Piano Tuning

[Chromatic]

Hi

I’m not sure if I have posted this to the correct part of the forum. Apologies if I have not.

I am trying to acquire information on how to obtain training to become a piano tuner.

I am based in London and it appears that the only college course available in England is Newark, Nottinghamshire.

I should be grateful for any advice/information that forum members could give me as to the best way of obtaining the necessary skills.
The object of the exercise would be to ultimately “earn a living” from piano tuning.

Is the above college course the only way to go?

I have already tried to post this earlier today but the post did not show up on the forum, so I have assumed that I did something incorrectly.
If it does eventually show up it was not my intention to have two posts on the same subject.

Thanks

[Barrie Heaton]

Because its your fist posting it has to be approved by one of the moderators first that is why they don't show as first


Newark is you only option unless you can get a tuner or shop to take you on as an apprentice. or do one of the distance learning courses in the USA, but you will still need a mentor here in the UK to oversea your work

Barrie

[Chromatic]

Barrie

Thanks for the information

[sussexpianos]

The Newark college has gone badly down hill since I had been there. Its a course which after 3 years you still don't know much, you might be able to tune commercialy but its up to how much extra time you put in to it. The last people who worked for me were not good enough, they are doing something else now. My course produced about 12 people, I think 5 are still in the trade. Remember the trade is shrinking.

[athomik]

Remember the trade is shrinking.

But is the trade shrinking because of lack of demand or lack of supply? I would have thought that with a long-lived product like pianos, any temporary economic downturn would smooth out eventually. After all, a piano needs to be tuned and maintained from the day it's sold and for decades to come. So even if people aren't buying as many pianos today, there are still a load of them out there which need to be looked after.

You see the same thing on the electronic instrument service side. There are loads of products out there, but the experienced and knowledgeable engineers are a bit of a dying breed, so the chances are that you'll get your gear repaired by some monkey who doesn't know what they're doing and who is more used to swapping circuit boards on iPod docking stations.

I have it from a fairly reliable source that one of these repair agents had to call the manufacturer for a part. They didn't know the model number, but they knew that 'it's a Xylophone, because it has black & white keys on it'.

[Bob Pierce]

Another option to the USA, are some of the local European colleges. There is one in Amsterdam and Germany (near Stuttgart).
For the best English speaking course there is one in Canada at the University of Western Ontario. It is a tough 10 hour a day course over 12 months but Steinways NY have used some of their tuners and like what they find.
I agree with Sussex, Newark is not what it once was.

[sussexpianos]

Heard yesterday that Newark has lost its funding. That is the end of college trained technicians in the UK.

[Barrie Heaton]

Heard yesterday that Newark has lost its funding. That is the end of college trained technicians in the UK.

Not good When will the funding dry up

Barrie

[sussexpianos]

They lost funding for next year. I have been informed that they are moving to new place and will incorporate another course, tool making?? I think the end is in sight.