<html> <head> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=us-ascii"> <meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 10 (filtered)"> <style>  </style> </head> <body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple> <div class=Section1> While knowing how to play the piano certainly can’t hurt a piano technician, it’s not clear that it necessarily helps.  Certainly being a pianist doesn’t make you a piano technician: how many pianists can’t tell you the difference between a hammer and a damper?  Piano technicians will have different skill sets and levels of understanding the mechanics of a piano and you will find just as often excellent piano technicians who don’t play as you will piano technicians who play who aren’t very skilled technicians.  The same is true for communicating.  A skilled technician is in part, by my definition, one who is able to communicate effectively with the pianist whether it is about the difficulties of executing a rapid passage, the subtleties of voicing, or the quality of tone.  Where a piano technician who doesn’t play is at somewhat of a disadvantage is that they can’t necessarily test out the performance aspect themselves.  But how many piano technicians, even those who do play, really can push the piano to its limit.  Playing the piano and working on the piano are not always the most compatible, especially in terms of the stresses put on the hands.    <div> David Love davidlovepianos@comcast.net www.davidlovepianos.com </div> -----Original Message----- From: caut-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:caut-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of Paul T Williams Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2007 3:12 PM To: College and University Technicians Subject: Re: [CAUT] CAUT credential vs. academic program?   Jeff, Since we don't have a time machine to test that, then yes, it is "impossible to measure"  How do you know what to do if the pianist says " it's difficult to control the pedaling during the pianissimo section of the development in the second movement" or "the presto section of so and so's piece is nearly impossible to acheive"? This kind of musical knowledge is crucial to make the artist happy. Some musicians attempt to put things in layman's terms, but many don't. They do a lot of assuming that we understand their speak. On the other side, some musicians try to understand our lingo and many do, but most don't.  The more education on both sides of the coin, the better the end result will be. At the very least, we should understand musical nomenclature even if we can only play chopsticks. Diversity of learning involves both education and life experiences. Where do you/we draw the line?  There is no "formula" to do this...  Do you want a clear-cut solution? That too, is "impossible". What is your "perfect solution" , then?  There is none, but we have to start with something. If an RPT/ CAUT is to be something "more desireable" than an RPT status, then different standards should be established. So, how would you determine what that is? Or, should we just go with the status-quo for universities to mearly know that RPT's have reached a great level of piano technology and leave the education learned elsewhere by the wayside? Paul <table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%;margin-left:.5in'> <tr> <td width="39%" valign=top style='width:39.98%;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'> Jeff Tanner <jtanner@mozart.sc.edu> Sent by: caut-bounces@ptg.org 10/31/2007 01:11 PM <table class=MsoNormalTable border=1 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td valign=top bgcolor=white style='background:white;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'> Please respond to College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org> </td> </tr> </table> </td> <td width="58%" valign=top style='width:58.98%;padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'> <table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%'> <tr> <td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'> To </td> <td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'> College and University Technicians <caut@ptg.org> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'> cc </td> <td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'>   </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'> Subject </td> <td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'> Re: [CAUT] CAUT credential vs. academic program? </td> </tr> </table>   <table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellpadding=0> <tr> <td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'>   </td> <td valign=top style='padding:.75pt .75pt .75pt .75pt'>   </td> </tr> </table> </td> </tr> </table> </div> </body> </html>