All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[sleepy]

jedamum:

30min enough for grade two? Son's current teacher only have one other free slot that is not our ideal time. Piano school admin said 30min should be sufficient for grade two fast learner but I find it too short. Son does not want to change teacher who has been teaching him for two years.

Maybe you can try group lesson (look for very small group) and have one hour lesson instead? I feel more can be cover in an hour

The music schools charges varies so it's best to call up a few to enquire. fyi the most affordable quote I received is $70/mth for 45 minutes group lesson, max 4 in a group although they can start a class with min 2 students. Didn't choose that school eventually because timing not suitable. Highest quote is the music school charged same fees as grade 5 practical piano even though teaching theory. So those I didn't consider at all because market practice among music schools is theory lessons are priced lower than practical lessons

Or you can find another child in same grade to form one hour group lesson (back to back 30 mins but both sit in for the entire hour)

I called up a few music schools near my area and pick the one with most suitable timing. It's actually individual 30 mins lesson each. I request teacher to coach both dd1 & dd2 together so combine their individual 30 mins lesson to become 1 hour group lesson.

My dd1 took 17 hours of (group) lessons to prep for grade 5 theory. She has absolutely zero theory foundation. Never attended theory lessons before. Her cello teacher only teaches practical. So she can only read left hand notes.

dd2 has better foundation than dd1 since her piano teacher covers theory during piano lesson too, although not every week. Still, I think her piano teacher's coverage is far from exam readiness (can't expect too much from a rush 10 mins theory coverage) so I think having separate theory lessons helped as it's more focus that way.

By the way, it's not necessary to sit for theory grade by grade. Most go direct to grade 5 which is the essential grade
I think as a rough gauge, between 15 to 20 intensive hours or thereabout is enough to progress from zero theory background to grade 5. My kids abit bored towards the last couple of lessons.
Not counting the many hours spent at home doing past year theory papers though

[jedamum]

sleepy

i am confused.
if only theory needed is grade 5 and only need about 20hrs intensive lessons to jump from zero to five, if i only meant for kid to take grade 5 theory in 2-3yrs time, does it mean that it is too early to sign up for theory lessons now?
i dont think husband may agree to additional theory if the cost does not justify. to have additional 30min theory on top of 30min pract, i think he rather son have 45min prac and 15min theory. he just wants son to enjoy and learn techniques in playing…theory can pick up when learning practical…possible?

son is with a music sch, so does it make sense to go to different sch for theory?

[micollh]

for grade 1 - $140 /month 45 mins each time 11 times for 3 months with 1 term break. one-to-one at home . sound ok? but again when i check with yamaha school, they said learning one-to-one in school is betetr than home as lesser distraction… how ?

[sleepy]

jedamum:

sleepy

i am confused.
if only theory needed is grade 5 and only need about 20hrs intensive lessons to jump from zero to five, if i only meant for kid to take grade 5 theory in 2-3yrs time, does it mean that it is too early to sign up for theory lessons now?
i dont think husband may agree to additional theory if the cost does not justify. to have additional 30min theory on top of 30min pract, i think he rather son have 45min prac and 15min theory. he just wants son to enjoy and learn techniques in playing...theory can pick up when learning practical...possible?

son is with a music sch, so does it make sense to go to different sch for theory?

My dd2 piano teacher covers theory during piano lesson. However, it's kind of unstructured, do whenever have spare time so certain weeks will skip theory component. I feel that dd2's theory foundation is shaky even though she did complete theory book 1 to 4. Definitely far from exam readiness.
By grade 5, we ask piano teacher to focus on practical only since teacher is obviously stronger in teaching practical than theory.

It's a requirement to pass grade 5 before abrsm allow you to register for grade 6 practical and beyond. We were caught in that predicament because dd1's practical progress faster than we expected (learning grade 7 scales) and we didn't know she can't go for higher grade exam till she clear grade 5 theory. Having a clueless cello teacher didn't help. Had to put practical exam on hold while waiting for theory to catch up.

If your ds is ready, just prep for grade 5 right away, need not be sync with his practical piano grade. However, knowledge from grade 1 to 4 is still necessary.

During lessons, music school theory teacher still quickly cover grade 2 to 4 with dd1 since she never attended any theory lessons before. She can read left hand notes very well since she's already learning grade 7 scales but not too familiar with right hand notes. And while teacher is explaining, dd2 recap what she learned before.

We save a fair amount of time there because teacher didn't force dd1 to do theory book for grade 1 to 4 due to time constraint (I already enrolled for theory exam before engaging music school theory teacher). So dd1 zoom right into grade 5 theory book and then teacher refers to earlier grades selectively to coach her relevant topic because grade 5 covers grade 1 to 4 topics.

After finishing grade 5 theory book, they embark on past year papers. Managed to cover 4 years (16 sets) of past year papers during those 17 hours. It is intensive because they spent many hours doing theory papers at home. During lessons, theory teacher will mark and explain their mistakes. Then correction done in class if time permits and finish the rest at home.

Both my kids are learning from private teachers for practical so yes, theory and practical can be different school/teachers.

[sleepy]

micollh:

for grade 1 - $140 /month 45 mins each time 11 times for 3 months with 1 term break. one-to-one at home . sound ok? but again when i check with yamaha school, they said learning one-to-one in school is betetr than home as lesser distraction.. how ?

If there is a quiet area at home with no distraction, I prefer home le, save travelling time. Very troublesome to nag the kids to change, drive out, look for parking, have to make sure reach at least 5 mins earlier, wait around while kids attending class. 1 hour doesn't make sense to go home and back out again.

It's a relief for me when I withdraw my kids from theory classes

dd1's cello lesson is conducted at home, in the living room. I chose a lesson time when dd2 is not at home so no distraction.

[sleepy]

sleepy:

By the way, it's not necessary to sit for theory grade by grade. Most go direct to grade 5 which is the essential grade

Just to clarify, what I meant is it's not necessary to sit for abrsm theory exam grade by grade. Only abrsm grade 5 exam is essential

[MommySherrie]

sleepy:

sleepy:

By the way, it's not necessary to sit for theory grade by grade. Most go direct to grade 5 which is the essential grade

Just to clarify, what I meant is it's not necessary to sit for abrsm theory exam grade by grade. Only abrsm grade 5 exam is essential

My DD and DS's teacher mentioned that you can skip grades but there are some prerequisite for Grade 6 practical, which is Gr5 theory and practical.

But my view is that, my children also learn how to appreciate music as they progress and not only focus on the exams.

[ngl2010]

MommySherrie:

My DD and DS's teacher mentioned that you can skip grades but there are some prerequisite for Grade 6 practical, which is Gr5 theory and practical.

But my view is that, my children also learn how to appreciate music as they progress and not only focus on the exams.

Hi. I believe the requirement is Grade 5 theory OR practical. It is either one. Not both. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[micollh]

thanks sleepy !


btw, to prevent grading during psle year… any path advise for 6 yo till then ?

[sleepy]

ngl2010:

MommySherrie:

My DD and DS's teacher mentioned that you can skip grades but there are some prerequisite for Grade 6 practical, which is Gr5 theory and practical.

But my view is that, my children also learn how to appreciate music as they progress and not only focus on the exams.

Hi. I believe the requirement is Grade 5 theory OR practical. It is either one. Not both. Please correct me if I am wrong.

My understanding is grade 5 theory is compulsory.
I called up abrsm to enquire last year.