All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[phankao]

kat_pixie:

Hi, I'm new here, recently i enrolled my son to Aureus Academy. Have anyone send their child there for lessons before?


My son is 3 years old and turning 4 years old in April. Is it too young for him to start learning piano?

You haven't started lessons there yet?

[kat_pixie]

I sent him for the trial class last saturday and sign him up for the piano class. I am a bit clueless if it is too young for him to start learning a musical instrument although the teacher did said he can start learning piano.

[reiner]

so its a 1-to-1 piano lesson??

[kat_pixie]

yup.

[violet04]

kat_pixie:

yup.

Hi,
Wonder what does he learnt for the 1st lesson?

[reiner]

how much is the course fee? the tr on trial is the same as the tr giving the lesson?

[Dreamaurora]

kat_pixie:

I sent him for the trial class last saturday and sign him up for the piano class. I am a bit clueless if it is too young for him to start learning a musical instrument although the teacher did said he can start learning piano.

It's quite rare to find a 3/4 year olds who can start one-to-one lessons. My take-up rate for this age group is very low and I have advised many parents of children whom I assessed to start the kids in appreciation classes instead first.

What I'm looking for and assess before considering to teach a 3/4 year old kid:

1. Can sit still and concentrate for at least half an hour?
2. Can clap in time, sing reasonably in tune?
3. Can tell if the note played on the piano is higher or lower from previous one?
4. Can identify mistakes in simple songs like Twinkle Little Star?
5. Can tell apart the difference between a step and a skip on the score?
6. Can understand basic instructions e.g. sing just the first sentence of Twinkle Little Star?

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

kat_pixie:

I sent him for the trial class last saturday and sign him up for the piano class. I am a bit clueless if it is too young for him to start learning a musical instrument although the teacher did said he can start learning piano.

It's quite rare to find a 3/4 year olds who can start one-to-one lessons. My take-up rate for this age group is very low and I have advised many parents of children whom I assessed to start the kids in appreciation classes instead first.

What I'm looking for and assess before considering to teach a 3/4 year old kid:

1. Can sit still and concentrate for at least half an hour?
2. Can clap in time, sing reasonably in tune?
3. Can tell if the note played on the piano is higher or lower from previous one?
4. Can identify mistakes in simple songs like Twinkle Little Star?
5. Can tell apart the difference between a step and a skip on the score?
6. Can understand basic instructions e.g. sing just the first sentence of Twinkle Little Star?

Interesting. When I sent my youngest for trial piano lesson, I was assessing the teacher and her interaction with my child. Didn't think the teacher was assessing my child too. haha. To this day, my boy remembers I sent him for that piano trial lesson when he was 2yrs old (he was a month short of 3).

I'm afraid he doesn't sit still in ALL lessons. Like all little children, there are days when he will be tired, etc. But on the whole, I'm satisfied lah.

[kat_pixie]

hi,


I guess the teacher was accessing son on the following (I guess):
1) sitting and following instructions for 30 minutes
2) associating the tune played by the teacher if it is a happy or sad song
3) if my son can recognise the song such as twinkle twinkle little stars, baa baa black sheep, mary had a little lamb

The trial class is free to access the suitability of the child if he or she should join the group music appreciation class or he or she can start learning piano

[Imami]

Dreamaurora:

What I'm looking for and assess before considering to teach a 3/4 year old kid:

1. Can sit still and concentrate for at least half an hour?
2. Can clap in time, sing reasonably in tune?
3. Can tell if the note played on the piano is higher or lower from previous one?
4. Can identify mistakes in simple songs like Twinkle Little Star?
5. Can tell apart the difference between a step and a skip on the score?
6. Can understand basic instructions e.g. sing just the first sentence of Twinkle Little Star?

If I had sent my little one at (age 4) to Dreamaurora, he would have been rejected because he couldn’t do #1 to #3 and #5! For #4 and #6, I am not very sure if he could do it at age 5…. Even now at age 5, he couldn’t do #1 for sure. Haha.

By the way, what’s #5 - difference between a step and a skip on the score?

Phankao:

Interesting. When I sent my youngest for trial piano lesson, I was assessing the teacher and her interaction with my child. Didn't think the teacher was assessing my child too. haha. To this day, my boy remembers I sent him for that piano trial lesson when he was 2yrs old (he was a month short of 3).

I'm afraid he doesn't sit still in ALL lessons. Like all little children, there are days when he will be tired, etc. But on the whole, I'm satisfied lah.

Ha, me too! As I didn’t know which teacher/school would be better than the other, I deemed them equal. What I was looking for was whether the teacher could connect with my son, come down to his level of understanding, accept what he is like (e.g. inquisitive, asking a lot of questions) and how she/he could respond and work around it (not every teacher can handle kids who question their instructions and my little one is a feisty little fellow who would not hesitate to question the teacher’s instructions. He’s not exactly defiant, he just needed to see the relevance).