[pianotech] RPT Credibility and "Status"

[David Ilvedson]

Well said...

David Ilvedson, RPT
Pacifica, CA  94044

----- Original message ----------------------------------------
From: "Floyd Gadd" <fg at floydgadd.com>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Received: 12/19/2008 11:00:46 PM
Subject: Re: [pianotech] RPT Credibility and "Status"


>What do letters after my name mean?  Are they a sign of perceived self
>importance?  I suppose for some people they might be.
>But I tend to look at them in a different light.

>I believe in the value of self directed study.  But when I hear someone
>describe himself as self-taught, it bothers me.
>There are a number of areas in which I have worked at gaining expertise
>outside of a formal learning environment.  Doing so
>is almost always a combination of reading and dialoguing with others who are
>interested in the subject matter.  I am not
>self taught in these areas, even though I have exercised significant
>initiative.  My teachers are those who have invested
>time and effort in writing to pass on their knowledge, and those who share
>their time and ideas with me.

>I cannot yet put the letters RPT after my name.  I hope to be able to do so
>in the near future.  There are some other letters
>I can put after my name, and when and if I choose to do so, they indicate
>that I do not consider myself self-sufficient
>in knowledge, but that I have valued the input and evaluation of those more
>experienced than myself.  I have considered it
>valuable to learn from them and to submit myself to their standards of
>evaluation, rather than simply to my own.

>It is obvious that one can operate a successful business without formal
>credentials.  That fact does not make meaningless
>the practice of submitting my work to the evaluation of those more
>knowledgable than myself.  It is also true that most people cannot tell the
>difference between someone who actually knows what he is doing, and someone
>who is simply following
>a set of step-by-step instructions created by someone else, without knowing
>why he is doing what he is doing.

>I currently tune using a set of instructions created by Robert Scott.  I am
>grateful to him for developing the Tunelab
>program.  It enables me to earn some income to feed my family, even though
>my aural skills are not yet sufficient for me
>to tune without the visual feedback.  But the fact that I can use a tool to
>do a job without fully understanding it does not
>render real understanding meaningless.

>When someone says I do not need anything more than the ability to "get the
>job done" in order to earn income in that line
>of work, I won't argue.  But when someone says that the standard for
>obtaining credentials in the field should be lowered
>to the extent that I don't need to know why I am doing what I am doing to
>hold the credentials, I must complain.  If I can't thoroughly evalute a
>tuning with my ears alone, I should not be holding credentials.

>Right now the RPT designation means something.  Sure, there are people that
>have passed the tests and quit learning, or
>have not demonstrated an ongoing commitment to excellence and customer
>service.  But these are not the people that
>define the value of what it means to be an RPT.  Let's keep pursuing a
>vision of excellence and of a high level of skill
>that is rooted in learning, preparation and understanding.

>Floyd Gadd, associate member
>Manitoba chapter