All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[Dreamaurora]

waiyean:

Hi ladyinbliss,

Before focusing the issue on what the school/teacher did or didn't do, you might want to ask yourself whether the lack of progress is due to the lack of practice on the piano. Not sure what you mean when you say play on the keyboard \"on and off\", but if the child gets to touch the piano once a week and only during the lesson itself, you can't really expect much progress right?

Without regular practice, even the best school and teachers with the best lesson outlines can't help. I have a 5 year old (K2) daughter learning the piano too, and I realise that you need lots of patience for a child that young. Just my 2 cents worth.

True. Personally I think if child cannot commit around 20-30 minutes of practice on average per day for beginner/grade 1 I really do not recommend starting lessons. If no proper piano I will also request the parents to buy a piano first before starting lessons with me .

[peanut_butter]

waiyean:

Without regular practice, even the best school and teachers with the best lesson outlines can't help.

If the school charge three times as much, the parents will definitely make their kids practice hard.

[waiyean]

peanut_butter:

waiyean:

Without regular practice, even the best school and teachers with the best lesson outlines can't help.

If the school charge three times as much, the parents will definitely make their kids practice hard.

Or the parents will make the kids drop out from the school

[sleepy]

peanut_butter:

waiyean:

Without regular practice, even the best school and teachers with the best lesson outlines can't help.

If the school charge three times as much, the parents will definitely make their kids practice hard.

No wonder Nafa kids practice 2 to 3 hours everyday. School fees is so ex

[Dreamaurora]

sleepy:

peanut_butter:

[quote=\"waiyean\"]Without regular practice, even the best school and teachers with the best lesson outlines can't help.

If the school charge three times as much, the parents will definitely make their kids practice hard.

No wonder Nafa kids practice 2 to 3 hours everyday. School fees is so ex[/quote]I think it's more because if they fail any of the internal exams they will be kicked out of the course.

[waiyean]

sleepy:

peanut_butter:

[quote=\"waiyean\"]Without regular practice, even the best school and teachers with the best lesson outlines can't help.

If the school charge three times as much, the parents will definitely make their kids practice hard.

No wonder Nafa kids practice 2 to 3 hours everyday. School fees is so ex[/quote]Actually on per hour basis, it is one of the cheapest I have seen.

[pirate]

sleepy:

No wonder Nafa kids practice 2 to 3 hours everyday. School fees is so ex

Not at Grade 1 they don't. Most of them don't anyway. It's a myth.

They do need on average at least an hour everyday, increasing as the exam approaches.

[sleepy]

pirate:

Not at Grade 1 they don't. Most of them don't anyway. It's a myth.

They do need on average at least an hour everyday, increasing as the exam approaches.

Seriously?!!
dd2 used to practise 2 to 3 hours everyday when in nafa for grade 1. Heard most of her classmates put in similar number of hours daily.
Yet her assigned nafa teacher still black face every lesson, said she's not practising hard enough. Okay maybe she 没天分

She's in kindy that time, no homework so I don't mind the long hours. However, I know I definitely do not want her to spend that much time on piano once in primary school

Now she's learning grade 8 with a private teacher. Oh boi, only practises like 30 minutes and not even everyday because busy wth school work.

I think she should have swap it - 30 mins for her grade 1, at least an hour for her grade 8 Anyway, need to pull up her socks, too relaxed la

[sleepy]

waiyean:

Actually on per hour basis, it is one of the cheapest I have seen.

I doubt nafa is one of the cheapest.
$73.95 per 45 mintues lesson is definitely on the high side for grade 1 in my opinion

Grade 1 in nafa
45 minutes practical & 60 minutes theory
(theory group size is big, definitely more than 10 in a group during dd2's time)
20 practical, 20 group theory S$1954.04


Arbitrary cost for theory:
I paid $185 for every 4 lessons of grade 5 theory lesson for 2 kids (don't know what's the price for grade 1) with a music school
1 hour. class size of 2.
So assume each child is $95 for 4 lessons, theory is $475 for 20 lessons


$1954 - (arbitrary cost for) theory $475 = 1479 for 20 practical lessons
nafa 1 practical lesson is $73.95 for 45 minutes

[Dreamaurora]

sleepy:

waiyean:

Actually on per hour basis, it is one of the cheapest I have seen.

I doubt nafa is one of the cheapest.
$73.95 per 45 mintues lesson is definitely on the high side for grade 1 in my opinion

Grade 1 in nafa
45 minutes practical & 60 minutes theory
(theory group size is big, definitely more than 10 in a group during dd2's time)
20 practical, 20 group theory S$1954.04


Arbitrary cost for theory:
I paid $185 for every 4 lessons of grade 5 theory lesson for 2 kids (don't know what's the price for grade 1) with a music school
1 hour. class size of 2.
So assume each child is $95 for 4 lessons, theory is $475 for 20 lessons


$1954 - (arbitrary cost for) theory $475 = 1479 for 20 practical lessons
nafa 1 practical lesson is $73.95 for 45 minutes

Quite hard to quantify the cost of a piano lesson actually. Have to take into consideration of quality of the teacher, curriculum, and long term progress also. So take for example NAFA, for half a year have to spend $1954, but at the end of the 20 lessons the child would have studied under more specialized teacher and completed the syllabus for grade 1. A typical music school charges approximately $140-$160 for 45 minutes beginner /grade 1 lesson for one month. Typically students at music school will take approximately one and half year to two years before attempting grade 1, that will work out to $2520-3360 to complete grade 1. So in the long run it may actually be more expensive to study at normal music schools. Likewise for theory, specialized grade 5 theory course cost around $40-60 per hour but students may need fewer lessons as compared to cheaper standard ones.

This is why specialized teachers with good track records may actually be worth more than just your normal run-of-the-mill teachers. Sure, fee can be significantly more expensive, but the faster progress and better results may actually translate savings in the long run.