Ron Falcone received diplomas from two nationally known piano tuning schools
in the early, and mid-1980's. But he was disappointed with some aspects of
the courses offered. For example, one school explained how to fix sticky keys,
while the other made no mention of this common problem at all! This is
remarkable when you consider that sticky keys are to pianos, what flat tires are
to cars. In another instance, one school did a reasonable job of explaining
different tuning strategies but the other school did not. And neither
school ever explained the proper way to test certain common parts such as
flanges; these are one of the most common moving parts in a piano, and there is
a simple two-step method for properly testing them.
Feeling that his
education wasn't complete and being the type of compulsive person who demands
perfection in everything he does, Ron began hoarding every textbook and article
he could find on the art of piano tuning and repair. He viewed hours of video
tapes, attended seminars, and discussed at length the many facets of piano
technology with fellow piano craftsmen and artisans. All of this resulted in the
copious writing of notes, sometimes in the hundreds of pages. Those notes would
be written and re-written, undergoing dozens of revisions based on Ron's actual
field experience. Eventually, Ron's notes would become the framework from which
THE PIANO TUNER'S SUPER HOME STUDY COURSE emerged.
In 1987 Ron was hired
as a senior staff technician with Westport-Fairfield Piano and Organ in CT---one
of the largest piano retailers in New England. While at Westport, Ron literally
serviced thousands of pianos and also apprenticed with certified piano
craftsmen, accumulating hundreds of hours of experience in all phases of repair
work and regulation. Ron's tuning appointments included the Greater Bridgeport
Symphony Orchestra, the Connecticut Piano Festival Competition, the New England
Lyric Operetta Company; the Boston Stagecoach Players, the acclaimed Westport
County Playhouse and Van-Cliburn festival performing artists.
A few of
the notable performers and events cliented by Ron included actresses Karen
Valentine, Victoria Jackson, and singers Jerry Vale and Judy Collins. Tom Chapin
and the World Hunger Concerts, renowned jazz-pianist Dave Brubeck and Moscow
Conservatory recitalist Oxana Yablonskaya were other artists of note.
In
1991, Ron moved to the Orlando, Florida area where he served as an independent
contractor for local, established piano dealers. His many high-profile clients
included Liza Minnelli, Dionne Warwick, John Denver, the Harlem Boys Choir,
Wynton Marsalis, the Florida Symphony Orchestra, the Bob Carr Center for the
Performing Arts, the National Broadway tours of A Chorus Line, Phantom
of the Opera and Miss Saigon; jazz vocalist Dianne Krall, Disney
Television, Ed McMahon's Star Search, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and
Warner Brothers for the film Rosewood. Additional clients include the
Orange County Convention Center, Billboard Magazine's annual Music Awards, the
Winter Park Arts Festival, Universal Studios and the Civic Theater of Central
Florida where Ron served as chief tuner, technician and consultant between 1993
and 1999.
In addition to being a full time piano tuner-technician and
administrator of DISTANCE LEARNING INTERNATIONAL, Ron has demonstrated his
unique ability to grasp ideas and put them on paper for a general audience by
his respected authorship of three mass-market books written for such major
publishers as Dell and Carol. Ron also has a degree in computer repair and
troubleshooting.