Awesome post. 100% agree. Again, the listers prove how valuable a resource this actually is. I'd a hundred times rather have Mark Purney sit in for me than a few full-time hack artists I regularly follow up on here in the city of angels. Attitude is everything. I'll say it again, in caps, for you glaze-eyed sleepwalkers: ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING. This is a custom business, working on custom instruments. Mark, do it just how you want to do it. I trust you. David Andersen On Apr 1, 2009, at 10:49 AM, Mark Purney wrote: > What is the point of making such comments? All this does is > discourage and discard less experienced technicians, and I hope none > of the part timers on this list pay any attention to it. I believe > there are many excellent part time techs, and there are others that > are working hard to become the best they can be. Many of today's > part time technicians will eventually be the future of this > profession; the ones who someday teach and mentor others. > > The brain surgery comparison is silly. A brain surgeon is a > specialist, in the highest levels of the medical profession. If we > were talking about rebuilding six-figure pianos, maybe we could > reasonably go there, but even then, nobody is going to die if > something goes wrong (unless you drop the piano on them). If I need > a flu shot, should I insist on a brain surgeon to administer, or > would a part time nurse or physician's assistant be more > appropriate? If a Wurlitzer spinet needs a pitch raise, would the > best rebuilder in town be the only person worth calling? Really? > > I'm part time, and may continue to be for a long time to come - by > choice. I'm dedicated to my work, and dedicated to making my clients > happy. Am I delivering the quality results they expect, and do they > know they can rely on me, and that I will go out of my way to make > sure they are 100% satisfied every time? THAT is what matters to the > client, and therefore, what matters to me. > > I'm intentionally growing my business slowly. In my situation, I > believe it is the best approach, both ethically, and for efficacy. > It gives me time to focus on education, learning new skills, > practicing old skills, helping my local chapter, going to > conventions and classes, etc. There is much to be learned while on > the paid job, but there is also a great deal to be learned outside > of it. I'm doing the best I possibly can with the time I have to > work with, and right now, that happens to be part time. I > wholeheartedly reject the notion that I'm not worth hiring because > of it. > > > > Bruce Dornfeld wrote: >> >> I don’t really think there should be a question of ethics here. >> Efficacy is another matter. It is true that most all of us start >> as part-time tuners, but there is something to think about and >> discuss here. Some of you have read the book “This is Your Brain >> on Music” by Daniel Levitan. It is a good book, if a poor title. >> The book is mainly about how listening and playing music affects >> the brain. One part of this book looks at the “10,000 Hour Rule.” >> Simply put, a person achieves the master level of a skill after >> 10,000 hours of practice. If you Google 10,000 hour rule you will >> find numerous citings by scientists and authors. Mozart put in >> enough hours as a kid to become an expert keyboard performer, and >> later a composer. 20 hours a week for 10 years will do it. How >> many part-timers will achieve this level and how soon? Part-time >> for some may be 20 or more hours each week, for others it may be 4 >> hours per week. All of us have corrected problems we caused, >> repaired improperly, or just misdiagnosed when we were beginners at >> piano service. If we don’t put in the time, will we achieve a >> level of expertise soon enough to keep a piano in proper shape? >> >> At a meeting of the International Association of Piano Builders and >> Technicians almost twenty years ago, there was a question asked by >> the Americans of the Korean technicians. The translator had to >> repeat or rephrase the question several times because it did not >> make sense to the Koreans. The question put to them was, “How many >> part-time piano tuners are there in Korea?” Their eventual >> response was, “None. Using a part-time piano technician makes no >> more sense than using a part time brain surgeon.” >> >> Bruce Dornfeld, RPT >> bdornfeld at earthlink.net >> North Shore Chapter >> > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090401/3faed212/attachment.html>
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