How To Become A Piano Tuner

How To Become A Piano Tuner

   Piano tuning is not a dying art. Numbers of young people are entering training for this much-needed area of service. It is a competitive field to enter but a very satisfying one.

   You won't become wealthy in this business but you will find it a low stress occupation in which you can express your love of music and adequately provide a family income.

   About ten percent of the technicians in the Piano Technicians Guild are female, so please understand that, when I use the pronoun "he", I am using it generically and both men and women are referred to.

   There are three successful methods of receiving training in piano technology:

   The first, which is probably the best, is to find a well-experienced piano technician who would like to take you on as an apprentice. You would spend a few years working in his shop, at a very nominal wage at the beginning. But, as you learned and became experienced, your remuneration would grow. Eventually, you would become a full employee or a partner or move out to establish your own piano service business.

   The second way is to attend a college course in piano technology. There are a few such training centres in the United States but only one in Canada. It is the:

PIANO TECHNOLOGY, FACULTY OF MUSIC,
Room 210, Talbot College
University of Western Ontario
London, ON N6A 4B5

You may contact them by letter or phone (519-661-3497)
or visit the web site:
www.pianotech.uwo.ca

Blind and visually handicapped persons (sighted persons are welcome, too) are also being trained in piano technology at:

THE EMIL FRIES SCHOOL OF PIANO TUNING
AND TECHNOLOGY
2510 E. Evergreen Blvd
Vancouver, WA, 98661-4323
Phone: 360-693-1511 or fax: 360-693-6891
or visit their web site www.pianotuningschool.org

   The third way to learn piano technology is via a correspondence course. The largest and most successful course is:

THE RANDY POTTER SCHOOL OF
PIANO TECHNOLOGY
61592 Orion Drive,
Bend, Oregon, 97702
Phone: 541-382-5411
Visit the web site: www.pianotuning.com

Another well established correspondence school is:

THE NILES BRYANT SCHOOL
Dept G, Box 19700
Sacramento, CA, 95819
Phone: 916-689-6641