An Awesome Moment

[Carol R. Beigel]

I sometimes think that if I was a piano salesperson, and someone came into
my store looking to spend a few hundred dollars on a used instrument, that I
would show them the finest, most magnificent piano in the store, first.  I
would want them to hear the magnificence and beauty of this unique
instrument, and let them decide for themselves how much they want to
compromise.  How can someone be taught quality if they never see or hear it?

We tell people who want to join our profession to acquire an old upright and
practice repair and regulation.  Then we ask them to practice tuning on it!
Perhaps if we took this aspiring piano technician to the symphony and had
them listen to a piano concerto played by someone who could really play the
piano, they would see what an awesome profession this can be.  They would
know from the beginning what the top skill level could produce.  Maybe they
would not settle for less than RPT.

For the past 24 years, I have been trying to learn to be a competent piano
technician.  The mechanical part of our profession, with the exception of
tying a knot is piano wire, has seemed to come fairly easily to me, but
learning to tune a piano has been the hardest thing I ever learned to do.
It is the only endeavor that I ever failed at - flunking the tuning exam at
least four times during my first 6 years in the business.  I have never
forgotten those failed exams, and they have always been in the back of my
mind - creating a lingering doubt that I might not be up to standard when it
really counted.

This weekend I attended the first full symphony orchestra concert in my
adult life.  I heard my first piano concerto.  I met my first professional
pianist.  I heard my tuning on a concert hall stage for the first time.  It
was an awesome moment in my life.  I guess I better learn to tie a knot in
piano wire!

Carol Beigel, RPT