Ear Training for Piano Tuners: RPT Tuning Exam Prep

Many piano technicians can repair and regulate a piano beautifully, yet struggle when they have to tune by ear. I teach ear training for piano tuners and technicians, in person in Las Vegas or online, with one goal: to help you hear pitch, intervals and beats precisely enough to tune by ear with confidence.

I am Dr. Maria Pisarenko, D.M.A., a concert pianist and piano professor with absolute pitch, trained in the Russian tradition of solfège and ear training at the Moscow Central Music School and the Gnessin Academy.

How piano tuners are certified in the United States

There is no state license for piano tuners in the United States. The recognised professional credential is Registered Piano Technician (RPT) from the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG). A PTG member earns the RPT title by passing three exams:

• Written exam: piano design, tuning theory, repair and other piano technology.
• Technical exam: grand and vertical action work, regulation and repairs, within time limits.
• Tuning exam: tuning a piano to match a master tuning set by examiners. Candidates who normally use electronic tuning devices must still show that they can tune by ear, without electronics.

PTG's own roadmap to the RPT includes setting A4 within a fraction of a cent, checking octaves, fourths and fifths aurally, tuning a temperament by ear and understanding inharmonicity.

What I teach you

• Pitch accuracy: hearing and matching a reference pitch more and more precisely.
• Intervals: recognising pure and tempered octaves, fifths, fourths, thirds and sixths.
• Beats: hearing beats clearly, comparing their speed and counting beat rates.
• Octave checks: hearing the 4:2 and 6:3 octave tests and other aural checks.
• Listening stamina: keeping your ear accurate and focused for a full tuning.
• Musical knowledge: the theory behind intervals and temperament, explained by a musician.

What the ear has to do in a tuning exam: a short guide

Aural tuning is listening to beats: the slow pulsing "wah-wah" you hear when two notes are almost, but not exactly, in tune. A tuner sets one reference pitch, builds a temperament in the middle of the piano, and then tunes outward in octaves, checking every step with intervals.

The shaded keys are the temperament octave, F3 to F4. The tuner sets the reference pitch (A4 = 440 Hz), tunes this octave by beats, and then tunes the rest of the piano outward from it.

The intervals a tuner listens to, in the temperament octave:

• Interval — In equal temperament it is… — What you hear
• Octave — almost pure (stretched slightly because of inharmonicity) — no beat, or a very slow one; checked with the 4:2 and 6:3 octave tests
• Fifth — slightly narrow — a very slow beat, roughly once a second or slower
• Fourth — slightly wide — a slow beat, a little faster than the fifths
• Major third — clearly wide — fast beats, several per second, getting faster smoothly as you go up
• Major sixth — clearly wide — fast beats, used to cross-check the thirds

Typical aural checks (the kind PTG's roadmap names): comparing a fourth and a fifth that share a note; listening for thirds that speed up evenly from bottom to top of the temperament; checking each new octave against a fifth, a twelfth or a double octave; and setting A4 so precisely that the difference is a fraction of a cent.

How we train each skill

• Hearing beats at all: two tones slightly apart, first played electronically, then on the piano; you count beats against a metronome.
• Fast versus slow: pairs of intervals, and you say which beats faster and roughly how much.
• Interval identity: fifths, fourths, thirds and sixths by ear, until the interval is recognised in a fraction of a second.
• Progressions: a run of thirds or sixths, and you hear the one that does not fit the smooth increase.
• Stamina: long listening sessions, because an exam tuning takes hours and the ear tires.

Where to read more: the Piano Technicians Guild publishes the RPT requirements and its "Milestones to RPT" roadmap at ptg.org. I am a pianist and teacher, not an RPT: my lessons are the ear-training part of your preparation. Repairs, regulation and the mechanical side of tuning belong with an RPT mentor and your PTG chapter.

See also: music theory and ear training.

Preparing for the RPT tuning exam, or want to tune better by ear? Write to me with the form below, or text or WhatsApp (702) 809-7576, and tell me where you are now and your exam date.