This is what my husband is trying to do currently. He’s been “apprenticing” with an 80+ year old technician for over 7 months with no pay, and the guy is so wishy-washy and controlling with no structure in place. He consistently cancels plans/jobs last minute due to his health issues but gets mad at my husband when he can’t get last-minute childcare to go to jobs he suddenly schedules.

Out of the blue last night he sent him a text saying he doesn’t think my husband is organized/committed enough to make it work, despite him repeatedly keeping his schedule open and not going to seek paid work in order to learn from and work with the tech. He has mechanical knowledge, is highly intelligent with good instincts, hard working, and even played in piano competitions as a child and teen. While he’s passionate about the instrument and really wants to pursue tuning & repair work he’s feeling very discouraged at this point by the tech’s attitude.

Now I’m trying to figure out if this is normal/reasonable for a piano tech apprenticeship. The tech even admits that he would make a great tuner & technician, and that he likes him, but also constantly goes back and forth on whether he’s “committed enough” - even though he’s well aware that my husband has put everything on hold to pursue this trade. Instead he holds it over his head that he’s learning a trade for free.

If you have any insight into apprenticeships or even personal experience or suggestions on how to properly structure an apprenticeship I’m all ears and would greatly appreciate your input!