SouthEastern Pennsylvania Chapter

South Central PA Area Exam Board (SCPAEB)

The SCPAEB administers Tuning and Technical exams three times each year in October, February and June. Additional dates may be available if warranted. Specific dates will be determined to suit both Examiner and Examinee schedules. To schedule an exam, please contact Mike McCoy at 267-577-4273 or mjmccoy@usa.com

The exam board is located in Elizabethtown PA, just south of Hershey and southeast of Harrisburg. Tuning and Technical exams are administered in a professional, quiet and 'stress free' environment. Written exams can be administered by any Chapter, as well as, designated chapters have certified examiners that can administer exams; please contact your local chapter for more information.

Detailed Description of the RPT Exams

The Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) offers a set of three examinations that comprehensively and objectively define a minimum standard of acceptable knowledge and skills qualifying Associate members for reclassification to Registered Piano Technician (RPT). We call this set of tests the RPT Exams, and this brochure describes each in sufficient detail so that you will be better prepared and able to gauge your readiness for this challenge.

No organization has done more to upgrade the profession of the piano technician than PTG, and the work done by PTG members in developing the RPT Exams has been a major contribution to the advancement of higher standards in the field. PTG offers its testing program as well as numerous educational opportunities to the working piano technician as an incentive to inspire quality work, a gauge against which to measure progress, and a standard of competency to identify those ready to be called Registered Piano Technicians.

Many candidates aren't sure how to tell if they are ready to challenge the RPT Exams. Since the test fees are a significant expense, and the time investment is considerable for both examinee and examiners, you may want to request a "pre-screening" evaluation of your readiness before each exam. No one who meets the requirements is ever denied the chance to challenge the tests even without such an evaluation, but most members appreciate the opportunity to be pre-screened and thereby maximize their chances of success.

The RPT Exams are available exclusively to PTG members in good standing; please bring your current membership card with you to each test. The three exams -- written, technical and tuning -- each carry a passing score of 80%. You take the written exam first, usually at the chapter level. After you pass, you will receive a Reclassification Form with the written exam section dated and signed by the examiner. This form, along with your current PTG membership card, is your passport to further testing and you keep the form until you pass all exams.

After successful completion of the written exam and receipt of your Reclassification Form, you may make an appointment with a test sponsor  for either or both of the remaining exams. We do not recommend that you schedule both the tuning and technical exams on the same day, since each one requires four or more hours to complete. However, you are not restricted in your choice of test sites; if testing is unavailable from your chapter or you simply wish to apply for testing elsewhere, you are free to seek out other sites. Once the exam process starts, there is a four-year time limit. If you don't pass all three tests within this period, then one or more of them may have to be repeated.

Written Exam

The RPT Written Exam consists of 100 questions, all true/false or multiple choice. The questions are grouped into five sections: Tuning, Grand  Action Regulation, Vertical Action Regulation, Repairs and Voicing / General Information. This last section contains questions about voicing/tone regulation, piano design and construction, piano history and other miscellaneous piano-related subjects. Most applicants can finish in one hour or less. There are two versions of this test available; if you fail to score 80% on one, you will receive the other version the next time around.  Answer the questions as they relate to normal circumstances, not drawing on any experience in unusual or experimental repairs. Most questions aim at measuring your basic knowledge of piano technology and nomenclature. Written exams can be administered by any RPT in a Chapter, you do not need to travel to a Convention or AEB for the Written exam.

Tech Exam

The RPT Technical Exam is divided into three parts: Grand Regulation, Vertical Regulation and Repairs. To pass, you must score 80% or higher on each part. The entire exam takes about four hours to administer; every required task has a time limit, and these limits are strictly observed.

Once you have contacted a test sponsor and submitted the appropriate fee, you will receive a letter from the Certified Technical Examiner confirming your appointment time and place, and specifying the tasks you will be asked to perform. You should plan to bring all needed tools and supplies with you to perform regulation, stringing, hammer shaping, shank replacement, key and flange bushing. Including felt, glue and #13 wire. Super glues (cyanoacrylates) are not permitted.

In both the grand and vertical regulation portions you will be regulating action models. The regulation portions are designed to test your understanding of procedures as well as principles of regulation.  It is not enough to read regulation dimensions in a manual and expect those specifications to fit all pianos or action models; in the field and in this test, you should be able to make an action or action model function as well as possible under the circumstances. You should be able to figure out appropriate action specifications when none or only some are provided. In scoring, your regulation specifications are compared to those determined to be optimum for that action model by the examining team.

The repair tasks are all common ones routinely performed by the average technician, such as key bushing, hammer shaping, string replacement and splicing, repinning, and shank replacement. The scoring criteria are detailed and you do receive partial credit for all properly done work even if you run out of time and don't finish. Most applicants find the time limits generous.

During the test you will be given specific instructions either verbally or in writing; always pay careful attention to these directions so you understand what is being asked of you. You will need to watch the time as you work and do each task to the best of your ability so that your best effort is demonstrated.

After your exam, the examiner-in-charge must audit all scores, so results may not be available immediately upon completion. If time permits, the examiners will gladly discuss your work or make arrangements for a private interview.

Tuning Exam

The RPT Tuning Exam tests your skills in tuning; your examiners will compare your tuning note by note to a "master tuning." In preparation for exam day, a committee of three or more RPTs, under the direction of a Certified Tuning Examiner (CTE), tunes a good quality grand piano at least 5'9" in length until all agree that the tuning is optimal. They then use an electronic tuning device to measure the tuning precisely, and make a record of each note and its pitch measurement on a specified partial. This record is the "master tuning" for this piano. Examiners will likewise measure your tuning of the same piano, and then, by means of a computer or handscoring program, pitch-correct and compare it to the master tuning. When the measurement of a given note of your tuning differs from the master tuning by more than the tolerance allowed after correction for overall pitch, the CTE will record the appropriate penalty points on the scoreform as indicated by the scoring program. Then, listening to intervals along with you as directed by the CTE, examiners will aurally verify some or all of these points and thus confirm the scoring. If examiners believe that a note in question cannot be improved, the CTE may cross off the penalty point for that note.

The Tuning Exam is scored in eight sections over two parts: Part 1, with pitch, temperament and midrange sections, and Part 2, with bass, treble, high treble, stability and unisons sections. You need to score at least 80% in each section to pass. In Part 1, you aurally tune the middle two octaves, using a non-visual pitch source to set A4 at A440. In Part 2, you may tune the remaining octaves by any method you choose, and after the stability test you complete the exam by aurally tuning midrange unisons.

You should bring your own tuning tools to the test. Examiners usually will have already muted and de-tuned the piano when you arrive. Every other note is de-tuned slightly sharp, and the remaining notes slightly flat so as not to disturb the overall tension. Except for unisons, you will tune one string per note, usually the center string.

You will have 45 minutes total for Part 1, 60 minutes for Part 2, and 30 minutes for unisons. Also, you will have up to 5 minutes at the beginning of Part 1 to set pitch on the center string of note A4. Whether or not you pass pitch at this point, you will then have the balance of Part 1 time to finish tuning octaves 3 and 4. If you do not pass pitch at first, examiners will de-tune A4 and give you a second chance, remeasuring A4 at the end of your Part 1 time. The accuracy of your pitch source is your responsibility; you may ask examiners to check it prior to your exam and/or lend you a more accurate pitch source if you feel yours is not sufficiently accurate.

As you begin Part 2, tuning the octaves beyond the midrange, you may wish to correct notes that caused penalty points in your midrange before proceeding; this can sometimes be helpful (you be the judge), but cannot change your Part 1 scores. After Part 2 scoring and aural verification, examiners will administer the stability test on the center string of each midrange note. In this test, three firm test blows are struck and before-and-after measurements taken to ascertain any pitch changes. After the stability test, you tune the midrange unisons, outside strings to the middle. After examiners measure and score any questionable unisons, your exam is complete. Then, if time permits, your examiners will review your test and suggest or demonstrate ways to improve your tuning.

Fees

The technical and tuning exam fees are currently $90.00 each; there is no fee for the written exam. When scheduling an exam, check with the test sponsor on payment deadlines and refund policies. Reduced fees apply for re-testing the technical and tuning exams under certain conditions, as follows: