All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[Dreamaurora]

pianoprincess:

Dear Dreamaurora,


Fantastic concert you had! I was particularly impressed by Yi Han's rendition of Burgmuller . Light, pretty and good finger dexterity. Bravo to you and your students!

Thank you for your kind comment, pianoprincess. The students all worked hard for the concert and they deserved the credit. I will be sure to pass any compliments to them.

[auleelau]

u guys should find a chance to take a look at how nafa syt kids perform. I happened to sit it a masterclass to support friend’s daughter. they are really performing.

[phankao]

auleelau:

u guys should find a chance to take a look at how nafa syt kids perform. I happened to sit it a masterclass to support friend's daughter. they are really performing.

Like this? Youtube quite a number of videos.
http://youtu.be/fIthX-Z4cBU

[Dreamaurora]

auleelau:

u guys should find a chance to take a look at how nafa syt kids perform. I happened to sit it a masterclass to support friend's daughter. they are really performing.

I do genuinely admire these kids and their parents from SYT because to be able to perform at this level requires an extraordinary level of commitment and efforts. I think watching other children or students performing at higher level can be great motivational boost and I do encourage my students' parents to bring their kids to watch as many of these performances as possible.

But I have to say that these kids from SYT are really in the minority. Not all kids will have the desire and capability to achieve that high standard of playing. And not all teachers will have the necessary support system similar to NAFA to groom confident performers. And in SYT, it is a necessity to able to perform well, otherwise the kid will be relegated from the course.

So to say that only NAFA SYT students are really performing, it's kind like saying only Vettel, Hamilton or Webber are really racing in F1. I think both teachers and parents can recognise that any student willing to put themselves through the intense pressure and scrutiny that is present in a performance deserves respect and encouragement. I believe insisting only the best playing and high level of confidence at the expense of enjoyment and opportunity to share music will only lead to discouragement. This is why I encourage all my students, no matter what their skill levels are, to participate in as many performances as possible. Whether their performances will be as successful as expected do not really matter, what matter is they develop their confidence and enjoy the process of sharing their music to others.

[sacredmusicals]

Dreamaurora,


Congratulations on your successful concert and happy new year. You are a good model for other teachers to follow. Your sharing here and elsewhere have been invaluable improving my teaching. Im sure your parents are proud of what you have accomplished.

[sacredmusicals]

Dreamaurora:

auleelau:

u guys should find a chance to take a look at how nafa syt kids perform. I happened to sit it a masterclass to support friend's daughter. they are really performing.

I do genuinely admire these kids and their parents from SYT because to be able to perform at this level requires an extraordinary level of commitment and efforts. I think watching other children or students performing at higher level can be great motivational boost and I do encourage my students' parents to bring their kids to watch as many of these performances as possible.

But I have to say that these kids from SYT are really in the minority. Not all kids will have the desire and capability to achieve that high standard of playing. And not all teachers will have the necessary support system similar to NAFA to groom confident performers. And in SYT, it is a necessity to able to perform well, otherwise the kid will be relegated from the course.

So to say that only NAFA SYT students are really performing, it's kind like saying only Vettel, Hamilton or Webber are really racing in F1. I think both teachers and parents can recognise that any student willing to put themselves through the intense pressure and scrutiny that is present in a performance deserves respect and encouragement. I believe insisting only the best playing and high level of confidence at the expense of enjoyment and opportunity to share music will only lead to discouragement. This is why I encourage all my students, no matter what their skill levels are, to participate in as many performances as possible. Whether their performances will be as successful as expected do not really matter, what matter is they develop their confidence and enjoy the process of sharing their music to others.

I talked to a parent whose child was emotionally damaged after being expelled from SYT. The boy thought he had put in his best, but his standard is not enough to pass the internal exams. The mom said the boy could not understand why and he refused to learn the piano further. I guess there is always a darker side behind all the success stories we see.

[Dreamaurora]

sacredmusicals:

Dreamaurora,


Congratulations on your successful concert and happy new year. You are a good model for other teachers to follow. Your sharing here and elsewhere have been invaluable improving my teaching. Im sure your parents are proud of what you have accomplished.

Dear sacredmusicals,

thank you for your kind comment. I really appreciate it. You think too highly of me. Looking back at 2012, I made some poor decisions in my teaching that had less than pleasant results. But I guess we all learn from our mistakes. Hopefully this year I could improve the quality of my teaching further and not repeat the same mistakes I did last year.

My parents are still not proud of what I'm doing, but nothing I do now will change their mind. Latest thing they told me was they were upset that I am not earning the superscale salary of above $10K per month that their friends' children are supposedly earning now. But who cares? Happy new year to you too.

[Dreamaurora]

sacredmusicals:

Dreamaurora:

[quote=\"auleelau\"]u guys should find a chance to take a look at how nafa syt kids perform. I happened to sit it a masterclass to support friend's daughter. they are really performing.

I do genuinely admire these kids and their parents from SYT because to be able to perform at this level requires an extraordinary level of commitment and efforts. I think watching other children or students performing at higher level can be great motivational boost and I do encourage my students' parents to bring their kids to watch as many of these performances as possible.

But I have to say that these kids from SYT are really in the minority. Not all kids will have the desire and capability to achieve that high standard of playing. And not all teachers will have the necessary support system similar to NAFA to groom confident performers. And in SYT, it is a necessity to able to perform well, otherwise the kid will be relegated from the course.

So to say that only NAFA SYT students are really performing, it's kind like saying only Vettel, Hamilton or Webber are really racing in F1. I think both teachers and parents can recognise that any student willing to put themselves through the intense pressure and scrutiny that is present in a performance deserves respect and encouragement. I believe insisting only the best playing and high level of confidence at the expense of enjoyment and opportunity to share music will only lead to discouragement. This is why I encourage all my students, no matter what their skill levels are, to participate in as many performances as possible. Whether their performances will be as successful as expected do not really matter, what matter is they develop their confidence and enjoy the process of sharing their music to others.

I talked to a parent whose child was emotionally damaged after being expelled from SYT. The boy thought he had put in his best, but his standard is not enough to pass the internal exams. The mom said the boy could not understand why and he refused to learn the piano further. I guess there is always a darker side behind all the success stories we see.[/quote]Well, the parents should know what they were getting into when they signed up the boy for SYT. In life even if we put in our best effort, we may not get the recognition we deserve. Such as the way life works.

[auleelau]

Dreamaurora:

So to say that only NAFA SYT students are really performing, it's kind like saying only Vettel, Hamilton or Webber are really racing in F1. .

I don't think this is valid. 99.9% of children here in Singapore are not playing piano like V, H, or W racing in F1. Those studying in nafa syt are also schooling normally.

[Dreamaurora]

auleelau:

Dreamaurora:

So to say that only NAFA SYT students are really performing, it's kind like saying only Vettel, Hamilton or Webber are really racing in F1. .

I don't think this is valid. 99.9% of children here in Singapore are not playing piano like V, H, or W racing in F1. Those studying in nafa syt are also schooling normally.

They are similar to 99% of other children in that they are schooling normally. But in terms of capabilities and training they receive they definitely differ from most other piano students in Singapore. SYT selection process already weeds out those with weaker or average music foundation, and the internal exams serve to further filter the students more. They have arguably better trained teachers and more frequent opportunity to perform. So when you see these kids perform well in masterclasses and concerts, they are testament to what can happen when strong innate capabilities are coupled with good support system.

Most other Singapore students will not have the luxury to undergo similar system. Not many teacher even bother to organise annual concerts for their students. And most teachers definitely will not be able to have similar stock of students as NAFA SYT because most cannot be so choosy in accepting students. I think among my students I can at most consider 4 or 5 students as having the same capabilities as NAFA SYT students. But this does not really matter. As long they are passionate and eager to share their music, I should not hold them back.