This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment With regard to the issue of technician training, supply and demand, etc. = I wanted to share some of my experiences. In many years of employment as = a pianist and teacher of piano technology in a State University, as well = as my experience as a concertizing pianist, I can say with some = confidence that of all applied musicians, pianists are the very most = ignorant about their instruments. Vocalists can describe their larynx, diaphragm, and the mechanics of = voice production. Brass players can talk about the laws of vibrating = columns of air and valving ratios. String players can adjust bridges and = sound posts. But pianists only know for sure that depressing the end of = a piano key usually produces a sound. The technician - a very able one - at the university from which I = recently retired was a one time piano student of mine who went on to get = the training and skills necessary to pursue this somewhat different = pianistic path. During his student years he also had a one semester = course in piano technology, designed to familiarize students with the = instrument, learn the names of all its parts, and be able to communicate = intelligently with their technicians. Our school was unique in requiring ALL piano majors to take this course. = When the technician who had initiated that program left for greener = pastures his replacement had no interest in continuing the program, so = it fell to me to try to keep it going. After I left my position, my = successor - also a pianist - saw no value in such a course, so the = university is now just like all other universities. It turns out = pianists who are ignorant of their instrument.=20 If all university based PTG members would encourage their piano = departments to offer a simple, one credit course in piano technology = familiarization, it would make a HUGE difference in what the future will = look like. Of course that might mean teaching a course on top of an = already full schedule of piano maintenance, but if you're serious you'll = need to bite the bullet. David Pope Bowling Green State University ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/caut.php/attachments/ee/ba/f5/06/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC