The fact of the matter is, I think, that training and career prospects are BOUND to diminish as a manufacturing sector diminishes in a given country. David You are taking the assumption that just because there are no manufactures, that the training will stop. Perhaps in England, in order to become a piano tuner, one must take a college course or be trained in a factory. But in the USA, any one can become a piano tuner without proper education. That's what Ed was referring to. But there are some school offering piano tuning, and there are a couple of correspondences courses, with Randy's being the best. But even when manufacturing stops, or comes to a dismal trickle, as in the USA, there will always be a need for service of the remaining instruments, not to mention the new ones, even if they come from Asia. What has been happening in this country for a long time, though, as the manufacturing jobs went elsewhere, the service industry has been gaining jobs. We might not have the proper training as we used to, there is still a significant amount of training going on, in both the private sector, and by the PTG, with seminars and conventions. Wim -----Original Message----- From: David Boyce <David at piano.plus.com> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Wed, Jul 7, 2010 12:30 pm Subject: Re: [pianotech] Are we fading This is a whole 'vexed question'. The fact of the matter is, I think, that training and career prospects are BOUND to diminish as a manufacturing sector diminishes in a given country. In the college where I work, 25 years ago there were about six hundred apprentice marine plumbers a year through the place, and they found gainful employment in the many shipyards on the River Clyde. But shipbuilding is all but wiped out in the UK So today, no marine plumbing courses in my college. Piano manufacture in the UK is finished as of last October (except for a handful of honourable high-end one-man-business exceptions). There is very very little chance of being anything other than self-employed, in the piano trade here in the UK. The situation is going in the same direction in the USA, though with a bit more industry still in existence. The foregoing goes for college courses too. There is only one left in the UK, it it looks decidedly shaky. Collges won't keep courses going if they don't attract numbers. Courses won't attract numbers if there is no industry in which to find employment. Pianos are still being made, sold and played. But the industry is located in the east now, not the west. So thats where the jobs are too, naturally. And, presumably, the training for the jobs. The situation is somewhat analogous to the watch making and repair trade (horology). My friend Mike Swift www.michaelswift.co.uk is a 'proper' horologist, and says that the 'old school' are dying off and not being replaced. There is still a specialist market for his special type of work, but again, all self-employed. And the courses that used to exist, don't any more. Michael's son Jamie is being trained by his Dad. So if there are no college courses, and no factories, how will imported pianos get serviced and tuned in future? Who will get trained and how? There is more to be said on this I am sure, but this will do for now! Best regards, David Boyce Hi Ed, I think our profession, on the big scale, is slowly dwindling like the piano industry as a whole. My chapter here in Nebraska, is probably about an average of my age (nearing 50) or better (at least those who come to the meetings), but we have two budding students who are charged up about the future possibilities! We need to recruit more young folks who want to continue in our footsteps. I, for one, am going to teach my 13 year old to rebush keys this summer so he can make some cash., but he hasn't shown interest in doing what I do for a career. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100707/dfdae939/attachment.htm>
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