<HTML><HEAD></HEAD> <BODY style="BORDER-TOP-STYLE: none; BORDER-RIGHT-STYLE: none; BORDER-LEFT-STYLE: none; BORDER-BOTTOM-STYLE: none">I'm confused:<BR><BR>"but for me to pass the Tuning Exam with all scores 93 or higher, with three 100s, well...I ain't no Virgil Smith, I'll tell ya that."<BR><BR> <DIV>"The tolerances allowed on the tuning test are so wide that Beethoven in his later years could have passed it."</DIV><BR>So not only are you not a Virgil Smith, but a deaf Beethoven could do better than you on the test?<BR><BR>David Ilvedson, RPT<BR>Pacifica, California<BR><BR><BR><BR> <DIV style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 3px solid; PADDING-TOP: 5px"> <HR> Original message<BR>From: "Tom Sivak" <TVAKTVAK@SBCGLOBAL.NET><BR>To: "Pianotech List" <PIANOTECH@PTG.ORG><BR>Received: 6/15/2006 11:09:08 PM<BR>Subject: RE: RPT, was THE best RPT.....<BR><BR> <DIV align=left>I agree that the tests, at least the written and tuning exams, are too easy to pass.  The bar is so low that RPT status does not qualify one as anything more than merely competent.  I haven't taken the Technical Exam yet, so I'm not sure about that one, but for me to pass the Tuning Exam with all scores 93 or higher, with three 100s, well...I ain't no Virgil Smith, I'll tell ya that.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The tolerances allowed on the tuning test are so wide that Beethoven in his later years could have passed it.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm sorry, I didn't start this out as a rant against RPTs, but I am amused by comments about what other RPTs think of me as an Associate.  Having met hundreds of RPTs, I can tell you this: there are good ones, and there are bad ones.  Having those three letters after your name does very little to increase my respect for you.  (Sorry.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>So what is my motivation to take that final test and pass it?  To join the ranks of other technicians, some good, some bad, who have also passed the test?  What's the distinction?   To put myself among the ranks of Virgil Smith, and at the same time, my friend, Mr. Best RPT in America?  Seems like this is a club that accepts almost anybody into their ranks.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'll probably take the Technical Exam one day.  As Dave says, why not?  If you join the PTG and accept a lower status, I think that says something about you as a person.  But I will get very little pride out of it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Tom Sivak</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><B><I>Dave Doremus <algiers_piano@bellsouth.net></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">On 6/15/06, pianolover 88 said:<BR><BR>>And let's not forget that without rpt tests, conventions, ptg dues, <BR>>ptj and so on, the PTG is out of business!<BR><BR><BR>Honestly, I think your wrong about all of this anti RPT stuff. I dont <BR>brag about it, or force it on anyone but its the only objective <BR>measure of basic competence there is in the field. Whats the big <BR>deal? I dont think I really gained anything financially from it but I <BR>havent lost anything either. And I have taken them a couple of times <BR>since just to see if Im losing anything. The tests really are not <BR>that hard. Personally, I think they should be much more demanding, if <BR>you are halfway competent you can pass them. Listen to the deviation <BR>allowed in a unison by the test and think about whether you would <BR>leave one sounding like that in a customers piano. I had no pressure <BR>placed on me when I took them, fresh out of school, apprenticed to a <BR>harpsichord maker, very little practical piano experience in the <BR>field, and had no trouble passing. I just dont see why anyone wouldnt <BR>want to join and take the test, not that expensive, not that <BR>demanding, the reward of getting together with people in the same <BR>profession once a month to talk about what you are all going through <BR>and knowing that anyone who calls you can have confidence in your <BR>basic abilities. Whats to lose?<BR>-- <BR>----Dave<BR><BR><BR>-----------------------------<BR>Dave Doremus, RPT<BR>New Orleans<BR>------------------------------<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV></BODY></HTML>