As is the case with many piano technicians, I found my way to this profession by an indirect path. As a teenager living in Peoria, Illinois, I discovered a fascination with our family’s piano. Having had a history of disassembling things that should probably be left alone, I delved into the piano’s innards, but fortunately stopped short of the point of no return. I expressed an interest in studying piano technology to my parents, but understandably concerned that I might bypass a college education, they discouraged the idea.
So, I set out to pursue a degree while flirting with various academic interests. Most notably, as a result of an interest inventory exam provided by a local college, I was steered toward a career in speech pathology. I studied speech pathology and audiology at the University of Northern Iowa for two years. While I found the study compelling, it wasn’t well suited to my personality. I’m someone who needs processes with a hands on approach and tangible solution. The work of a speech pathologist is often painstaking, resulting in elusive results as I discovered first hand while assisting in a therapy group for clients with severe brain damage. I left the major feeling tremendous respect for the diligence and patience required of those in that profession. Without any certain direction in my life, I quit college.
After a two year hiatus where I worked for a newspaper supervising delivery by nearly 100 adolescent newspaper carriers, I felt a need to complete my degree. I then made a completely arbitrary decision. Opening the college catalog to the index of majors, I closed my eyes and pointed. Oddly enough, this approach yielded a more fortuitous result than the sophisticated tests provided by the college counselor’s office. My new major, geography, provided me with a mental framework that has served me well as a piano technician.
Geography, essentially, is the study of spatial relationships. It examines how any one thing relates to any other thing according to their relative locations. I particularly excelled at cartography, which graphically represents these relationships with maps and charts. This led to a career where I worked as a photogrammetric technician making topographic maps from aerial photography. But, within months of completing my degree and while working for a mapping firm in North Adams, MA, the piano came back into my life with a great crescendo. I had bought a small grand piano that needed rebuilding and, of course, I just had to take it apart. I removed the strings and the plate and disassembled the action. This time I had gone too far and was in way over my head. I couldn’t leave this unfinished, so I made a momentous decision. I quit my job and moved to Charlotte, NC to study piano tuning and repair at a small college. The aspect of tuning, particularly, came easily to me. You see, tuning is all about spatial relationships of sound. I am still making maps, only now with my ears. I became an associate member of the Piano Technicians Guild and started attending every conference and seminar on piano technology that I could. At PTG conferences, highly experienced and respected technicians teach classes on all aspects of our work, from basic tuning to sound board design, to business practices. For most of my years as a piano technician, these seminars have been central to my development. After two years in Charlotte, I moved to greater Portland in May of 1987 to start my business. Within another two years, I successfully completed the PTG exams to qualify as a REGISTERED PIANO TECHNICIAN.
Five years later, I had the good fortune to be invited to work part time for R.J. Regier of Freeport. Rod builds fortepianos and harpsichords that closely emulate important historic keyboard instruments. For me, as a technician of modern pianos, it allowed me an opportunity to explore the evolution of this amazing instrument and to develop a deeper understanding whence the piano we now play came. For more than three years, one day per week, I assisted Rod whom I’ve come to respect as one of the finest craftsmen that I have ever met. The skills that I learned in his shop continue to positively impact the work that I do for my customers today.
Now, in my 39th year of working for musicians of greater Portland, my enthusiasm for this work remains high. But, while the piano continues to fascinate me, I realize that the real value of my work lies in the greater enjoyment that I can bring to my customers who play this wonderful instrument.