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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Glad somebody got the hint!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This story can inspire many possible tests based on
the pattern "more than anyone could diagnose in the time limit, but not so much
that real improvement is impossible."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-Start with a regulated piano, randomly distribute
20 subtle regulation errors over the piano. Add a few voicing errors as
well. The examinee has 20 minutes to diagnose and correct as many errors as
possible.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>-Detune a piano in the pattern of a "humidity
struck" piano, and the examinee has 20 minutes to get the octaves and unisons
back in shape.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>In my ideal world these exams would be fairly easy
to set up and administer, interesting to take and of value to anyone interested
in monitoring and improving their skills past the RPT exams.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I also wonder if something more broad than a
pass/fail category like RPT might be of value. By taking classes and
passing exams on a range of topics, a person could gradually build a
"transcript" of advanced learning and competency demonstration. Eager
folks who got a "C" score might like to come back and retake when they have
higher skills.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Ed Sutton</FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=custos3@comcast.net href="mailto:custos3@comcast.net">Israel
Stein</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=caut@ptg.org
href="mailto:caut@ptg.org">caut@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, October 25, 2007 1:08
PM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [CAUT] CAUT testing model</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>At 08:01 AM 10/24/2007, Ed Sutton wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE class=cite cite="" type="cite"><TT><FONT
face="Courier New, Courier" size=2>Just for fun, here's a college interview
I was told about:<BR><BR>The candidate was given a choice of a half-dozen
weary studio grand pianos<BR>and told "Pick a piano and show us how much you
can improve it in 3 hours."<BR><BR>I think that was a pretty clever
idea! I wish more school administrators <BR>were that
clever.</FONT></TT></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>The more I think about it, the more it
seems that this is the model on which at least a part of a CAUT tuning exam
could be based. Why is this such a clever idea? Because it realistically
simulates the conditions under which a CAUT technician typically operates.
There is never enough time to do any job, one always has to make choices, do
triage, set priorities, make the best possible assessment of what one can "get
away" with. This interview is clever because it addresses the candidate's
ability to function under those conditions.<BR><BR>I am wondering if a test
could be structured along the same lines. Give the candidate a tuning
assignment and a time frame way too short to do the job "perfectly". Devise a
scoring system rating the results in terms of priorities and score the
candidate in terms of how well he or she met those priorities. That might be a
better assessment of a candidate's chops than a "concert tuning" in 90
minutes. Yes, this would be very complicated and involve a lot of trial and
error real-time experimenting. But it might lead to some sort of realistic
test of "chops". <BR><BR>Hell, I can't remember the last time I had 90 minutes
to do a concert tuning during concert season - I'm always struggling to do
what I can in the time I can scrounge with the three concert hall pianos and
sometimes the results have to be good enough to last over several performances
and rehearsals... And sometimes, when the heating system is screwy
(which is quite often) the work includes a pitch raise or drop. And the
voicing always requires attention. And I hear the same thing from other CAUTs.
A "concert tuning in 90 minutes" doesn't begin to test the chops - or the
judgment abilities - required to deal with this. Something like the above
might...<BR><BR>A CAUT requires some very specialized abilities and skills -
not just "higher order tuning skills". This is one reason why I feel that the
CAUT credential should be an endorsement on top of the RPT - and not a stand
alone "supertuner" credential. For this reason (and several others which are
political and organizational in nature) the RPT status should be a
prerequisite for the CAUT exam and the CAUT exam should narrowly focused on
skills and abilities required of the CAUT - and not deal with broad overall
assessments of general skills that in many ways would duplicate what has
already been assessed on the RPT exam (albeit on the basic level). Thus the
CAUT test should focus on specific areas - the ability to tune specific types
of octaves, the ability to tune across a scale break, the ability to achieve a
stable tuning in pitch raise situations, the ability to tune adequately under
"pressure" conditions. This can be done more effectively by the use of
"sample" testing techniques focusing on specific areas through specific
assignments on parts of the piano rather than through a generalized test that
simply requires tuning a piano. <BR><BR>Israel Stein
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