Piano Tuning and Repair Online Course (Apprentice Version)

The PTA Piano Tuning & Repair Apprentice Course was designed as an aid for established piano service businesses and piano stores to quickly and efficiently train their new piano technicians without having to start them at ground zero. Training a green technician to the point where they can effectively service a customer’s piano can take months and even years but with our apprentice course, that time can be cut in half. The apprentice can study on their own time while the mentor focuses on growing their business. Once the apprentice has the base knowledge of something like grand regulation, the mentor can get them started and simply check in to add pointers and tips. Mentors can also log in using the apprentice’s username to see what they are working on that week or what they are struggling with. All students will still have access to a PTA instructor if their mentor is unavailable to help with certain questions or topics. By the end of the course, the apprentice should be able to tune, regulate, repair and voice your customers pianos! See course index for more on what is covered.

The course is broken down into 17 online lessons. At the end of each lesson, students are required to take an 8–10-question quiz consisting of multiple choice, match the part/tool, and true/false questions. At the end of Lesson 17, students are required to take a 50-question final exam that covers all lessons.

Unlike other online or correspondence piano tuning and repair programs, the PTA course was written with the Registered Piano Technician (RPT) exams, given by the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) in mind. Our courses have been used by hundreds of technicians aspiring to earn the coveted RPT status which opens countless doors for them in the piano service industry. Our instructors make up some of the most well-known RPTs in the US. They regularly write articles for the PTG journal, exhibit at PTG conferences, and teach at piano industry events. While some schools focus on how quickly they can get students working in the field, PTA focuses on their students actually learning the trade the proper way so that students are adequately prepared when they enter the market. Oftentimes, our students enter the market faster than students from those schools that focus on speed. This is because of our extensive learning management system (LMS). Unlike other online programs, our LMS is interactive and is used by some of the top universities in the USA who require a more professional system than simple plug and play education options found on the internet today. The PTA course is rebuilt every 4–5 years to take advantage of new technologies and build upon what the industry has to offer. With graduates in over 50 countries and an average graduation rate of 90%, our 300-400 student count a year makes PTA the largest piano tuning school in the world.

The tuition for the course is $1,800 and includes access to the online classroom for 12 months as well as access to downloadable/printable PDF versions of all the lessons for future reference. Discounts for service businesses/ piano stores are available by reaching out tosupport@PianoTechnicianAcademy.com. You will also have regular contact via email or telephone with your instructor both during your studies and after your course is complete. Videos are not downloadable for copyright reasons and are only viewable in the online classroom.

Being an online school, the Piano Technician Academy can offer year-round open enrollment. The course is self-paced, allowing students to study when it is convenient for them. PTA does, however, require that you finish the course within 12 months of initial enrollment. Extensions are available upon request. PTA recommends taking longer on the tuning lessons (18–30 hours) before moving on, while others may only take 2–5 hours. That being said, students should plan to spend about 300–380 hours on the course.