2009 Beginning , Intermediate & Advanced Training Seminars
To Be Held At Montana State University
Bozeman, Montana, January 4-11, 2009

You may also download this seminar brochure and registration form from our web site,
2009 Seminar Brochure / Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced Training Seminar Registration Form
(click on the PDF links above)

 

Click Here for printable version of this page (PDF 501KB)

Introduction:

Since we started our home-study school in1986, our goal has been to provide the training requested by our students. We have had many requests from students for advanced training in high level tuning and regulating. Others have stated they wish to get personal, in-depth, hands-on training to hone and upgrade their skills. Quite frankly, we know this is difficult to find.

Reworking a flange with Carolyn from North Dakota

We have always encouraged our students to take advantage of the classes offered through their local Piano Technicians Guild chapter, at regional and international PTG conventions, and through the factory training offered by manufacturers both at dealerships in cities around the U.S. and Canada and at their facilities. But many technicians do not have access to these resources, and it can take years to get into just one of the manufacturer's courses. Space is so limited you seldom get to attend unless you are doing work for one of their dealers. The Baldwin course, which I attended at their factories in Conway, Arkansas, in 1979, is no longer being offered. Neither is Kimball University, which I attended at their French Lick, Indiana, factory in 1990. I had been tuning over seven years before I was able to attend Yamaha's Little Red Schoolhouse in 1983, and over ten years before I was able to attend Steinway's Factory Technicians Training Course. (In each case, I was doing dealer work at the time, and with the exception of Kimball, who no longer makes pianos, still do.) In 1990 I was privileged to train with Franz Mohr (Horowitz' technician for 34 years) at Steinway's Concerts and Artists Division at Steinway Hall in Manhattan (I do most of the concert work in our area), and in 1992 attended Steinway's Tone Regulation Seminar at the factory on Long Island. In 1991 I attended Yamaha's Disklavier Piano Service Seminar and in 1996 PianoDisc's Service Seminar. In my home PTG chapter, Portland, Oregon, less than ten technicians have been able to attend even one factory training school. Sixty other Portland chapter members, and three thousand of our students, have yet to get into any of them, though some have been trying for a number of years. We have technicians taking our Continuing Education course who have been tuning 25 and 30 years - but have not been able to attend even one manufacturer's factory training seminar!

"So where can we get some in-depth, personal training?" students regularly ask. "And where can we get personal help to prepare to take our PTG Exams? "

After getting so many requests, we developed our own hands-on course. I have tried to incorporate the best of the factory seminars I have attended, plus additional training not taught by those programs. Our instructors are well-known teaching technicians from around the country.

And our seminar is open to all technicians - whether or not they have taken our home study course. January 2009, we will again hold our annual Advanced Training Seminar (ATS), Intermediate Training Seminar (ITS), and Beginning Training Seminar (BTS), now at Montana State University in Bozeman.

Our first seminar was held in1991 at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. It was such a success we decided to continue it. Since then we have had Advanced Training Seminars (and Beginning and Intermediate Training Seminars for technicians with less experience, or are still taking our course, but still want to get personal, one-on-one tuning and regulating training) at Baylor, Northwestern, the PTG Home Office in Kansas City. We moved the seminar to MSU in 2006.

This year's seminar will be limited to 30 students, and there will be five full-time instructors, including myself. "Full-time" is an understatement, because we will work with students about 12+ hours per day, Monday through Saturday. Instructor-to-student ratio is about 1-to-6.

Michelle from Texas practicing string installation

The six-day, 60-hour seminar will include group lectures and private one-on-one hands-on training in high level tuning and regulating techniques, utilizing Montana State University’s School of Music facilities. Students will work with a variety of pianos; consoles, several grands and even a Steinway D, including the school’s fleet of new Kawai studio upright and grand pianos. During the week we will also have a seminar in servicing the Yamaha Disklavier, including a demonstration if we can arrange that.

One of the goals of the seminar is to prepare technicians to take and pass their Piano Technicians Guild Registered Piano Technician Exams, and many students do so after they return home.

Beginning and Intermediate Training Seminars:

Randy teaching a tuning class up close and personal to the Beginning and Intermediate Students

Beginning and Intermediate Training Seminars:
Many technicians have said they would like to get personal, one-on-one, hands-on training in tuning and regulating, but feared their skill level was not high enough to attend our Advanced seminar; so we developed a Beginning and Intermediate Training Seminar to meet that need.

Beginning in 1995 we began offering both programs during the same week. We are scheduling class and individual sessions to allow students maximum opportunity to get the training and personal attention - regardless of their current skill level. A technician with advanced level tuning skills but lower regulating skills, for example, will be able to receive advanced personal training to hone their tuning skills yet study regulating techniques at the level they are comfortable with.

Technical Exam Preparation Day:
OOne of the goals of the seminar is to prepare technicians to take and pass their Piano Technicians Guild Registered Piano Technician Exams, and many students do so after they return home. This year we will be having a hands-on "Technical Exam Preparation Day" at the college that is specifically designed around the PTG’s Technical Exam.

The PTG Written Exam:
The local PTG chapter will offer the PTG Written Exam during the week. You must be a PTG member, and have your membership number, in order to take the exam.

European Piano Factories Movies
When time permits we show videos of factories in Europe, depending on which factory videos students would like to see. Randy has toured a number of European piano factories, including Bechstein, Blüthner, Bösendorfer, Petrof, Schimmel, Hamburg Steinway and Steingraeber in Germany, Egtved in Denmark, Kemble in England, plus Renner’s vertical action factory in Seitz, Germany. Video segments of factory visits will be available to seminar participants to watch as time permits.

Pre-Seminar Seminar
Several years ago students began asking if they could arrive early, and spend extra time with our instructors before the seminar started, to work on specific areas of interest to them. Some were so new they wanted to make sure they understood the basic action part names and functions of vertical and grand pianos, and how they worked. Others had specific tuning, repairing or regulating questions they wanted to work out. Others wanted some one-on-one tuning help before the seminar started.

So we started by adding two additional days at the beginning of the seminar, before the seminar starts. Over the past half-dozen years we have experimented with having just one extra day, or two. This year we will be having one extra, Pre-Seminar Seminar day, which will be on Sunday, January 4th.

Students attending the Pre-Seminar Seminar day, January 4th, will need to arrive on Saturday, January 3rd. Then on Sunday the 4th, while the rest of the students are still flying or driving in, those who came early for the Pre-Seminar Seminar will spend the day with our instructors in a small group question and answer session, and doing other hands-on topics of their choosing. (Our instructors will be arriving on the 2nd, and skiing at Bridger Ski Resort on the 3rd, and if you want to ski with us plan to arrive on Friday the 2nd.)

The Pre-Seminar Seminar (PSS) is almost entirely student directed. By that I mean that while we have a list of subjects and topics, and many props, ready based on what we have done in previous years, we are prepared to use some, all or none of them, depending on what the students attending wish to cover.

Yellowstone Snow Coach Trip:
Because we are so close to Yellowstone National Park, Ward is arranging a snow trip to Yellowstone National Park again this year. There will be an additional charge for this, of course, and those who choose to attend it will visit Yellowstone on Sunday the 11th, and fly back home on Monday the 12th. We did this first in 2006, and everyone who attended said it was awesome, so we have continued the trip. We will go to the West Yellowstone side, as we did in 2006. Our tour coach (like a large hotel airport shuttle van) has snow tracks installed, and can travel on the main Yellowstone roads throughout the park. The park is virtually empty during the winter, as the only vehicles allowed in are chaperoned groups either in tour buses like this, or snow mobile groups. Since everyone must remain on the main roads the animals are undisturbed, and you can see wildlife in their natural habitat. Much more than in the summer.

While there this past year we saw everything from bison (buffalo), elk, moose, deer, coyotes, trumpeter swans, bald eagles, golden eagles, ravens, hawks, rabbits, and much, much more. I think we saw over 200 geysers, including Old Faithful blow off steam.

Seminar Instructors:

Tom Cobble, RPT, doing one-on-one tuning with Paul from Idaho

Tom is a teaching piano technician-rebuilder, who had his business in Richmond, Virginia, for over 25 years, where he also served as piano technician to the Virginia Commonwealth University, the University of Richmond, and worked for one of the largest dealers in the U.S. He moved to Melbourne, Florida, a few years ago. Tom was the major impetus behind the writing the course, is one of our school's Technical Advisors and has instructed at many of our Advanced Training Seminars. Tom has attended Yamaha's Little Red Schoolhouse, Steinway's Factory Technicians Service Seminar and Steinway's Tone Regulation Seminar. He has also served in all capacities in his local PTG chapter and is a regular, and well-known, instructor at local, regional and international PTG conventions and institutes.

Ward is a teaching piano technician-rebuilder in Bozeman, Montana, where he services pianos for private clients, schools, colleges and universities over a wide area. Before learning piano technology Ward earned his Masters degree in Music Education from Oberlin Conservatory of Music.

He is one of our school's Technical Advisors, and has had experience training piano technicians, several of whom (including two daughters) have taken our course.

Ward has taught at numerous Piano Technicians Guild local, state, regional and national conventions and institutes, has served as chairman of PTG’s Test Standards Tuning Sub Committee, as Pacific Northwest Regional Vice President of PTG, and has been one of our instructors since 1998.

Randy Potter, R.P.T.
Randy is the founder and president of the school, author of three published books, numerous technical articles and has produced over a dozen technical training video tapes. He performs concert service for the local college and for several concert associations, for both piano and harpsichord. Randy is a rebuilder and has a complete rebuilding shop in Central Oregon. He has served in all capacities in his local PTG chapter and is a well-known instructor at local, regional and national PTG conventions and institutes in the U.S. and Canada, Pianoforte Tuners' Association conventions in Great Britain, IAPBT conventions in Europe and Japan, PTTGNZ in New Zealand and Australia, served on many PTG international committees and as president of the PTG Foundation.

Dave Swartz, R.P.T.
Dave lives in Rosemont, Minnesota, where he serves as piano technician for Northwestern College in St. Paul and has a nationally-known rebuilding shop. Dave is a graduate of our school, and also of our first Advanced Training Seminar, and has been one of our ATS instructors ever since. Dave is a well-known conference instructor, and has taught at numerous local, regional and national PTG conventions and institutes. He is also one of our school’s Technical Advisors.

All instructors are Registered Piano Technician members of the Piano Technicians Guild. In addition to being very competent at tuning, repairing and regulating, concert piano preparation, and rebuilding, all are experienced at teaching both beginning and advanced technicians, and are experienced both in giving PTG Exams as well as helping technicians prepare for them.

For more information, or to register, see our informational brochure on our web page at www.pianotuning.com, then click on the Seminars page, then Intermediate and Advanced Hands-On Training Seminars. We are now accepting seminar reservations for our January 4-11, 2009 seminar. Our guaranteed registration cut-off date will be November 1, 2007. Students are accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and you will be accepted after November 1 only on a space-available basis – but if we fill the seminar earlier than November 1 we will discontinue accepting more students. To insure your spot we recommend you register early. (Every year we have to turn away students who want to attend.)

Enrollment Requirements:
Enrollment is open both to technicians who have taken, or are currently taking, either our Beginning or Continuing Education training program, as well as to technicians who have not taken our course.

In order to assure maximum benefit to each student, students registering for the Beginning and Intermediate Training Seminar should have a basic understanding of tuning, repairing and regulating which you can gain from studying our home study course. Beginning and intermediate students are not expected to have much hands-on experience in either of these areas when they arrive – you will get that during the seminar.

Technicians registering for the Advanced Training Seminar should have intermediate skills in these areas; tuning, action repairing, and vertical and grand regulating. This is an intermediate and high level training program, and is intended to build on and refine the basic knowledge, skills and techniques you have when you arrive - to the point that you can pass your PTG Exams, and be prepared to do concert quality tuning and regulating work. In order to receive the most benefit from participating, Advanced Students need to have a minimum of 150 tunings for clients prior to attending this seminar.

Lodging and Meals:
This year we will be staying at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Bozeman, Montana. We have put together a room and board package that includes transportation to and from the airport, lodging at the Comfort Inn starting Sunday, and breakfast, lunch and dinner, beginning Monday morning and ending Sunday morning. It also includes transportation to and from the hotel to the college, and to lunches and dinners, and other event we hold during the week.

Classes are scheduled to begin at 8:00 AM each day, and will continue until 9:00 PM Monday-Friday, and until 5:00 PM on Saturday, with one-hour breaks for lunch and dinner.

There will be a closing, Graduation Banquet on Saturday night.

Transportation:
Students are responsible to provide their own transportation to and from Bozeman, Montana.

For those who are flying in, you may book your airfare any way you wish. However, we recommend you contact our favorite travel agent, Lois Richardson at AAA, 800-464-1303, or call her at 541- 382-1303. Tickets may be charged to your credit card, or paid for by check, and will be mailed via Certified Mail. Lois has a 100% track record of getting our students in and out appropriately, and at the best prices. (Over the years, a number of students thought they could get a better price from someone else, or booked through a “friend”. Many paid more than they should have, at least two arrived at the wrong airport and had to rent cars for the week, and at least four arrived on, or were booked to leave on, the wrong day.) I recommend you use caution if buying “discount” airfares through the Priceline-Cheap Tickets-type places, as they come with unacceptable requirements, in my opinion. If you need to change the date or time you lose your ticket, even if you were sick or had an emergency. Things like that.

Please arrange to arrive at the Bozeman Airport no later than 5:00 PM on Sunday, January 4th, and leave on Sunday, January 11th, for the regular seminar. Students arriving at the airport after 5 PM Sunday may miss dinner with the group and maybe part of the opening session, which is Sunday evening.

After getting settled into our rooms, we will leave about 6:00 PM for dinner near the Comfort Inn. (Note: If you are coming to the Pre-Seminar Seminar, you will need to arrive Saturday, January 3rd.)
(Note: If you are coming to the Pre-Seminar Seminar, you will need to arrive Saturday, January 5th.)

What is Included:

•      Tuition cost includes all instructional fees, including about 60 hours of private and small group advanced tuning and regulating training at MSU during the week, Advanced Training Seminar syllabus and notebook, supplies and use of MSU’s School of Music facilities. A wide variety of pianos are available at the School of Music, including a large number of new Kawai pianos. In order to give students as much variety as possible, students will have different practice pianos, including grands and verticals, each day.

• Student-to-teacher ratio will be about 6-to-1. There is a limit of 30 students for this seminar.

• Room and Board cost includes double occupancy room at the Comfort Inn and Suites, plus three meals a day Monday breakfast through Sunday breakfast. Private rooms are available for an additional charge (of about $275, more details later).

• Saturday evening graduation banquet and Certificate of Completion.

• Transfer to and from airport to hotel, and to and from the college each day for seminar classes.

Intermediate or Advanced Training Seminar Certificate:
Students completing the program will receive a Beginning, Intermediate or Advanced Training Seminar Certificate of Completion, as appropriate.

What to Bring:
A specific list of recommended tools and supplies will be sent to you along with your registration packet after your enrollment form is received and accepted.

Registration:
Registration is on a first received basis, so we recommend you register as early as possible.

And since our seminar is in January, most years all seminar spots are filled by September, though we will accept registrations up to November 1 if spaces are still available.

If you are planning to register, but for some reason cannot do so at this moment, please contact the school and discuss it with Randy or Lynne.

Please use the Intermediate/Advanced Training Seminar Registration Form to register.

Tuition & Room and Board Costs:
$850.00 Technicians enrolled as either a Beginning Student or Continuing Education (Intermediate) Student with our school. This includes both current and former students and graduates. (Includes $100 non-refundable ATS/ITS Registration Fee. No refund after November 15, 2008.)

$950.00 Technicians not enrolled as either a Beginning Student or Continuing Education (Intermediate) Student with our school. Includes additional training material which will be sent prior to the start of the ATS/ITS, to assist you in your pre-seminar study. $100 credit will be given to ITS/ATS registrants who later enroll as students of the school. (Includes $100 non-refundable ATS Registration Fee. No refund after November 15, 2008.)

$525.00 Room and Board at seminar hotel, including seven nights lodging, Sunday January 4th through Sunday morning January 11th, and three meals daily, Monday through Saturday, and breakfast Sunday morning. Fly-out will be Sunday, January 11th.

$475.00 Room and Board for spouse, if they are coming with you and plan to stay at the seminar hotel. Includes graduation banquet dinner. Does not include lunches for spouse
Includes graduation banquet dinner.

$275.00 Single Room Supplement, for those who wish to have a single room.

$225.00  Lunch and Dinner Supplement, Monday – Saturday, for local students staying at home, with relatives, etc., but eating lunches and dinners with the group. ($175 if you have a car and are able to drive students to the college each day. Talk to Randy if this applies to you.)

$75.00 Registration for Pre-Seminar Seminar, January 4th (students arrive on January 3rd)

$50.00 Additional hotel cost for students arriving January 3rd for Pre-Seminar and sharing a room.

$95.00 Additional hotel cost for students arriving January 3rd for Pre-Seminar in private room.

$50.00 Additional hotel cost for students arriving January 2nd for skiing Saturday and sharing a room.

$95.00 Additional hotel cost for students arriving January 2nd for skiing Saturday in private room.

$120.00 Snow Coach Tour of Yellowstone National Park Sunday, January 11th (hotel night extra cost).

$50.00 Additional hotel cost for January 11th for Yellowstone Tour and sharing a room.

$95.00 Additional hotel cost for January 11th for Yellowstone Tour in private room.

Note: We can also make arrangements with the Comfort Inn for early arrivals or departures, if you wish to come early, or stay late to ski, snowmobile, snowshoe or relax in the Gallatin area.

Questions:
If you have any further questions, or require additional information, please feel free to call the school during normal business hours: Monday-Thursday, 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM and Friday 9-noon, Pacific Time. You may also download this seminar brochure and registration form from our web site, 2009 Seminar Brochure / Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced Training Seminar Registration Form (PDF).

Licensed by the Department of Education:
The Randy Potter School of Piano Technology, Inc. is licensed by the Oregon State Department of Education. Any inquiry about the school or its programs may be made in writing to the Randy Potter School of Piano Technology, Inc., 61592 S.E. Orion Drive, Bend, Oregon 97702, or to the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Department of Education, 700 Pringle Parkway SE, Salem, Oregon 97310-0290.
[ORS 345.117). Form 2007ATS/ITS03/06