All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[Daddy D]

Imami:

Hello people!


Just to check, 1 hour is the max for beginners right? Usually, for an average beginner at preschool age, how soon do they progress from 45min to 1 hr?

I am a little concerned if it's a little too fast for my little one? He started in august with 30min. It took about 3 lessons to go to 45min and come oct, he would be doing 1hr. The teacher thinks he is ready and would be able to last that long (concentration level).

I don't want to sound like I doubt her professional judgement but I am curious - lesson duration is extended so frequently and so soon?

U pay more $ for 1 hour? :siam:
You can also sit in during the lesson to have a better understanding.
My kid's teacher always let us sit in... Basically for us to follow up with our kid better after classes.
Not sure if it's a common practice.

[Dreamaurora]

Daddy

Imami:

Hello people!


Just to check, 1 hour is the max for beginners right? Usually, for an average beginner at preschool age, how soon do they progress from 45min to 1 hr?

I am a little concerned if it's a little too fast for my little one? He started in august with 30min. It took about 3 lessons to go to 45min and come oct, he would be doing 1hr. The teacher thinks he is ready and would be able to last that long (concentration level).

I don't want to sound like I doubt her professional judgement but I am curious - lesson duration is extended so frequently and so soon?

U pay more $ for 1 hour? :siam:
You can also sit in during the lesson to have a better understanding.
My kid's teacher always let us sit in... Basically for us to follow up with our kid better after classes.
Not sure if it's a common practice.

Of course must pay more $ for 1 hour, but of course will progress faster also because the teacher can go through more stuff.

Most private teachers will allow parents to sit in, though obviously on the condition that the parents do not interfere with the lessons. Most music schools do not allow because they don't want the parents to liaise directly with the teachers i.e. don't want teachers to steal the students.

[kathyh]

Is your kid in?


I heard all prize winners are from nafa, is that true? this is awesome!

Just wonder how to be qualified to enter this kind of competition? Need to be able to play very difficult songs or whatever?

waiyean:

kathyh:

anybody knows the final results of the Yamaha piano competition held last Saturday?

The results are posted on the Yamaha Piano Competition 2013 website.
http://sg.yamaha.com/en/news_events/events/piano_competition_2013/

Did anyone's kid take part in this competition?

[waiyean]

Hi Kathyh,

NAFA won the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in both senior and open category. Overall, 9 out of 12 of the prize winners across the 4 categories were NAFA students.

Anyone can register to take part in the competition. There seems to be many participants this year, with representative from most music schools. The heats and semi-finals were closed competition, only the final's performance was opened to the public.

I think being able to play the pieces well is more important than being able to play very difficult ones. Very subjective though... it's not black and white.

kathyh:

Is your kid in?

I heard all prize winners are from nafa, is that true? this is awesome!

Just wonder how to be qualified to enter this kind of competition? Need to be able to play very difficult songs or whatever?

waiyean:

[quote=\"kathyh\"]anybody knows the final results of the Yamaha piano competition held last Saturday?

The results are posted on the Yamaha Piano Competition 2013 website.
http://sg.yamaha.com/en/news_events/events/piano_competition_2013/

Did anyone's kid take part in this competition?

[/quote]

[kathyh]

Understand every body can attend, but who can be shortlisted? pieces are exam pieces or what?


if Nafa is so dominant, then I guess there is really no point for students from other music school to attend liao …

does it mean no matter how hard working other students are , still cannot compete with nafa studnets?

[jce]

Not true. I know some non NAFA students in the final.


There’s an external judge shortlisting the finalists, normally one of the abrsm examiners. The piece to be played at the heat is a current exam piece. You will also need to submit the piece you intend to play alongside the exam piece, if you get into the finals, upon submission. The latter has to be carefully and thoughtfully chosen as I believe it somewhat affects whether you stand a chance in going to the final. That’s my guess after sending a number of students in.

[waiyean]

jce:

You will also need to submit the piece you intend to play alongside the exam piece, if you get into the finals, upon submission. The latter has to be carefully and thoughtfully chosen as I believe it somewhat affects whether you stand a chance in going to the final. That's my guess after sending a number of students in.

Although the application form did ask for the choice piece, it is not a requirement to submit it upon application. In fact I overheard the organizers asking many of the semifinalists for their piece during the semifinals itself. I guess the organisers just want to vet through the pieces to make sure it is not too simple / unsuitable for that category. The panel of judges during the finals are different from the heats and semifinals.

Kathyh, taking part in competitions is beneficial from the experience gained, whether or not the child wins.

[phankao]

kathyh:

Understand every body can attend, but who can be shortlisted? pieces are exam pieces or what?


if Nafa is so dominant, then I guess there is really no point for students from other music school to attend liao ...

does it mean no matter how hard working other students are , still cannot compete with nafa studnets?

The criteria on pieces and which category and stages of competition was all stated on the application form and the yamaha website - still viewable now. The junior category is for grades 1 to 3. So just join the category for your child's standard and would be fine lor. No need to be NAFA student!

.

[phankao]

jce:

Not true. I know some non NAFA students in the final.


There's an external judge shortlisting the finalists, normally one of the abrsm examiners. The piece to be played at the heat is a current exam piece. You will also need to submit the piece you intend to play alongside the exam piece, if you get into the finals, upon submission. The latter has to be carefully and thoughtfully chosen as I believe it somewhat affects whether you stand a chance in going to the final. That's my guess after sending a number of students in.

If you don't want to go competitive, then join a music festival. This year alone, there's already at least 2 such festivals (maybe more) in Singapore. In June, there was the Piano & Violin Festival which accorded Gold/Silver/Bronze Medals based on the participants' performances, and in November, there's the Ars Nova Fest <http://mwem.asia/News--and--Event.php> which will also accord Gold/Silver Bronze with some additional trophies perhaps, I think - not quite sure exactly how many - but I know this one is for ANY instrument except for Drums & Voice.
.

[metz]

phankao:

If you don't want to go competitive, then join a music festival. This year alone, there's already at least 2 such festivals (maybe more) in Singapore. In June, there was the Piano & Violin Festival which accorded Gold/Silver/Bronze Medals based on the participants' performances, and in November, there's the Ars Nova Fest <http://mwem.asia/News--and--Event.php> which will also accord Gold/Silver Bronze with some additional trophies perhaps, I think - not quite sure exactly how many - but I know this one is for ANY instrument except for Drums & Voice.
.

Can share more on these music festivals? How can we find out more about these festivals?