Emotions around managing pianos in a school
Meeting the teachers who manage pianos in schools
In my work as a piano tuner & technician, I meet music teachers who’ve been handed the job of managing their school’s pianos..… tuning, repairs, maintenance, new purchases, budgeting and forward planning - everything really.
I can sense their discomfort around it as they tentatively ask me for advice. This role of managing pianos isn’t often discussed and it doesn’t even really have a name (We could make one…I like piano fleet management, but I’m open to other suggestions).
Why is nobody talking about this? Why is there limited information online? It’s a complex topic and piano management will look different for each school. It’s difficult to talk about specific examples because this involves sensitive information about schools that can’t be disclosed. But there’s a deeper reason for the silence.
In my observation, many teachers weren’t expecting the role and are surprised when it’s presented to them as “part of the job”. It comes with an unspoken expectation that it will be natural and easy for a pianist.
It does seem logical that a pianist would know how to look after and maintain their own instrument -so why would it be hard for them to look after the pianos at a school?
It's just not that simple. Managing pianos in a school is involved. Multiple pianos in a demanding environment have specific maintenance needs. Not only do the pianos need to be managed but so do the expectations, and opinions of many others in the school community (particular people might immediately spring to mind for the teacher).
What can the teacher do? Where do they even start? Most commonly and understandably, they do nothing until a problem arises. They’re too swamped with the expectations, confusion, the rest of their very demanding job and all the things that are currently more urgent. They can’t see the possibilities. It’s actually an amazing opportunity. Shaping a school’s piano fleet and planning its future can be incredibly powerful, but that’s not even in view when you can’t see the first step.
So, what happens next?
Isolated in the quest to solve the big piano problem, there are few people the teacher can turn to for help.
The most common choices are the piano retailer or the piano tuner/technician. These people are happy to help and they just want to do their job (They’re both really good at their jobs). One is good at selling pianos and one is good at fixing them and they offer what they can.
The teacher finds a solution (most likely a very expensive one - most unexpected expenses are). There’s usually a lot of controversy and stress, and then it’s back to survival mode until the next big problem.
This cycle is not a great end to the story, but it can be broken. Part of what's missing is a plan, defined objectives regarding school pianos and a decision framework unique to the school can change the dynamic in the teacher's favour. Discover how teachers are flipping the script to transform their piano departments in part 2.
Part 2 Coming Soon
Let's Talk Pianos
Created with systeme.io