piano tuner apprenticeship in NOLA
July 11, 2010 3:28 PM Subscribe
I am considering becoming a piano turner. does anyone have advice, or know of anywhere i can do an apprenticeship in the New Orleans area?
I don't know a direct answer to your question, but consider very carefully whether this is a smart career move and talk honestly about it with people in the business. For professional reasons, I talk with people in the acoustic piano business all the time. It's collapsing steadily as digital pianos get better and better. (You'd really be smart to look into learning to work on them, actually, as they are spreading throughout the universe that used to be inhabited by acoustic uprights, and are even starting to replace grands in classrooms, rehearsal studios, and recording studios).
The need for tuners is shrinking, and there's a lot more people looking for work in the field than work looking for people, and the field is reorganizing as well. If you're going to do it, specialize in high end pianos, would be my advice.
It's an apprenticeship-based field, so you basically need to sign on with an existing piano tech or service contractor and learn on the job.
posted by fourcheesemac at 4:00 PM on July 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
The need for tuners is shrinking, and there's a lot more people looking for work in the field than work looking for people, and the field is reorganizing as well. If you're going to do it, specialize in high end pianos, would be my advice.
It's an apprenticeship-based field, so you basically need to sign on with an existing piano tech or service contractor and learn on the job.
posted by fourcheesemac at 4:00 PM on July 11, 2010 [1 favorite]
This probably isn't feasible for you, but you could always move to Boston and attend the North Bennet Street School's Piano Technology program. It's a one year (nine month) program for basic piano stuff with the option of going into advanced work where you learn to restore pianos. They do some pretty amazing work.
posted by clockbound at 4:54 PM on July 11, 2010
posted by clockbound at 4:54 PM on July 11, 2010
Maybe look into instrument rental houses, and some of the bigger theaters in NO. I work in production in NYC and I see tuners coming in to take care of rented pianos multiple times a week.
posted by nevercalm at 4:59 PM on July 11, 2010
posted by nevercalm at 4:59 PM on July 11, 2010
Better yet; I will bet Tulane has an in house piano technician (or more than one).
Offer to apprentice for free.
posted by fourcheesemac at 5:55 PM on July 11, 2010
Offer to apprentice for free.
posted by fourcheesemac at 5:55 PM on July 11, 2010
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posted by CheeseLouise at 3:37 PM on July 11, 2010