Bruce et al, Yes, I'm one of those beginners... in THIS business. Although, I'm unable to say whether the 10,000 hour rule does or does not apply to this trade, I do know in my current day job, that this number is probably inflated. I've spent the last 28 years flying airplanes, from the smallest C-152's and open cockpit biplanes to Boeing 757's and 767's and just about everything in between. I must say, that in the flying business, 2,000 to 3,000 hours is a blurry line of demarcation between those that are still learning a lot, and those that are learning just a little. Even at my 16,000+ hours, I still learn something new every time I go up. But for me, and the hundreds I've trained, I'll call it about 2,500 hours. That is the point where a majority of the pilots would be able to handle a majority of the things that could happen to them. I have seen fantastic pilots at 1,000 hours, and I've also seen those with over 20,000 hours that send a shiver down my spine every time I think of them. All in all, for me, it's the person that makes all the difference. Merely passing an arbitrary line of time or experience does not create the master tuner or technician. Granted, I know I'll be a better tuner at 1,000 pianos. But will I be competent and skilled enough at 800? What about 500? 300? For me, I don't plan on doing things that I don't feel I know well enough. I plan on giving the highest quality product I can to my clients. Initially, I plan on only doing tunings. As I progress, I'll start adding regulating and minor repairs, voicing, etc. Work that I feel is beyond me, I will outsource to a competent professional. But I know I won't ask how many hours he's been doing it. I'll look at his references and talk with him in person. I can tell more about a person in 5 minutes of face to face time than anything else. I can see his love and devotion to his work in the sparkle of his eyes or the smirk on his face. So for me, 10,000 hours is a data point that some researcher was able to closely fit in to his myopic analysis. And then he tried to apply it to everyone and everything. People are different. People learn at different paces. People are motivated by different things. And people have different skill levels at different experience levels. I don't know anyone here very well at all (yet), but as an example, I'll bet David A. was a pretty good tuner/technician pretty early on. My opinion comes just from my limited exposure to his commentary, his website, and seeing the quality of his workmanship, along with the perceived pride he takes in his work. I could be wrong, but I'll bet I'm not. I know there are many more just like him that are on this mail list, as well. Lastly, a snippet of wisdom that I've always held on to is this, -- Most people underestimate the amount of time it will take them to complete a task and most people will undercharge what they are truly worth --. I won't overcharge, but I'm not going to devalue myself and charge a pauper's wage, either. Fair market for tuning a piano in my area is fair market. I'll let the customer decide if I was worth it. I'll strive to earn their respect and their trust. I will strive to learn as much as I can along the way. I will strive to do my best with each piano I have the pleasure of meeting! "Experience" is unique to each individual. Warm regards, Rob McCall Murrieta, CA "Good judgment is what you gain from experience which is what you gain from bad judgement." :-) On Apr 01, 2009, at 21:18 , Bruce Dornfeld wrote: > I guess many of you would say the amount of time put into the craft > makes no difference. Is this kinder to the beginners here or is it > perhaps a bit dishonest? No one has commented on the 10,000 hour > rule. Do you think that the studies that show this are flawed? > Perhaps it just doesn’t apply to our work? Yes, the willingness to > learn, personal motivation and integrity are crucial to excellence > in the field. So is the desire to help pianos sound so beautiful > that they will help transport the player to that elusive state of > creative bliss. But don’t we need to put in the time to learn the > craft too? Isn’t this the crux of the question about part-time > tuners? Perhaps I misinterpreted the question. > > ...If the tuners in a given area charge very low rates, it may not > make sense for someone to spend a couple of years studying the > trade, becoming well qualified, and returning to compete against the > low priced tuners. In the UK, with no part-time tuners to compete > against it may be more worthwhile. Now I just implied that part- > time tuners charge less. This is not always the case, but often it > is. Some on the list have also implied that lower prices are more > ethical… but this is another whole can of worms. Most tuners start > working part-time at lower prices and raise their prices as they > gain more experience and clients. Experience is something we expect > and are willing to pay more for. > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090401/b9fb70df/attachment-0001.html>
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