All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[ammonite]

I am pretty good at sight reading and very poor at memorizing. I am personally very impressed by those who can memorize a piece easily or play by ear!

[happyfeet11]

Dreamaurora:

happyfeet11:

Hi jedamum,


Thank you so much for your reply! Good to know it's close to market rate. Was just getting a bit concerned what I did a google search & found much lower rates.

Anyway what is your view on necessity of grading & also just how of curiosity, how to determine if piano teacher is good or not? Like will they share tips on piano learning etc. Current teacher sort of just go through piano scores & then self practice thereafter I mean is this the norm? I mean like to put it bluntly, can just self teach...you know what I mean...

I have some worries that if change & the next teacher is worse then need to go through whole cycle again... =(

I wonder why theory lessons need to separate charge?

What is a good teacher will depend on what you are looking for in music lessons. To some, a good teacher is one who can produce consistent distinction results and push his/her students through the grades fast. To some, a good teacher is someone who is inspirational, motivating, and can impart love and appreciation of music. And often a good trait may conflict with others e.g. a teacher who produces very good results may not be the most motivating and patient teacher and vice versa.

But what I feel is a common trait among all good music teachers is a focused and methodical approach towards learning. This means a good teacher sets clear long and short term goals that the student can work towards to, whether it's something simple such as completing pieces or major ones such as exams.

Regarding practicing, good teachers would be specific in what the students should aim for in practicing e.g. by next week these bars should be faster etc. If a teacher just say practice the piece without being specific what to achieve, probably he/she is quite clueless.

Actually I'd prefer someone who is inspirational, motivating, and can impart love and appreciation of music. After all that is the joy in piano playing. I'm not really too concerned in results but just want to check like what's the gauge for comparison? How to know if they are really at the level that the teacher say they are? I wouldn't want my child to be going too fast for his ability and also as you know charges differ for every level upgrade.

Currently teacher did not really set goals but to be fair I didn't ask. But anyway I wouldn't know what to ask haha...But a progress book have been kept on his progress so far and what needs to be improved etc.

[happyfeet11]

Dreamaurora:

jedamum:

[quote=\"Dreamaurora\"]

Err, quite hard to learn 2 new pieces per week unless extremely dedicated. I typically teach around 5-6 pieces per grade level, but the students must practice them to a decent performance level. What I mean is my students do not usually work on 2 simultaneous pieces at home so they are more focused in learning. The piece may take up to few months to fully internalise and performance ready.

The actual note reading should be done mostly by the students. What I do is I normally demonstrate the piece once and go through at least a few bars, then the rest of the piece student should attempt at home. This way they will cultivate independence and most of my students by the time they reach grade 3 they are capable of picking up a new piece by themselves. Then after the note is done can work on polishing up the pieces.

[/quote]
Hi Dreamaurora ,

Are you a piano teacher? Mind sharing what good habits do you mean?

[Rossae]

Hello all. I'm Cheryl.


I'm a female piano teacher with Diploma in Piano Performance and 4 years of experience teaching a range of ages from 4-40+ year old students with adult students as well. I am quite flexible with my timing and live around Seng Kang/Yio Chu Kang. I can travel to Yio Chu Kang, Seng Kang, Ang Mo Kio and Serangoon area or the student can come over to my place at lower rates.

I'm encouraging and won't put the student down with a encouragement basis for teaching rather than overly strict type of teaching style.

Do contact me at 91706853 for no obligations trial lessons to see if your child likes the piano lessons Feel free to ask me any questions about how I pace the exams and general questions. Texts, Whatsapp preferred as I may be teaching or unavailable to take calls at times. :thankyou:

[Dreamaurora]

happyfeet11:

Hi Dreamaurora ,

Are you a piano teacher? Mind sharing what good habits do you mean?

Well, there are many, but the most important ones that students often neglect are good posture, technique, and practice habits. I will instead list down some bad habits I often see in students:
- Not curving fingers properly and forearm lower than hand
- Tense body and hands
- Not having the habit of learning at least an easier piece or sight reading extracts every week
- Always playing through the piece from beginning to end rather than dividing the piece in smaller chunks for practicing
- Always restarting when a mistake is made
- No constant technical regime i.e. etudes and finger exercises
- Always waiting for teacher to teach notes instead of exploring and reading more by themselves
- Not finding out about the background and context of the piece (you will be amazed how many students do not know what their pieces are about)
- etc

I am nowadays quite reluctant to accept students who have passed grade 5 and above as it's quite hard to change their habits. I had to rework my technique completely when I entered NAFA thanks to years of bad instruction (or lack of it) and it took me solid 2 years before I could acquire some decent technique.

[rawafish]

Hi! I have been having trouble finding a suitable piano teacher for my children and hopefully someone in this forum can help.


I’m looking for a teacher who -

- doesn’t require exams for every grade
- goes with the potential of the kid rather than insist on 1 grade per year
- cares a lot about the techniques and posture
- is inspiring and encouraging
- conducts annual recitals

And also conducts lessons in the borth (TPY, bishan area)

Please let me know if you know a teacher like that. Many thanks in advance.

[Porky Pig]

My DD is 4 years old and she is keen to learn piano. Recently i started her with MIM at White Sands and attended 2 lessons so far. Each lesson is 1 hour. I find that she is not able to sit through the 1 hour lesson esp during the theory part where it is boring. My hubby said she is too young to start. Should i continue or wait till she is 5 years old or look for a 1 to 1 teacher?

[jce]

Could be due to teachers not being able to communicate the theoretical part in an interesting manner. Try looking for another place? 4 is generally a good age to start in a group. 1 to 1 the choice of teacher will be a major factor

[waiyean]

Porky Pig:

My DD is 4 years old and she is keen to learn piano. Recently i started her with MIM at White Sands and attended 2 lessons so far. Each lesson is 1 hour. I find that she is not able to sit through the 1 hour lesson esp during the theory part where it is boring. My hubby said she is too young to start. Should i continue or wait till she is 5 years old or look for a 1 to 1 teacher?

Hi Porky Pig,
4 years is not too young to start the MIM class. My daughter did the MIM program at White Sands too, at a much younger age. Don't be overly concerned whether your DD can sit through the entire 1 hour lesson. Kids will be kids. Just enjoy the class... whatever DD learns is something learnt. Attend more classes, and things will fall into a routine and your DD may better appreciate the class.

[Imami]

Hello folks!


I have a question here. How long does it normally take before the teacher decides to extend the lesson from 30min to 45min or 1hr?

What determines the length of the lesson? Is it the grade? Or is it poorer performing students would need longer sessions?

Will greatly appreciate some replies. Thanks