The Piano Technicians Guild (PTG), based in Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City, Kansas

Kansas City is the third-largest city in the state of Kansas and is the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, and is the third largest city in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area. The city is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the "Unified...

, is the official organization of the Registered Piano Technician

Registered Piano Technician

A Registered Piano Technician is an individual who has passed a series of technical examinations offered by the Piano Technicians Guild....

 (RPT). The PTG was formed in 1957 when the American Society of Piano Technicians and the National Association of Piano Tuners merged to form a single organization.

Membership categories and requirements

The PTG is a primarily American trade association with open membership. It states that anyone with a professional or avocational interest in piano technology may join. The title of Registered Piano Technician must be earned by passing a series of examinations. There are three examinations: a written multiple choice test consisting of questions covering all areas of piano technology and tuning; a bench test, where the examinee demonstrates competence in common repairs and regulation of grand and upright actions; and a tuning exam. For the tuning exam, RPTs perform a standardized piano tuning on a test piano until they agree no improvements on the tuning can be made. The results of this "master tuning" are then stored on an electronic tuning device. The piano is then detuned so the examinee can tune it, the results of which are compared to the master tuning for scoring.

An Associate is a member who has not taken or passed the RPT examinations. Associates may be piano retailers, refinishers or technicians working toward but not having yet attained RPT status.

Education and conventions

Guild members improve their skills through training offered by local chapters and seminars held on the regional and national level. It also publishes a monthly technical magazine, the Piano Technicians Journal.