Wanna be piano tuner

[Roger Jolly]

Malissa,
             You are going about this in the correct manner, go out and
find your mentor, and let them guide you.
Roger



At 02:20 PM 30/09/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Hello!
>
>My name is Melissa Roen.  I'm new to this list this morning.  Ordinarily I 
>read a list for a while before posting, but I'm just so excited about this 
>that I wanted to post now.  I went through this lists' archives and couldn't 
>find a specific answer to my exact question, although I bet someone has
asked 
>it and I just can't find it.  Anyway, I posted a message to this effect on 
>rec.music.makers.piano this morning already, but I know I'll get more and 
>better responses here.  
>
>I'm a 29-year-old court reporter living in San Jose, California.  I have 
>played the piano since I was four years old and have had a lot of musical 
>training through private lessons and as a music major in College and at
Aspen 
>Music School.  Today I play mostly for my own pleasure and to relieve the 
>organist at our church from time to time.  (Yes, I play the organ too, but 
>that's not the point here!)
>
>Anyway, I have arrived at a point where I have a little money and a little 
>time to learn a skill I have desired since high school:  I want to learn to 
>tune and repair pianos.
>
>I took a correspondence course as a teenager, with disastrous results.
Now I 
>understand I had a very poor tuning hammer provided and the information I 
>received was poorly delivered and, at worst, just plain wrong.  This time I 
>want to do things "right."  What I'm trying to ascertain is what is the best 
>way to go about this?  My specific goal is to eventually take and pass the 
>RPT exam.
>
>All I have done so far is purchased a book, "Piano Servicing, Tuning, and 
>Rebuilding," by Arthur A. Reblitz.  What I am thinking is rather than go the 
>correspondence course way, I should read the book thoroughly; buy the best 
>equipment I can afford -- what specifically, I'm not yet sure of, nor where 
>to buy it; buy some of the other videotapes and books recommended at the
back 
>if the book and study them; and then hire someone who is already a RPT to 
>teach me one-on-one until I get the hang of it.  I also plan to join the 
>Piano Technician's
>Guild.
>
>I would go to a school, but there are none in my area (San Jose,
California). 
> 
>
>So to summarize:
>Is this the truly the best way to learn?
>What equipment do I need to buy?  Where should I get it from?
>Should I reconsider taking a correspondence course?
>Is there anything else I should know about?
>
>Thanks for letting me pick your collective brains!
>
>Best wishes,
>Melissa
>hotsteno@cs.com
>
>
>Melissa Roen
>CSR No. 12284
>Pulone & Stromberg 
>Certified Shorthand Reporters
> 
Roger Jolly
Saskatoon, Canada.
306-665-0213
Fax 652-0505