FALCONE
Ron Falcone received diplomas from two nationally known piano tuning schools
in the early, and mid-1980's. But he was disappointed with the inconsistency and
lack of comprehensiveness 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 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, his wife and their three children moved to the Orlando, Florida area where
Ron 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.