<html><head><style type="text/css"></style></head><body><div style="font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12pt"><DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Annie,</DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">That's very cool. I wasn't around when piano tuners came to our house when I was a kid. (My mom assures me that she had the piano tuned...) I do the same as you and invite kids and their nervous moms to take a look and get a quick tour of how things work. One of the most rewarding parts of this job, for me, is making the family piano less mysterious. The tour also opens the door to showing why regular maintenance is needed.</DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">When I read last year that the mean age of technicians in the PTG was something like 57, I decided to start mentioning Piano Technology as a career for aspiring piano students. It is a career that most teenagers haven't considered, and hopefully more will *and* lower the average age. On the other hand, the current statistics make me look young for a piano technician. Ah, it's good to be only 50.</DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Dave Davis, RPT<BR><BR></DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: times new roman, new york, times, serif">----- Original Message ----<BR>From: Annie Grieshop <annie@allthingspiano.com><BR>To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org><BR>Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2007 9:37:14 PM<BR>Subject: future technicians<BR><BR> <DIV>This afternoon, I wrote a letter to the first piano technician I ever<BR>watched tuning a piano.  That was back in the early '60s, and even as a<BR>pretty young kid, I thought it was the most wonderful thing ever.  He'll be<BR>80 this summer and is celebrating his 40th year in the PTG.  I don't expect<BR>him to remember me, but he surely did change my life.<BR><BR>So, when I work in a house with kids (or interested adults), I always take<BR>time to show them what's going on inside the piano and how things work, in<BR>general.  With case parts removed, I encourage them to play so they can see<BR>it all in motion.  (I've heard that the little ones don't pound as much<BR>afterwards.)<BR><BR>And this month, I've heard from two young tuning customers who have decided<BR>they want to try their hands at being technicians.  They're both good<BR>pianists and budding composers, but I'm pretty sure neither of them had ever<BR>considered being a technician until we spent time talking about it and<BR>poking around inside pianos together.  And you can bet they've heard a lot<BR>about the PTG and why they should join! <g><BR><BR>What goes around does come around..........<BR><BR>Annie Grieshop</DIV></DIV> <DIV style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><BR></DIV></div></body></html>