techicians or tooners

[John Ross]

Not being able to play, is not all bad.

I prefer to let the customer play the piano, after the tuning/work. They 
'know' their piano, so anything not right, will be more apparent to them.

If the tuner/tech were able to play, would he subconsciously, play around 
any weaknesses?

I tend to believe that the salesmen, of pianos, when demonstrating, can 
emphasize any point they want to make, for the sale. They would also 
downplay the weaknesses of the piano, by the music choices, and the way they 
are playing.

I only took lessons when I was a child, and that is the standard of my 
playing, but I never felt my customer was being short changed, by my 
inability to play.

John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Leslie Bartlett" <l-bartlett at sbcglobal.net>
To: <annie at allthingspiano.com>; "'Pianotech List'" <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 6:09 PM
Subject: RE: techicians or tooners


>I am certainly limited in my keyboard skills. I have a couple "pay me"
> things I play when I'm finished. But I talk a great deal with people who
> play, ask them to describe how their action feels to them, tell them I 
> need
> to learn to speak a foreign language (as in "the bass is wonkie").  But
> after a few thousand tunings on pianos of every ilk, there does come some
> understanding of what is going on, and my final judge is the customer.  I
> will often ask if such-and-such concerns the owner. If it does, we explore
> the issues involved, and what can be done. If it does not, then I say, "if
> it doesn't bother you there's nothing to mess with. If it does become of
> interest or concern, then we can talk some more about it."   I use the
> expertise of excellent pianists in their craft by spending a lot of time
> questioning how they define different aspects of touch, responsiveness, 
> how
> they feel about their ability to draw music out of the piano.  I am quick 
> to
> say they have expertise I don't and I am using them to become more 
> sensitive
> to their needs.  I have done action work for a few major players, and have
> always gotten highly favorable responses.  I attribute that to never
> assuming anything until I have asked a question several different ways, 
> then
> mirroring back what I think I have heard, then making very conservative
> changes on a few keys, and asking the pianist to play and respond as to
> whether changes positively reflect my interpretation of their 
> descriptions.
> Thus I can use their knowledge to help me help them.
> les bartlett
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On 
> Behalf
> Of Annie Grieshop
> Sent: Saturday, June 02, 2007 12:50 PM
> To: Pianotech
> Subject: techicians or tooners
>
> When I received Michael Spreeman's email, I was just about to sit down and
> write an addendum to my previous posting because I never meant to imply 
> that
> non-playing technicians are inferior (and I was pretty sure somebody was
> going to take it that way).  Obviously, I should've been more clear the
> first time around. <g>
>
> My question referred to the recognition of non-tuning issues by those who
> don't play the piano.  I know wonderful technicians who have a very 
> limited
> repertoire on the piano, so I certainly know it's possible.  Observant,
> careful, and conscientious craftspeople can diagnose and correct problems
> without being pianists (sort of like male gynecologists <g>).
>
> And what I meant was that the difference between a piano technician and a
> piano tooner is exactly that ability to reach beyond personal experience 
> and
> do extra-ordinatry work.
>
> I do wonder what it's like to work on an instrument you don't play.  I
> wonder how that changes the relationship.  Guess I should try repairing 
> some
> band instruments, as the whole blow-air-to-play-tunes thing (without 
> reeds)
> just bamboozles me.
>
> Annie Grieshop
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Free Edition.
> Version: 7.5.472 / Virus Database: 269.8.6/828 - Release Date: 06/01/2007
> 11:22 AM
>
>