Pianotech

Greetings,

We at the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts are creating a proposal for a minor in Piano Technology. While I have trained a hundred-plus people over the past forty years, it has been in a mode best described as the "Combat Apprenticeship" (IOW, beyond piano cleaning and tuning, trainees learn to handle other issues as they crop up). I have taught a class called "Shop Help: A Guide to Effective Selection, Training and Supervision of Piano Shop Assistants" numerous times at regional and national conventions. In it, I compare and contrast the Combat Apprenticeship with the trade school approach.

Now we are considering offering a formalized course of study. To this end,

I would like to know how counterparts at other institutions that offer courses in Piano Technology structure their class(es)/programs.

1)    How long have you been doing this?

2)    What class(es) is/are offered?

3)    What are the criteria for passing a class?

4)    Do you offer a single class, or a course of study?

5)    How many students do you have at any given time?

6)    How do you balance group learning with individual instruction?

7)    Are you the sole instructor?

8)    What work is required outside of class time?

9)    Do you provide tools and materials (such as a tuning lever and mutes, and action models), or do you require students to obtain their own?

10)  What is the relationship between students in the class(es) and students on the Piano Shop crew (if you have a student-based shop crew)?

11)  What form of certification, if any, is offered?

12) How has this minor been received by the students at your school?

13) Any other relevant points that you can think of that I have not?

Please respond either on these lists or to me privately, whichever you prefer.

Thanks,

Alan

Hi Alan,

Thank you for taking this on. I've been told by a number of industry experts that there is a worldwide shortage of qualified technicians.   I also see the shortage in my area as well as the surrounding communities.

You ask some great questions in your post. I hope those have experience training people can give you helpful answers. You probably realize that what you're attempting to do is a full-time job, unless you limit it to two or three students at a time.  For comparison, when I went through the residential training program at the University of Western Ontario, we had two full-time instructors and two part-time instructors.  That was for 12 students. I'm hoping that you have colleagues who are helping you with this project. 

Thank you again for taking this much needed project. Our industry needs more in-person training opportunities.

Greetings,

We at the Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts are creating a proposal for a minor in Piano Technology. While I have trained a hundred-plus people over the past forty years, it has been in a mode best described as the "Combat Apprenticeship" (IOW, beyond piano cleaning and tuning, trainees learn to handle other issues as they crop up). I have taught a class called "Shop Help: A Guide to Effective Selection, Training and Supervision of Piano Shop Assistants" numerous times at regional and national conventions. In it, I compare and contrast the Combat Apprenticeship with the trade school approach.

Now we are considering offering a formalized course of study. To this end,

I would like to know how counterparts at other institutions that offer courses in Piano Technology structure their class(es)/programs.

1)    How long have you been doing this?

2)    What class(es) is/are offered?

3)    What are the criteria for passing a class?

4)    Do you offer a single class, or a course of study?

5)    How many students do you have at any given time?

6)    How do you balance group learning with individual instruction?

7)    Are you the sole instructor?

8)    What work is required outside of class time?

9)    Do you provide tools and materials (such as a tuning lever and mutes, and action models), or do you require students to obtain their own?

10)  What is the relationship between students in the class(es) and students on the Piano Shop crew (if you have a student-based shop crew)?

11)  What form of certification, if any, is offered?

12) How has this minor been received by the students at your school?

13) Any other relevant points that you can think of that I have not?

Please respond either on these lists or to me privately, whichever you prefer.

Thanks,

Alan