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Joined: May 2013
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Hello all, It's still a long time, but I need to tell someone! So here you go. I have made a decision about something that has been with me for years. I'm going to a piano technician's and tuning school. It's a two year training (1st year uprights, second year grands) which should cover pretty much everything you need to know about piano tuning and maintenance. It does not cover any restauration topics. It does cover the history of the instrument, tuning, regulating, replacing hammers and other parts, repairs, new strings, tools, materials, etc. And of course the theory of it all. I'm really excited. I'm 40 and this is something I always wanted to learn since I play piano which is almost 30 years. There's a little catch though, the training will start next year september and they will have an intake procedure, since it is very popular. There are not many of these trainings available here in the Benelux. They will ask about your motivation, musical and technical background and the professional goals. I will be invited to talk with the teachers and am curious to find out if they would have a 40 year old in their class. . Any thoughts?
Paul
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Just dress-up like a 20-year old - including the hair. They might think you're younger. I'm almost 40 but I dress basically the same as I did when I was in college. Jeans with holes in them, graphic tees, spike up my hair. I also work out a lot so I'm pretty much the same weight as I was when I was 20.
A lot of people tell me they thought I was in my late 20's. I say "say" because maybe they're just being nice, but that's what some "say."
Last edited by michaelha; 05/04/16 05:50 AM.
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Paul,
Is this a private school that depends on tuition payments for its income? How many students do they accept each year? Do you get the sense that significantly more students apply than are accepted?
Larry.
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Congratulations on your career choice and formal training decision. I work in the field of education, and, as bad as I hate to say this, education has become a marketable commodity/product. Here in the US, post-secondary educational institutions tuitions are higher than ever before, especially for the private, for-profit schools.
Just make sure you get what you pay for and not a promise of what you may learn. Most of the learning will have to come from you. Therefore, be proactive and get the most benefit possible from the opportunity.
Quite honestly, I think piano technology, like many of the skilled trades these days, have less and less younger folks interested in them. Many younger people nowadays want a job where they can stand around all day while texting or fiddling with their iPhones.
Wishing you all the best!
Rick
Piano enthusiast and amateur musician: "Treat others the way you would like to be treated". Yamaha C7. YouTube Channel
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Great decision, I've always wanted to be able to tune my own piano but I'm glad i never tried, you hear a few horror stories about people with no training trying to tune their piano. It always ends in pain.
Last edited by DiarmuidD; 05/04/16 07:50 AM.
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chopinaholic,
You have chosen a field that is difficult, demanding, but also continually interesting and rewarding. I wish you much luck in your journey and please - keep hanging around here and keep us posted.
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Great decision, I've always wanted to be able to tune my own piano but I'm glad i never tried, you hear a few horror stories about people with no training trying to tune their piano. It always ends in pain. Sound advice, generally, but I happen to disagree to an extent. I have learned to tune my own pianos, and though my tunings are not perfect, they are probably as good as or better than many I've heard in recordings on YT, and in some piano showrooms. The only exception is when I got Sally Philips to tune my Yamaha C7 a few years ago. Her tuning was superior to mine, no doubt, but she is a world-class pro, after all. Plus, I learned something just by watching her work. All my pianos are likely in a better state of tuning than most pianos at piano store showrooms. It's like anything else that a person choses to learn. None of us are born knowing how to tune a piano. We learn it. Sometimes through trial and error and sometimes from constant repetition. The more you do it the better you get at it, just like learning to play the piano. There are generally two schools of thought on this subject here on PW. One, only a fool would try to tune their own piano; secondly, we live and learn and become proficient at anything we work really hard at and want to learn, and there are many PW members who tune their own pianos. Most chose to keep it to themselves to avoid undue criticism and ridicule, from the advocates of the first school of thought. Chopinoholic has chosen to go the formal training route. I say congratulations and more power to them! I hope they can get and keep enough work to make a full-time career of it. Just my .02. Rick
Piano enthusiast and amateur musician: "Treat others the way you would like to be treated". Yamaha C7. YouTube Channel
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Quite honestly, I think piano technology, like many of the skilled trades these days, have less and less younger folks interested in them. Many younger people nowadays want a job where they can stand around all day while texting or fiddling with their iPhones.
I agree with this. At 40, I suspect you will be far from the youngest person there. I wouldn't worry about it. If you get in, just enjoy it. Your age will not be a factor.
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Thanks all! Larry, The school is a government supported institution. It's really big and has a couple of settlements in the country. The intake is done because of the number of candidates. They take only 2 groups of 15 every two years(!). I'm not sure how many students apply. I agree with you Rick that education these days only have dollar signs as a motivational aspect. Where is the time that you could get a funded trip to study some worm in South-America? But there are still people who want to learn a craft without iPhones . My current job is in IT. I like my paycheck, so no complaints there. But I feel like I miss something. In IT everything you do is gone in three years. It's not rewarding one bit. Maybe I can divide the work and go partime with each job. Not sure yet how that will work out though.
Paul
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Great decision, I've always wanted to be able to tune my own piano but I'm glad i never tried, you hear a few horror stories about people with no training trying to tune their piano. It always ends in pain. Sound advice, generally, but I happen to disagree to an extent. I have learned to tune my own pianos, and though my tunings are not perfect, they are probably as good as or better than many I've heard in recordings on YT, and in some piano showrooms. The only exception is when I got Sally Philips to tune my Yamaha C7 a few years ago. Her tuning was superior to mine, no doubt, but she is a world-class pro, after all. Plus, I learned something just by watching her work. All my pianos are likely in a better state of tuning than most pianos at piano store showrooms. It's like anything else that a person choses to learn. None of us are born knowing how to tune a piano. We learn it. Sometimes through trial and error and sometimes from constant repetition. The more you do it the better you get at it, just like learning to play the piano. There are generally two schools of thought on this subject here on PW. One, only a fool would try to tune their own piano; secondly, we live and learn and become proficient at anything we work really hard at and want to learn, and there are many PW members who tune their own pianos. Most chose to keep it to themselves to avoid undue criticism and ridicule, from the advocates of the first school of thought. Chopinoholic has chosen to go the formal training route. I say congratulations and more power to them! I hope they can get and keep enough work to make a full-time career of it. Just my .02. Rick Well I'm glad you've become a good tuner, but I'd be worried about the damage I could do on my first few attempts. I couldn't live with myself if I messed up anything after the time, money and complications I went through to get my piano here. But yes I would very much like to be able to tune my piano, I just wish I could learn on an old jalopy somewhere with a good tuner to advise me.
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Well I'm glad you've become a good tuner, but I'd be worried about the damage I could do on my first few attempts. I couldn't live with myself if I messed up anything after the time, money and complications I went through to get my piano here. But yes I would very much like to be able to tune my piano, I just wish I could learn on an old jalopy somewhere with a good tuner to advise me. Good advice as well... I don't know that I'd call myself a "good" tuner, meaning better than average. I'd call myself a sufficiently good enough tuner for my own purposes. I do not tune for others, or tune for money. I've tuned several pianos for free, but I can't keep doing that. It can take up to two hours or more to tune a piano from start to finish; my free time is becoming less available for free. I tune my pianos because I want to and I enjoy it, not because I can't afford a professional tuner. If I need a professional tuner, I'll call Sally Phillips and pay her higher than average fee, which is well worth it. I've never damaged anything while tuning my pianos. I have broken a string while playing aggressively in the upper register. Rick
Piano enthusiast and amateur musician: "Treat others the way you would like to be treated". Yamaha C7. YouTube Channel
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Poetry is rhythm
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