<HTML>In a message dated 8/23/01 4:10:40 PM Central Daylight Time, cedel@supernet.com (Clyde Hollinger) writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Patrick,        Several things.  First, it does not take much time to join PTG.  You need to get an application and submit it to your local chapter, and they need to accept it, for which you will probably need to attend a chapter meeting.   If you are accepted, I highly recommend you attend the chapter meetings regularly.        Second, you do not need to pass exams to join PTG, but you must to become an RPT (Registered Piano Technician).  I urge you to make this your goal, as it forces you to learn things you may otherwise never get around to practicing.  The PTG has assembled resources you can buy that are well worth the price.        Third, if you are "terrible" at replacing/splicing strings, you may be going at it wrongly, or you may just need more practice.  And some of them are a bugger for nearly everyone, I suspect.  Can you get a junker piano somewhere to practice on?  That's what I did.  You can practice all kinds of things to your heart's content without being embarrassed if you botch things up. Regards, Clyde Hollinger, RPT Lititz, PA, USA Patrick Greene wrote: > I have been busy trying to get my > BS in business and have not had the time to join PTG.  I fully intend to do > it, but feel a little worried that I would have a hard time passing the > exam.  It is not the tuning part that I am worried about.  It is the string > tying test.  I am terrible at replacing strings and/or tying them for that > matter, therefore I feel that I would not pass that part of the test. </BLOCKQUOTE> Nicely stated Clyde.  I didn't see the original post but I'd like to add something.  While splicing a string is part of the Technical Exam, you can still pass that test even if you refuse to or don't know how to splice a string. Some people are taught that string splicing is a substandard way to make a repair and thus have never learned the technique.  If a technician is very well practiced in all other aspects, missing that one task won't cause that person to fail the exam.  In fact, the exam is designed to have enough difficulty to make perfection a nearly unattainable goal. On the other hand, string splicing is not all that difficult once you understand and practice the technique.  Having someone who knows how to do it well show you step by step is the best way to learn. Be challenged, not intimidated by the PTG Exams! Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin</HTML>