All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[Dreamaurora]

reiner:

the Tr commented y girl doesnt able to play continuously... she can do part by part only, then how come Tr wanna her to start G2 pieces??


or pls enlighten me how to guide her to play continuously? will singing the solfege while playing helps?

Maybe you can try to get your girl to slowly practice in smaller units before combining into larger units. So for example practice bar 1-2, then practice bar 3-4, then afterwards practice bar 1-4. Rinse, repeat until combine into one whole piece.

Singing while playing may help a little in strengthening aural memory of the piece, but the main important thing in achieving a continuous performance is a systematic approach towards approach.

[peanut_butter]

There are many causes for slipping. It will be easier to diagnose the problem and offer suggestions if you have a video of her playing.


As to why the second teacher does not do pop,..... Some teachers simply do not like pop songs. Some may not know where to find the sheets, or have the time to rearrange them. Others may find other areas like techniques more pressing and take up all the teaching hours. There is often a trade off.

I had taught a rather agile teenage beginner to play River Flows in You by role-and-imitation (she refused to read) quite successfully. Unless the student is a very strong reader, s/he tends to be put off by the density of the notes even though these type of music is very simple. One of my grade 4 student gave up after attempting the first line, another two are still struggling to play the whole piece after a month. So I reckon it depends on how it is taught.

[reiner]

thanks Dreamaurora & peanut butter for your advises…


she can play part by part… but somehow she cant continue fm 1-2-3-4… her brain is kinda of "short circuit"… haha… anyway gotta get her practice more… and hope by singing she can link the parts together…

my girl learnt the spirited away n other songs fm yamaha tr more on imitation style… haha… coz she cldnt read notes well @ that time yah…

i spend quite some times to search for free music sheets yah… of coz i dont kn how "good" are the sheets, too complicated or too simplifed… leave it to the yamaha tr to go thru w my girl yah… surprised the tr taught my girl to play yah…

so thinking the current tr is drilling hard on my girl foundation bah…

[ngl2010]

peanut_butter:

There are many causes for slipping. It will be easier to diagnose the problem and offer suggestions if you have a video of her playing.


As to why the second teacher does not do pop,..... Some teachers simply do not like pop songs. Some may not know where to find the sheets, or have the time to rearrange them. Others may find other areas like techniques more pressing and take up all the teaching hours. There is often a trade off.

I had taught a rather agile teenage beginner to play River Flows in You by role-and-imitation (she refused to read) quite successfully. Unless the student is a very strong reader, s/he tends to be put off by the density of the notes even though these type of music is very simple. One of my grade 4 student gave up after attempting the first line, another two are still struggling to play the whole piece after a month. So I reckon it depends on how it is taught.

DS said River Flows in You is easy. Kiss The Rain is harder although the notes look simple. Is it right?

[reiner]

how about s.e.n.s "wish" is for easy piano?


how about classical ones? is there so-called re-arranged / simplied version? my girl is asking for classical ones which is totally ailen to me yah… please recommend… best with the link to the music sheets/bk (so to serach the library yah)… sorry paiseh… I’m asking too much here…

[jedamum]

Piano exam next month, my son teacher still change his fingering and my boy is pretty frustrated. Should teacher change fingering as and when they feel that it suits the dynamics/kids finger strength more or should fingering positioning be finalised earlier?

[Dreamaurora]

jedamum:

Piano exam next month, my son teacher still change his fingering and my boy is pretty frustrated. Should teacher change fingering as and when they feel that it suits the dynamics/kids finger strength more or should fingering positioning be finalised earlier?

It is very hard to implement a set of fingerings that work all the way to the completion of the piece. Some fingerings may be discovered later to be less than satisfactory only when the piece is played up to speed. Changing fingering is often necessary for proper expression of the piece; unfortunately relearning fingering is a tedious process especially if the piece has been memorised. I will normally explain the reasoning behind a fingering change to my students and convince them of the difference the change will make. But if my students find it too confusing and frustrating, I may not push it if the impact of the bad fingering on the overall performance is minor.

[Dreamaurora]

reiner:

how about s.e.n.s \"wish\" is for easy piano?


how about classical ones? is there so-called re-arranged / simplied version? my girl is asking for classical ones which is totally ailen to me yah... please recommend... best with the link to the music sheets/bk (so to serach the library yah).... sorry paiseh... I'm asking too much here...

It really depends what is your definition of easy piano. I would say one would need to be a comfortable grade 4 or 5 to play 'wish' properly. But lower grades could probably read the notes just fine, though the legato pedalling and the balancing between lines would be rather complex for them.

For arranged classical piano, you can try Alan Bullards' Pianoworks Collection or Simply Classics series.

[Dreamaurora]

reiner:

thanks Dreamaurora & peanut butter for your advises...


she can play part by part... but somehow she cant continue fm 1-2-3-4... her brain is kinda of \"short circuit\".... haha... anyway gotta get her practice more.... and hope by singing she can link the parts together....

my girl learnt the spirited away n other songs fm yamaha tr more on imitation style.... haha.... coz she cldnt read notes well @ that time yah....

i spend quite some times to search for free music sheets yah.... of coz i dont kn how \"good\" are the sheets, too complicated or too simplifed... leave it to the yamaha tr to go thru w my girl yah... surprised the tr taught my girl to play yah....

so thinking the current tr is drilling hard on my girl foundation bah...

If you are looking for Japanese sheets, Kinokuniya Taka has a decent selection.

[jedamum]

Thanks dreamaurora for your explanation!