning an what I hope will be an "informal apprentice" relationship 
with a knowledgable and well-respected piano technician in my area who is 
able and willing to help me learn.  Brief experience so far here, but this 
is filling the voids in number 1 above.  Phil-your modesty prevents me from 
saying more.

4.  Tuning and working on lots of pianos.  This experience, which apparently 
is the real teacher, is what I lack.  My two pianos here at home (an old 
upright for tuning, rapair, regulation practise, and a newer small grand for 
fine tuning practise) have to suffice for me now.  Hope to have the ability 
and opportunity to see lots of pianos as time goes on.

I believe that a school such at N Bennet St might be a better approach if 
only from the full-time immersion aspect.  I Imagine there are other 
benefits also, but have no first hand experience.  However, since I am not 
able to move to the school, this doesn't work for me.

Hope this helps you Julie, and I would welcome feedback from anyone on the 
list.

Dave Smith
Pine Island, Florida

>From: JIMRPT@AOL.COM
>Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
>To: pianotech@ptg.org
>CC: Juliaeux@AOL.COM
>Subject: Re: school or home course
>Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 08:15:23 EDT
>
>
>In a message dated 01/08/02 10:59:40 PM, Juliaeux@AOL.COM writes:
>
><< How much can one learn from a home mail order course in piano tuning and
>technology? Is attending a school better than a mail order course? ....or
>over time would I learn the same things just getting on the job experience?
> >>
>
>Julie;
>  Without a doubt the quickest and best way to establish a foundation of
>knowledge and skills is to attend a school such as North Bennet Street.
>However that is not the only viable method.
>In my opinion the rankings of options would be:
>1. Schooling in residence.
>2. Apprenticing with a knowledgable tech/store.
>3. Correspondence course.
>or some combination of the choices.
>
>  An important thing, no matter the choice you make, is to have someone(or
>several someones) whom you can call on for advice/help/encouragement. This
>can be through association with a local tech or as a member of the local 
>PTG
>chapter.
>Good Luck!
>Jim Bryant (FL)




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