Piano and harpsichord maker

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Piano making by Alexander Herrmann KG Sangerhausen, 1971

Piano and harpsichord maker is the professional designation for people who manufacture, repair, restore, tune and intone pianos , grand pianos , pianinos and harpsichords . The occupation is a state-recognized training occupation according to the Vocational Training Act and the Crafts Code , but has been one of the non-licensed craft occupations in Germany since December 29, 2003, for which no special qualifications are required. Previously, the master craftsman's examination was a prerequisite for admission to independent trade . The apprenticeship as a journeyman lasts 3.5 years, is completed in a craft or industrial company and includes training as a piano tuner . The profession has the two fields of piano making and harpsichord making and emerged in December 1982 from the profession of piano maker.

Training in Germany

The piano and harpsichord maker is trained as a dual training . In the training company, the trainee learns the profession on the basis of practical work, whereby general knowledge is deepened and theoretical background knowledge is imparted in the vocational school. In Germany there is only one vocational school for piano and harpsichord builders, the Oscar-Walcker-Schule in Ludwigsburg .

The piano construction specialization (mainly pianos and grand pianos) includes the construction and assembly of the body, acoustic system and game mechanics, in particular:

  • Construction of the instruments and creation of work drawings
  • Manufacturing and painting of enclosures
  • Production of pegs (wooden frame of the instrument with sound post ), soundboard and bridges
  • Installation of the cast plate, scaling and mounting of the strings
  • Installation of keyboard and mechanics (with damping and hammers)
  • Regulation of the mechanics (including adjustment of key depth, hammer height, release, catch and nod)
  • Tuning and voicing
  • Repair and restoration of all parts on the instrument
  • New production of defective parts

The piano of manufacture is nowadays mainly industrially in series production , wherein meanwhile the computerized manufacturing has found its way into the piano (u. A. CNC drilling of the cast iron plate, manufacturing of mechanical parts through machines, manufacture of the housing, polishing surface). Much of the work, however, is done by hand. The main activity of the piano maker is the basic structure of the case and notches as well as the installation and assembly of the individually designed and manufactured parts such as the cast plate, the soundboard, the keyboard, the mostly standardized mechanical parts and the hammers for over 100 years .

No specific school education is required as an admission requirement for training as a piano and harpsichord maker. The statistics of the training companies in industry and craft from 2015 show that to a large extent applicants with a high school diploma were preferred:

Craft 2015: Industry 2015:
University entrance qualification: 50% 72%
Middle school leaving certificate: 40% 22%
Secondary school leaving certificate / other: 10% 6%

The training in the field of harpsichord construction includes, in particular, the production and restoration of harpsichords (the production of the jumpers, the carving of leather quills and the construction of the manual couplers and registers ) as well as clavichords, fortepiano, table pianos and spinets.

Training opportunities

Training in Austria

The profession of piano maker in Austria corresponds to the German piano and harpsichord maker and includes both piano and harpsichord building. The job title piano maker (formerly: piano maker) was last adopted in Austria on June 1, 2016 due to technological developments in the field of computer-aided design, drawing (CAD) and production (CAM) with a modernized job description. The activity falls under the regulated trade according to § 94 of the trade regulations , whereby a certificate of competence (e.g. in the form of a training certificate) must be provided for independent trade, if necessary by determining individual qualifications. The training is also provided in training companies and at the vocational school and ends with the final examination, which also includes access to in Austria Berufsmatura allows and hence to further higher qualifications at colleges or universities.

Piano manufacturer

The European piano makers are in competition with competitors producing in the Far East. The piano manufacturers are only partially training centers. Well-known companies include:

See also

literature

  • Hubert Henkel: Lexicon of German piano makers. Edition Bochinsky, 2000, ISBN 3-923639-37-6
  • Alfons Huber: piano making. In: Oesterreichisches Musiklexikon . Online edition, Vienna 2002 ff., ISBN 3-7001-3077-5 ; Print edition: Volume 2, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2003, ISBN 3-7001-3044-9 .
  • Hagen W. Lippe-Weissenfeld: The piano as a means of socio-political distinction, cultural sociological case study on the development of the piano manufacturing industry in England and Germany using the examples of Broadwood and Bechstein. Peter Lang Verlag 2006, ISBN 3-631-56268-3 .
  • Konstantin Restle (Ed.): Fascination Piano. 300 years of piano building in Germany , with contributions by Attila Csampai , Norbert Ely, Susanne Keuchel, Gerhard Oppitz , Hermann Rauhe , Konstantin Restle, Peter Rummenhöller. Prestel, Munich London New York 2000, ISBN 3-7913-2308-3

Web links

Commons : Piano Maker  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Framework curriculum for the apprenticeship as piano and harpsichord maker. (PDF; 116 kB) Bertelsmann Verlag, December 7, 1982, accessed on February 8, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Federal Law Gazette 2003 Part I No. 66, Third Act to Change the Crafts Code. (PDF; 181 kB) (No longer available online.) Bundesanzeiger Verlag GmbH, December 29, 2003, formerly in the original ; accessed on February 8, 2017 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.bgbl.de  
  3. ↑ Appendix B of the HwO, non-licensed trades. (PDF; 41 kB) Federal Ministry of Economics, January 1, 2017, accessed on February 8, 2017 .
  4. ^ Trade of the Crafts Code, Annexes B1 and B2. Zentralverband des Deutschen Handwerks eV, accessed on February 8, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Oscar-Walcker-Schule, specializing in piano and harpsichord maker. Retrieved February 8, 2017 (school website).
  6. ^ Piano and harpsichord maker specializing in piano making. (PDF; 319 kB) Federal Employment Agency, January 1, 2017, accessed on February 8, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Piano and harpsichord maker specializing in harpsichord making. (PDF; 214 kB) Federal Employment Agency, January 1, 2017, accessed on February 8, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Piano and Harpsichord Builder Ordinance of December 17, 2019 ( Federal Law Gazette I p. 2842 )
  9. ↑ piano and harpsichord Bauermeister / in the Berufenet the Federal Employment Agency
  10. ↑ Professional name: piano manufacturing. Federal Ministry of Economics (Austria), accessed on February 8, 2017 .
  11. ↑ Piano making (teaching profession). (PDF; 74 kB) (No longer available online.) Austrian Chamber of Commerce, archived from the original on February 11, 2017 ; accessed on February 8, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bic.at
  12. ↑ List of regulated trades. City of Vienna City Council, accessed on February 8, 2017 .
  13. ↑ Regulated trades. Federal Ministry of Finance (Austria), January 1, 2016, accessed on February 8, 2017 .
  14. ^ Thiemo Heeg: Piano instead of forte. FAZ, October 6, 2012, accessed on February 8, 2017 .
  15. ↑ Burger & Jacobi