NAFA piano course

[ctct61t]

pianojazzy:

Actually the aural part is about gr 1 aural. it can be train if your child has 1-1 private lesson. Try to work from there.


Sight reading is train since the first lesson and it shouldn't be a problem if your child has attended 1-1.

Good Luck!

Cheers

[corneyAmber]

Emailed you

[ctct61t]

pianojazzy:

Emailed you

Pianojazzy, Thank you very very much.

[corneyAmber]

you r most welcome

[unflappable_chicken]

hello;D

actually i’m not a parent, but a student myself.
I happened to chance upon this website and when I saw some of these forum posts, I really wanted to say something based on a student’s pov.

I’m thirteen this year, and I was from NAFA (I left 4 years ago)
I went into NAFA when I was in pri.1, having learnt piano for only about a year, my parents brought me there to try for grade 2 piano.
I’m not sure why you brought your kids to NAFA, but for my parents, that was because my earlier piano tchr moved hse & it was troublesome for us to go there. Thus, my parents wanted to look for a new piano tchr & they heard that NAFA had gd tchrs.

anyway, so I tried for the test & in my opinion, flunked the test really badly- I don’t really remember well (i was only pri 1 back then) but I guess I did well for the playing section & the sight reading one, though I completely failed the aural section because I just can’t sing…even when I did my grade 8 two years ago, I still failed my aural section.

However, much to my surprise, I got into NAFA!
nevertheless, life in NAFA wasn’t a bed of roses for me starting then, and I found it to be very stressful. I wasn’t the type who would practise piano for 4-5 hours a day nor was I gifted/talented in music. I remember attending additional theory lessons & aural lessons outside of those provided by NAFA as I couldnt cope with them. and certainly the terrible memories of crying my hearts out after being reprimanded & shamed at masterclasses. but no, I was not a crybaby, I just couldnt stand e shame at being scolded by the principal in front of everyone.

eventually, after failing my aural tests quite a no. of times, and getting warning letters (yes, nafa gives warning letters to those who are not performing well), my parents & I decided to leave NAFA when I was in pri.4.
Luckily, I had a gd tchr in NAFA whom I continued lessons with until I finished grd 8 in pri.6. Currently, I am continuing my diploma course with another tchr (also from NAFA) after stopping e lessons during e PSLE period last year.

Okay, so why I am sharing this 1st hand experience here?
I guess it’s because I really want parents to reconsider about what choices they make for their kids- even if it’s for their own gd, you may say.
for me, I’m really glad that my parents arent kiasu parents, and they would let me try things I wanna do, and they would stop me in time if they realise that I’m struggling (such as the case in NAFA) perhaps that’s why I would think I’m doing okay in both my academic and other pursuits.
yes, I would encourage you to let your child try for nafa- if he/she has the talent in music/ she is willing to work really hard. but if he/she doesn’t meet the criteria, dn force him/her. Afterall, isn’t learning piano supposed to cultivate a good sense of music appreciation- it’s supposed to be something that one shld enjoy.
Right now, I still have friends in NAFA who persevered until diploma, but honestly the no. is very little.
oh, just some last words-- the tchrs in NAFA are gd, but some tchrs (fortunately not mine) are very strict & fierce- they r known to smack their students’ hands shld they not play well. Yes, there is a chinese proverb that says gd students come frm strict tchrs, but I kind of think that some tchrs are too strict to cultivate any gd sense of music appreciation in students. Also, some tchrs in NAFA focus too much on the technical aspect of playing that e general feeling of music is lost.

yupp, that’s all ;D on my part as a student.
btw, even though i didn’t score very well for my grd 8, I still love music

[ChiefKiasu]

unflappable_chicken:

hello;D

actually i'm not a parent, but a student myself...

unflappable_chicken, that is an excellent post that displays a maturity way above the accepted norm for your age. It is kids like you that give us reason to believe that Singapore has a future. 加油!

[corneyAmber]

unflappable_chicken, i am very glad that you share your experience wth us. I heard a lot of stories from students, parents and friends. This is what i am trying to tell the parents here too

[ctct61t]

unflappable_chicken:

hello;D

actually i'm not a parent, but a student myself.
...
btw, even though i didn't score very well for my grd 8, I still love music

unflappable_chicken, really appreciated you sharing the experience with NAFA.

Actually, as a mother, i did not experience the piano learning before, everything is unknown for me, what I can do is to provide a good learning environment for my child, and hope she can learn happy and well. But as many parents experienced before, it's not a easy thing to find a good teacher and environment, compare to look for good teacher aimless, it's a good choice to send child in a well-known school, that can prevent a lot of waste for the future's study. I saw many children give up piano halfway.

But it seems not so easy, where we can find such places that children can learn happy and follow though what they study...

BTW, unflappable_chicken, could you introduce your good NAFA teacher to me...

[MummyFlo]

Thanks unflappable_chicken.


Could you also extend the contacts of your good NAFA teacher too tks!

[miltonia]

unflappable_chicken:

hello;D

actually i'm not a parent, but a student myself.
I happened to chance upon this website and when I saw some of these forum posts, I really wanted to say something based on a student's pov.

I'm thirteen this year, and I was from NAFA (I left 4 years ago)
I went into NAFA when I was in pri.1, having learnt piano for only about a year, my parents brought me there to try for grade 2 piano.
I'm not sure why you brought your kids to NAFA, but for my parents, that was because my earlier piano tchr moved hse & it was troublesome for us to go there. Thus, my parents wanted to look for a new piano tchr & they heard that NAFA had gd tchrs.

anyway, so I tried for the test & in my opinion, flunked the test really badly- I don't really remember well (i was only pri 1 back then) but I guess I did well for the playing section & the sight reading one, though I completely failed the aural section because I just can't sing...even when I did my grade 8 two years ago, I still failed my aural section.

However, much to my surprise, I got into NAFA!
nevertheless, life in NAFA wasn't a bed of roses for me starting then, and I found it to be very stressful. I wasn't the type who would practise piano for 4-5 hours a day nor was I gifted/talented in music. I remember attending additional theory lessons & aural lessons outside of those provided by NAFA as I couldnt cope with them. and certainly the terrible memories of crying my hearts out after being reprimanded & shamed at masterclasses. but no, I was not a crybaby, I just couldnt stand e shame at being scolded by the principal in front of everyone.

eventually, after failing my aural tests quite a no. of times, and getting warning letters (yes, nafa gives warning letters to those who are not performing well), my parents & I decided to leave NAFA when I was in pri.4.
Luckily, I had a gd tchr in NAFA whom I continued lessons with until I finished grd 8 in pri.6. Currently, I am continuing my diploma course with another tchr (also from NAFA) after stopping e lessons during e PSLE period last year.

Okay, so why I am sharing this 1st hand experience here?
I guess it's because I really want parents to reconsider about what choices they make for their kids- even if it's for their own gd, you may say.
for me, I'm really glad that my parents arent kiasu parents, and they would let me try things I wanna do, and they would stop me in time if they realise that I'm struggling (such as the case in NAFA) perhaps that's why I would think I'm doing okay in both my academic and other pursuits.
yes, I would encourage you to let your child try for nafa- if he/she has the talent in music/ she is willing to work really hard. but if he/she doesn't meet the criteria, dn force him/her. Afterall, isn't learning piano supposed to cultivate a good sense of music appreciation- it's supposed to be something that one shld enjoy.
Right now, I still have friends in NAFA who persevered until diploma, but honestly the no. is very little.
oh, just some last words-- the tchrs in NAFA are gd, but some tchrs (fortunately not mine) are very strict & fierce- they r known to smack their students' hands shld they not play well. Yes, there is a chinese proverb that says gd students come frm strict tchrs, but I kind of think that some tchrs are too strict to cultivate any gd sense of music appreciation in students. Also, some tchrs in NAFA focus too much on the technical aspect of playing that e general feeling of music is lost.

yupp, that's all ;D on my part as a student.
btw, even though i didn't score very well for my grd 8, I still love music

Hi, I'm a mother of two girls. I've just joined the forum and am looking for a good piano teacher for my children. I'm glad to have come across your posting. Thanks for sharing your experience as a NAFA student.

Would you be kind enough to recommend me the NAFA teacher whom you've been learning from? I'm not a pianist myself, but I hope at least to provide my children with a good learning environment.

Thank you.