Piano Technician Mentorship and Distant Learning Course.

(Only available to international clients.)

Mentorship is for technical regulation work only. I DO NOT offer mentorship for piano tuning, this is covered in the Distance Leaning Course (see end of page).

“It is not a problem if you know how to fix it!”

So, you need someone to direct you with piano regulation work?

Having worked many years as a piano technician I have just about seen it all in relation to technical piano work and one area that pains me most is the efforts of good intentioned, aspiring people, who want to do piano regulation with no one to mentor.

Without guidance, piano regulation can be most frustrating and near impossible to learn.

You have taken on the challenge to regulate a piano.  To do so indicates that you have initiative and practical skills required to do the task.  You don’t need a lot of tools; you just need to know when and how to use them – That’s where I can mentor and help.

Yes, there is a fee, this fee is at a reduced amount for the basic mentoring.

More advanced mentoring covering technical and technique is at a standard hourly rate.

These fees are charged to your credit card.

Basic regulation mentoring is set at $USD75/hr.  This covers all assessment and advice to get your piano action regulated to the first level of refinement.

Advanced mentoring is charged at a rate of $USD100/hr.

The mentor program, is designed to be personalised for your particular piano regulation, each step is covered taking one step at a time with the next task instruction is only given once the previous task is complete.  (There is good reason for this, if I were to give the full set of tasks, you will take your initiative and get ahead of yourself – resulting in missing some important procedure and putting some other adjustments out.)

Over a period of mentored lessons, you will have the piano functioning to the first level of refinement.

Contact me via email pianoservices@inspire.net.nz with your enquiry, I will assess your request for mentorship and respond accordingly.

Allen Birchler

Reference:

I was struggling for months to figure out how to get my piano in proper working condition. Every time I felt I had done something right I ended up with poor results. That’s when I found Allen, who came to my rescue! I needed guidance and he seemed to understand what I was struggling with. I have cognitive impairment so I was beginning to think I had gotten in over my head. Allen didn’t think so! He is incredibly patient, very knowledgeable, and set me in the right direction in terms I understood. Once he guided me through the process, the order of the repairs made sense and what I had struggled to understand suddenly felt like puzzle pieces fitting together perfectly. His teaching style is very relaxed without confusing directions. He also explained why I was making adjustments to certain parts of the action, what the results should be and how I would end up with everything as it should be. I never felt like I didn’t have a mentor working with me. It was very personal and professional. He always responded and, even with differing time zones, we found times to meet up that fit my schedule. I wish I had found him sooner in my training, but I am so grateful for his help and extensive experience that enabled me to complete my piano regulation! I would recommend Allen to anyone learning the art of becoming a piano technician!

Linda Pereira, Georgia USA

Distant Learning Course.

The School of Piano Tuning and Servicing.

This is a Home based learning course comprising 10 modules covering tuning and repair. The course is to be completed within 12 months and a minimum pass rate of 75% is required in each of the 10 modules for the course to be complete.

A Diploma Certificate is issue at the completion of the course.

All required parts and tools for the course are listed so you can purchase from a piano supply house – this gives you the flexibility to purchase better quality tools then a low cost budget product that could come with some course. This also begins your business association with the supply houses.

The fee ($USD750) for the course is billed via PayPal and payable with Visa or MasterCard.

Please enquire with an email to: pianoservices@inspire.net.nz

In the first lesson you learn about basic piano construction. You also will start tuning unisons. This is the tuning of the two or three strings which form a single note and how they are tuned with one another. This lesson is the basis or foundation for future lessons. In the second lesson you advance to the tuning of two notes that are an Octave apart – all of the A’s, B’s, etc. You will also start learning about intervals and the relationship one note has to another.  You will become familiar with the 12 notes of the piano keyboard. Lesson Three, this lesson teaches how to set one group of notes, which forms the basis for tuning all the remaining notes. A standard tuning fork sets the standard for the entire piano. The Treble section is covered in Lesson Four. In this final lesson on tuning you learn to tune the treble section which requires some special training. When you have completed the above four lessons, you will be able to tune a piano. In this lesson, tips on deep bass notes are included to make tuning of these notes easier. The subject of electronic tuning equipment is also covered with instruction manuals included. To perform smoothly the action or the moving parts of a piano must be properly adjusted and regulated. This is covered in Lesson Five. Different types of pianos have different types of actions. Actions described include the Spinet, Upright, Drop and Grand. The student will learn how to adjust each type of piano action. Replacement of key felts and leveling of the key board are also covered. Pictures and illustrations of piano actions are included as well as a list of the basic regulating tools required for action regulation . Lesson Six covers repairs: Piano parts wear out and sometimes break or suffer moth damage. The tuner-technician must know how to repair or replace damaged or worn-out parts. Here you learn how to deal with worn felts, broken keys, broken strings and other damage and wear. Felt bushing and key repairs are the topic of Lesson Seven. Most of the moving parts of a piano action are attached to a flange which is a combination of metal pins pivoting in felt. This lesson covers the replacement of this felt, a process called re-bushing. Also included are the repair and re-bushing of the keys, and the replacement of ivory key tops. Lesson Eight is an important lesson deals with special major repairs such as complete restringing, sound board repairs and felt hammer replacement. Voicing of the felt hammers and how to order and measure piano strings is covered. In addition, this lesson describes how to secure piano tuning jobs and how to conduct a successful piano tuning business, based on a paper system. A list of Piano Supply houses, where you can order parts and supplies is included. You may only ever come across these old pianos but when you do you will be very glad of this Lesson, number Nine – The old Square Grand piano, while not too common, still exists and may be encountered at any time. They have special tuning, regulation and repair problems which are well covered in this lesson. A special section is added on general piano repairs with a host of tips and short cuts that can save time and money. This last lesson (Ten) covers the regulation of the Direct Blow and Pratt-Read actions. Another piano, the old Mason Hamlin has special tuning pins which are illustrated and described in detail. The plastic-elbow of the Pratt-Read drop action is a very important and profitable repair job which is covered in detail.