I passed the PTG Tuning test over the weekend. The test accurately found my errors, however, the test does not accurately emulate a typical piano tuning. For example, today I tuned 5 pianos, four of which were pitch raises that ranged from 60 cents flat to only about 10 cents flat. I was able to leave all those at A-440. This is a typical day - pitch raises on most pianos, yet the PTG tuning test does not test the ability to pitch raise accurately. This is a major failing because a stable, good sounding tuning cannot be achieved unless the piano is first accurately adjusted to pitch.

I have a second issue with the test - the piano is first prepped with one string flat, then one string sharp. in 25,000 tunings, I've only seen a piano like that once - when I passed the PTG tuning test back in 1985!! I realize the piano is detuned like this in an attempt to avoid de-stabilizing the piano, but I'd rather see a test where the piano is 6 cents flat, and the examinee has to first raise the pitch on the piano, then tune it to PTG standards. After all, isn't that what we do all day long???

Yes and no. The end result is what we provide as the service for the fee. How we get there is our business.
The test is of the end result, how the piano is when we leave the house, and how long it holds. Do you know what a tuned piano is? How you get there is a matter of practice, knowing it's right is a matter of education.
In any event, CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

The tuning test is really a minimal test, focusing on unisons, stability, pitch, midrange, bass, and treble. It's not nearly as scary as I thought it would be.

And definitely, congratulations!

--Cy--

Good job, Bob. I kind of agree with you about testing a "real-life" situation versus facing something "not found in nature." But we get what we get, and dealing with the unusual is a big part of our daily existence!

Congratulations!

Congradulations Bob.

CONGRATS BOB !!!
Be proud of your accomplishment!

Just curious, why did you take the exam again? Was 1985 before they had the RPT designation?

Congrats, Bob!



Was it at all uncomfortable for you to alter your usual tuning style to what the test stipulates, i.e., 2:1 octaves in the high treble, etc.?

And, did you study and prep for it again, or just go for it?

Jeff

This topic explains it


CONGRATS BOB!!

Bob,

It's interesting that you mention that. I was speaking with a Kawai technician from Japan a while back, and he mentioned that the JPT exam requires a 20c pitch raise.

Do they have gov't testing standards to be a piano tech in Japan or can anybody go into business as a tech like it is here? Some sort of minimum standard would have to be in place for most of these techs to take any test.
You saw how hard it was to get some of these guys to join the guild, make them take a real test????

Thanks for the kind words - I'd offer some tips for passing the test -

1. Test your A-440 setting using the 10th below - Play the A with the 10th, then the 10th with your fork. Get the beat rates to match. That will confirm a beatless match.

2. Bring bottled water and energy bars or cereal bars. The test took us 6 hours.

3. Take a 1 min break from tuning every 10-15 min. Then re-check your work with a fresh ear. It helps catch errors.

4. Take all the time allotted. If you finish early, take a short break, then re-check your work.

5. Use a key banger for stability.

6. Make sure your tuning tips are good, and bring different sizes for a good fit to the pins.

7. It might help to first even out the piano. It's very difficult to tune accurately while lowering one string and raising the next. If you even it out first, then you can tune normally, and it will probably yield better results.

8. The temperment and middle of the piano are critical. I wouldn't stretch at all here if possible, and make sure it's dead on, and you haven't changed your A 440 as you tuned up - they check for that!

Jeff - I set octaves like I normally would, slight roll with clean 5ths and that seemed to work. The master tuning on my piano was 3 years old, so you almost have to guess what they did for the master tuning. That's what you are graded against. I really didn't practice for the tuning test - but I've been tuning a long time.

Don, any idea how they scored the 20 cent pitch raise? or did they just score the tuning after the pitch raise - figuring if the pitch raise wasn't accurate, the tuning wouldn't be?

Some great advice, Bob! Thanks for sharing!

This will throw your A4 off, I'm afraid; F3 matches the second partial of A4, not the fundamental. Inharmonicity will cause an error.

Use F2 to set pitch (the 17th below).

--Cy--

Ahhh, so that's why I only got a 95% on pitch, hee hee. Thanks Cy. I'll switch to the 17th. BTW, a big thank you to the CTE and RPT's who volunteered their time to administer the test.

Bob, congratulations, first and foremost! Be proud and satisfied that you decided to take the exam again and passed. All of the issues you bring up now and did in the past have always been there and probably always will be. Every so often, there are people who get on here and point to one or more of these as a reason to not take the exam. My position on that is firm: we all know about all of that and can do nothing about all of that, it is up to each individual to make the decision to ignore all of that and just go ahead and take the exam. Not taking the exam won't make PTG do anything about any changes. Taking the exam won't make PTG do anything either. Therefore, all of those issues are non issues. The focus is on the individual alone.

I've been out of town for a while and have seen many topics to respond to. I hope to be able to later on today. But I felt compelled to answer this one first. And once again, to anyone who has some kind of "reason" why to not take the exam, any "reason" at all, even the most often cited, "It wouldn't change anything in my business, etc.", my answer for that is, "BALONEY!" I don't ever believe or give any consideration whatsoever to any of those excuses. The only thing I do take note of and have respect for, is the decision to go ahead with it, successfully or not. I and many others are here to congratulate you when you do and to help you if you fall short.

I'm sure you will realize what the benefits are once you get your RPT status back and that you will also be there to help people who are still trying to learn as you always have.