All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers
-
Imami:
Don't think there are any hard and fast rules. Generally, a young beginner would start off with 30 minutes with one-on-one lessons. For those kids that I know, most start with 30 minutes and gradually to 45 minutes until grade 5.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
Duration of a lesson will most probably depend on the student's level of concentration. The teacher would advise accordingly if there is need for longer duration.
In my case, both my kids began their 1-hour long lessons before P1 upon my request. I find 30 minutes too short for them. With 1 hour, the teachers could introduce more songs as well as go into greater details on each piece. -
Rates depend on various factors - duration, experience, qualification and reputation of the teacher and also whether your teacher is traveling to your place. Generally grade 2 rates can range from $160 onwards for 45 mins lesson.
As to duration, depends largely on the child’s age and at times the grade. The teacher also plays a role - how much does the teacher want to cover, is it including theory? Including musicianship every lesson? The more it covers then by right a longer duration -
Thanks weiyean, Metz and jce!
An update. My little one is happy with his lessons, much more than my expectation. The teacher seems happy with him too except that she has to keep reminding him to keep his left hand on his lap.
When shown pictures of other instruments, she was pleasantly surprised that my son could name them. When asked to name the jnstrument after listening to a recording, he could name the instruments correctly.
what’s the significance of the above? I am curious. I vaguely remember reading from posts that listening skill is also impt for learning a musical instrument.
After 3 lessons, the teacher is asking us to do 45min lessons. That was what prompted me to think about the factors that could lengthen the duration of the lesson.
At the end of the 3rd lesson, teacher’s comment was,"watch the wrist and curl those fingers." -
Naming the instruments may well be to test how knowledgable or widely read the child is. To listen and identify the instruments is a test of whether the child can hear the differences btw distinct sounds. This is the start of listening. Similarly the child can be tested on pitches (high and low); notes going ascending and descending; notes going step and skip etc as means of testing the sensitivity of their hearing
-
jce:
Naming the instruments may well be to test how knowledgable or widely read the child is. To listen and identify the instruments is a test of whether the child can hear the differences btw distinct sounds. This is the start of listening. Similarly the child can be tested on pitches (high and low); notes going ascending and descending; notes going step and skip etc as means of testing the sensitivity of their hearing
Thanks for the explanation, jce. Another curious question – why would a piano teacher want to test how knowledgeable or widely read the child is?
Now that you mention, actually the teacher also tested on simple math. My son is given a numeral and then he has to pick different notes with different counts which total up to the same as the numeral. Erm something like this: numeral given: 13. He has to pick 1 crotchet (1 x 1 note) + 2 semibreve (2 x 4 notes) + 1 minim ( 1 x 2 notes).
These (being knowledgeable, reading widely and having good arithmetic skills) are of course good attributes. But are all these important to learning piano? erm… I cant see the correlation…
Oh yes, the teacher did test on notes going ascending and descending, skipping or step etc. Sometimes, he needs to close his eyes and listen. This part is quite clear to me – these are training his listening skills.
Jce, in case you do not know – I do not have any music background. Just another hopeful mum who wish to introduce music to her child. Because of the lack of knowledge, I may ask really silly questions (to most music folks). -
The numerical bit has to do with theory.
As for a wide knowledge, I guess it’s just general musical knowledge, not so much a "test". If the kid doesn’t know then I guess the teacher will teach him to increase his musical knowledge. That is how I see it. Different teachers have different methods -
Hi Imami,
How old is your son? Sounds like the teacher is doing a great job introducing aural and music theory to your son.
Actually music theory has a lot to do with arithmetic. I guess the teacher is probably trying to gauge the level of understanding of arithmetic, to determine how fast or slow to introduce music concepts. I recall my daughter was also shown flash cards with the various kind of notes, and was taught the concept of fractions when she was starting to learn music theory.
She was also asked by the teacher to create a scrapbook of composers and the various instruments just to build up her knowledge. I guess these music appreciation activities makes it fun for the young child to learn music. -
Imami:
It reminds me of my son's very first piano teacher. She was teaching him theory as well as reading music notes. For instance, if the child sees a minim, he should hold the piano key twice as long as the crotchet. Hence 1 minim = 2 crotchets/notes. A dotted minim = 3 crotchets/notes etc; basically, she tried making it like something fun. She even gave stickers as rewards.
Now that you mention, actually the teacher also tested on simple math. My son is given a numeral and then he has to pick different notes with different counts which total up to the same as the numeral. Erm something like this: numeral given: 13. He has to pick 1 crotchet (1 x 1 note) + 2 semibreve (2 x 4 notes) + 1 minim ( 1 x 2 notes).
However, both my son and I didn't like this style of teaching. My then K1 son felt silly cos it was going too slow for his liking. For me, I didn't like how the teacher split the 30 minutes - 15 minutes on practical and 15 minutes on theory. I felt the time could be better used on practical. We stopped after two months of lessons, though she was a very patient and nice teacher.
Perhaps that's why your teacher wanted 45 minutes so that she can do more with your ds? Has your son progressed to playing notes with both hands yet?
The part on wrist and curling fingers is a problem majority of the kids have to look out for as their hands are not strong yet. If the child does not make it a habit to curl fingers, it might pose a problem playing higher level pieces in future. -
metz:
Jon Schmidt of Piano Guys plays with flat fingers. He can play very very fast, altho' you can see it's not that refined (unlike the cellist Steve's technique). But....he makes LOTS of money! ;D
The part on wrist and curling fingers is a problem majority of the kids have to look out for as their hands are not strong yet. If the child does not make it a habit to curl fingers, it might pose a problem playing higher level pieces in future.
Enjoy the music. I do think just reminding is fine. Don't stress over it. Eventulaly they mature and suddenly their fingers are all curved! ALtho' there are kids that seem to just be *born* with naturally curved fingers!!! (Often they are children of pianists trs! haha). -
phankao:
He's different, got his own charm what.
Jon Schmidt of Piano Guys plays with flat fingers. He can play very very fast, altho' you can see it's not that refined (unlike the cellist Steve's technique). But....he makes LOTS of money! ;Dmetz:
The part on wrist and curling fingers is a problem majority of the kids have to look out for as their hands are not strong yet. If the child does not make it a habit to curl fingers, it might pose a problem playing higher level pieces in future.
Enjoy the music. I do think just reminding is fine. Don't stress over it. Eventulaly they mature and suddenly their fingers are all curved! ALtho' there are kids that seem to just be *born* with naturally curved fingers!!! (Often they are children of pianists trs! haha).
Flat fingers are fine. In fact, certain pieces sound more melodic with flatter fingers instead of curved ones.
But for young children, it's better to make a habit (through reminders) to curl the fingers. Otherwise, the fingers tend to bend inwards (not just flat). The sound produced with such fingers will affect the music. (Or perhaps, it's just my piano teacher. For my daughter, she would often show her how properly curved fingers can produce brighter and clearer sounds.)
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login