Randy Potter Course

[Geoff Sykes]

Randy's course comes with Reblitz. And a bunch of other valuable reference
books and material as well. Randy's course has enough assigned reading in
Reblitz that by the end of the course you have read the entire book. Some of
it more than once. My feeling is that if all I had was Reblitz I would
probably not have completed anything. The advantage of Randy's course is
that it is structured, it has assignments, written tests and even though you
have to fight sometimes to get them back, tape evaluations. It also comes
with enough tools to practice pretty much all the skills being taught. It is
reasonably well thought out and structured so that you grow from
know-nothing to reasonably well informed, using the previous lessons to
build on the current one. 

How does it compare to the other books you mentioned? I think all of those
books should probably be on our bookshelves. But if you had to take a
college course that consisted of being handed a couple of books and then
told to come back in x months to take a final exam how would you do?
Structure and assignments helps to keep you motivated, interested and
involved.

It has been mentioned that Randy's course is a bit, shall we say, wordy. I
have to agree. It is a huge notebook with a lot of chapters that do go on
for pages. It is obviously a work that he was dedicated to because there's
no mistaking that it took years to assemble and organize. While all the
information is there it is nevertheless spread out, and through, a lot of
personal stories. The course could use a good editor to cut it down by half,
organize it a bit better and add an index. But, that said, having personally
completed the course in just over a year, from what I examined before I took
the course, Randy's course is the best piano technology correspondence
course out there, period. 

-- Geoff Sykes
-- Los Angeles



-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of John Formsma
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 11:11 AM
To: Pianotech List
Subject: Re: Randy Potter Course


This is a question for those who have seen the Potter materials. (I
haven't.)

How would the actual course materials compare to things like Steve Brady's
book on repairs and PTG resources for regulation instruction? Is there
sufficient instruction in these PTG resources for the aspiriing young tech?

I have a friend with a son who wants to study piano technology.  I've
recommended the Potter course. However, if he could get essentially the same
thing with other cheaper resources, they would rather do that.  I don't
think they really care about the diploma as much as the requisite knowledge
for competence.

Anyone care to comment?

JF

On 8/4/07, piannaman at aol.com <piannaman at aol.com> wrote:
>
>  David, Matthew,
>
>  I used a bit of two of the methods you suggest to get trained, plus 
> much seat-of-the-pants/on-the-job training.
>
>  I'd been in the business a long time, having learned tuning 25 or so 
> years before I went full time, but not spending time learning much 
> else in the way of piano technology.  I was in sales, moving, tuning, 
> floor sweeping, etc., etc., for a couple of different stores.
>
>  Personal situations eventually led me into business for myself, at 
> which point I realized the technical end of my education needed 
> shoring up in a huge way.  I joined the PTG, purchased the Potter 
> course, and knocked on doors of my former employers looking for work, 
> which they were more than happy to give me.  I was able to utilize the 
> skills learned in the texts and the PTG on real, live pianos.
>
>  Like others here, I was frustrated with the amount of time it took 
> for my assignments to come back to me while finishing Randy's course.  
> When they DID arrive, I was very pleased with Randy's very thorough 
> evaluations and attention to detail.  In retrospect, I consider the 
> waiting period training for the waiting period required to schedule 
> the various tests....:-)
>
>  I wish the school option had been available to me, but it was not. 
> However, if one has an active PTG chapter, attends conferences, a 
> place to practice/work on pianos--and access to this list!-- a good 
> education is quite possible.
>
>
>
> Dave Stahl
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  -----Original Message-----
>  From: David and Jean Weiss <djweiss at ntelos.net>
>  To: Pianotech List <pianotech at ptg.org>
>  Sent: Sat, 4 Aug 2007 5:29 am
>  Subject: Re: Re:The Potter Dilemma, Randy not Harry
>
>
>
> Matthew,
>
> There are 3 ways to get trained; home study, apprenticeship, and 
> attending school.  I did all three so please allow me to make some 
> suggestions.
>
> I started with Randy Potter's course.  On the phone he was always 
> encouraging, but I ran into the same problems as others did, he would 
> not return my recorded or written materials, so it was impossible to 
> get any feedback. Although I finished the course in about a year, it 
> doesn't take long to realize you can't learn this profession through 
> correspondence. Still, his course is a great introduction.
>
> I then found a technician would let me work in his shop.  My "day gig" 
> was 4 day a week position, so I had 2 days every week to spend with 
> him.  He was an excellent technician, a great teacher, and a great 
> guy.  I spent about 3 years with him and learned a lot.  But he was 
> running a business and in spite of his best intentions it wasn't his 
> primary focus to train me.
>
> By this time I wanted to quit my day gig and become a full time 
> technician, but I knew my skill level was not good enough, and the pace of
my learning
> was too slow.   Finally I bit the bullet and attended the program at the
> University of Western Ontario.  It was the best decision I could have 
> made. I moved up to Ontario with my wife and 2 kids.  We spent a year 
> there.  The training was absolutely great.  12 students and 4 
> instructors whose only goal was to teach us.  The program was intense 
> and demanding but at the end I felt was ready.
>
> If it is at all possible, and even if its not, I recommend you attend 
> one of the schools.  (I think Western Ontario is the best, but I'm 
> biased.)  If you are really committed to becoming a highly skilled 
> technician, I think attending a school is the only way.
>
> David Weiss, RPT
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Matthew Todd
> To: Pianotech List
> Sent: Friday, August 03, 2007 7:25 PM
> Subject: Re:The Potter Dilemma, Randy not Harry
>
>
> Just to give you all an update, I was able to talk with Randy this 
> afternoon.  I believe we are heading toward a resolution, so we'll see 
> what happens.
>
> Thank you all for your posts!
> Matthew
>
>  James H Frazee <jimfrazee at msn.com> wrote:
>
>
> Matthew,
>
> I, like you, signed up and paid for the complete Potter course about 
> four years ago.  It is beyond question an excellent course in terms of 
> information provided, tools issued, video tape/DVD's to listen to and 
> the thought of having your tuning exercises listened to, graded and 
> comments provided.  The problem I faced, like you, was getting the 
> cassettes back in a reasonable amount of time.  I finally gave up 
> after the last one took seven months, more than half a year!  Note 
> that when I did get them back, the grade and comments sent back were 
> absolutely finest kind, spot on.  And, I almost always got my graded 
> homework back in a fair amount of time, also with excellent comments.  
> But I figured I'd be well into Social Security before I could tune.
>
> The difference for me is that I began studying with Russell Gordon, my 
> mentor, who's superb.  The (growing) problem for Randy is, I think, 
> that he's just one person.  (Yes, they've hired other people I think, 
> but I don't
> know.)  I for one would prefer to have him grade my cassettes but just
think
> of the schedule:  off to this convention, that convention, a regional
> meeting, then his own school, then more conventions - not to mention
trying
> to have a real life with real family members!  In the beginning I was
> frustrated, as you probably are now, especially from a pragmatic
> standpoint since he already had my all my money and I had, what, well,
> exactly what - I had all the course work which I also continually use it
> as reference, I had all the tools that came with the course which, at
least,
> got me started, I had all the videotapes and, lo and behold, I was already
> out tuning and learning (and continuing to the learn) the craft, and
repairs
> and joined the PTG.
>
> Now, I've met Randy at two conventions (Rochester and Philly) and I think
> (somewhat cautiously in the beginning) he knows who I am.   And I think
he's
> really a fine fellow that cares about all the above and about the PTG.  
> I also think, for these very reasons, he spreads himself way, way, way 
> too thin and, if you ask him, he probably would even do that more.  I 
> believe you can't learn tuning and the craft just from reading.  I 
> think having mentor or a school or a very active PTG chapter will go 
> along way.
>
> So, in the end, am I frustrated or worse or not.  No, considering all 
> I did get, I'm happy and I'm on my way.  Whether we like it or not, 
> caviar wasn't what we expected the first time either.
>
> Jim Frazee
>
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