All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[phankao]

classymadame:

Dear fellow parents,


I just want to rant about my DD’s current piano teacher. I feel frustrated at recent developments and seriously considering a new teacher. My DD is 7 years old. She auditioned for NAFA when she was 6 and got rejected. I was very disappointed but I believed my DD was very capable. My DD does not really enjoy playing piano, but I believe that she should be equipped with the best instruction so she can excel. I then began to look for a teacher who could provide standards equivalent to NAFA’s. I was recommended a teacher who supposedly one of the better ones and had track record of churning out distinction holders. I did contact a few ‘branded’ teachers but they said they did not take in lower grade students or beginners. So, I settled for this teacher. The first shock came during the first performance class that she organized for her students in our first month of lessons. There were very impressive students comparable to NAFA’s, but majority of her students actually played average. I talked to the parents and seemed like only 40% who had taken exams with this teacher scored distinctions. The rest scored mostly merits or passes. This teacher seemed incapable of maintaining standards across the board.

During lessons, I began to realize that she was not as critical as I expected. I sat in the lessons and I made it clear to the teacher that I expect my DD not to score lower than distinction. However, I notice she was not that particular about mistakes and often did not correct all the mistakes. She was also very easy with praises and often would praise sub-standard playing. I do not play any instrument myself, but I know when I heard a lousy playing. When I pressed her, she said she was aware of the mistakes but she said she did not want to overwhelm my DD too much. Granted, I am aware my DD easily get emotional and frustrated, but I wanted her to excel in piano to develop her discipline and to boost her confidence. I often had to ask her why she did not fix some of the obvious mistakes I heard, and only then she would fix those mistakes.

I decided to register my DD for grade 3 ABRSM this coming March. The teacher was actually against this idea as she said she wanted my DD to have more time to fix her technique and other things like sight-reading first. But I insisted because my DD was lagging behind and the exam would make her practice. Despite her reluctance, she agreed to enter DD for grade 3 after I assured her that I would make her practice very diligently. My DD admittedly was not really diligent in practice and a lot of things were not completed on schedule. But her teacher seemed content with the progress and did not scold or punish her. She pushed the blame to me, saying that I should have helped more with practice. I did try my best to get my DD to practice, but she would often just sat in front of the piano and refused to correct the mistakes I asked her. DD would then quarrel with me saying that teacher liked her playing and would proceed to tinker with the easy Disney songs the teacher assigned her for sight-reading instead. Exam is 2 weeks later and so far DD did manage to finish all the scales and songs, but with slips here and there. My DD still could not play all the 3 songs perfectly without any mistakes. Teacher said at most DD could only score at best a merit or a pass after considering all the other sections. Teacher said she was satisfied with the effort my DD has put in considering her current ability and said she was proud of her no matter how my DD would do in exam. I was very angry when I heard her said that. I specifically employed her because I wanted my DD to get a distinction, but now this is almost impossible.

Sorry for the long rant. If anybody has a recommendation on a teacher with much better track record of excellence. Do PM me.

I'd be suspicious if the teacher can promise all distinctions.

[Dreamaurora]

phankao:

classymadame:

Dear fellow parents,


I just want to rant about my DD’s current piano teacher. I feel frustrated at recent developments and seriously considering a new teacher. My DD is 7 years old. She auditioned for NAFA when she was 6 and got rejected. I was very disappointed but I believed my DD was very capable. My DD does not really enjoy playing piano, but I believe that she should be equipped with the best instruction so she can excel. I then began to look for a teacher who could provide standards equivalent to NAFA’s. I was recommended a teacher who supposedly one of the better ones and had track record of churning out distinction holders. I did contact a few ‘branded’ teachers but they said they did not take in lower grade students or beginners. So, I settled for this teacher. The first shock came during the first performance class that she organized for her students in our first month of lessons. There were very impressive students comparable to NAFA’s, but majority of her students actually played average. I talked to the parents and seemed like only 40% who had taken exams with this teacher scored distinctions. The rest scored mostly merits or passes. This teacher seemed incapable of maintaining standards across the board.

During lessons, I began to realize that she was not as critical as I expected. I sat in the lessons and I made it clear to the teacher that I expect my DD not to score lower than distinction. However, I notice she was not that particular about mistakes and often did not correct all the mistakes. She was also very easy with praises and often would praise sub-standard playing. I do not play any instrument myself, but I know when I heard a lousy playing. When I pressed her, she said she was aware of the mistakes but she said she did not want to overwhelm my DD too much. Granted, I am aware my DD easily get emotional and frustrated, but I wanted her to excel in piano to develop her discipline and to boost her confidence. I often had to ask her why she did not fix some of the obvious mistakes I heard, and only then she would fix those mistakes.

I decided to register my DD for grade 3 ABRSM this coming March. The teacher was actually against this idea as she said she wanted my DD to have more time to fix her technique and other things like sight-reading first. But I insisted because my DD was lagging behind and the exam would make her practice. Despite her reluctance, she agreed to enter DD for grade 3 after I assured her that I would make her practice very diligently. My DD admittedly was not really diligent in practice and a lot of things were not completed on schedule. But her teacher seemed content with the progress and did not scold or punish her. She pushed the blame to me, saying that I should have helped more with practice. I did try my best to get my DD to practice, but she would often just sat in front of the piano and refused to correct the mistakes I asked her. DD would then quarrel with me saying that teacher liked her playing and would proceed to tinker with the easy Disney songs the teacher assigned her for sight-reading instead. Exam is 2 weeks later and so far DD did manage to finish all the scales and songs, but with slips here and there. My DD still could not play all the 3 songs perfectly without any mistakes. Teacher said at most DD could only score at best a merit or a pass after considering all the other sections. Teacher said she was satisfied with the effort my DD has put in considering her current ability and said she was proud of her no matter how my DD would do in exam. I was very angry when I heard her said that. I specifically employed her because I wanted my DD to get a distinction, but now this is almost impossible.

Sorry for the long rant. If anybody has a recommendation on a teacher with much better track record of excellence. Do PM me.

I'd be suspicious if the teacher can promise all distinctions.

I don't think 'branded' teachers can even promise 100% pass and distinction rates. Some of my ex teachers who are quite celebrated in the field could not even claim that. They had their fair shares of students who tanked Diplomas and grade 8s. I also had the privilege of accessing the late Lucien Wang's (Ong Lip Tat's teacher) students' exam records during the course of my thesis on her. She like any other teachers had distinctions, merits, passes, and fails distributed across her students. But all her ex students I spoke to recalled tales of passionate and encouraging teacher who instilled in them lifelong love of music, and I think at the end of the day that was what really matters.

The only way to ensure almost 100% distinction chance is to ensure the student is already performing at merit/distinction level by the time the student is registered. For most cases this means all the pieces and scales are done by the time the exam is registered. But alas, I often had to work with limitations e.g. student entering exam earlier by half a year so won't clash with PSLE. In this case as long the students are realistic about what they could achieve in exams, normally I will relent.

[Dreamaurora]

classymadame:

Dear fellow parents,


I just want to rant about my DD’s current piano teacher. I feel frustrated at recent developments and seriously considering a new teacher. My DD is 7 years old. She auditioned for NAFA when she was 6 and got rejected. I was very disappointed but I believed my DD was very capable. My DD does not really enjoy playing piano, but I believe that she should be equipped with the best instruction so she can excel. I then began to look for a teacher who could provide standards equivalent to NAFA’s. I was recommended a teacher who supposedly one of the better ones and had track record of churning out distinction holders. I did contact a few ‘branded’ teachers but they said they did not take in lower grade students or beginners. So, I settled for this teacher. The first shock came during the first performance class that she organized for her students in our first month of lessons. There were very impressive students comparable to NAFA’s, but majority of her students actually played average. I talked to the parents and seemed like only 40% who had taken exams with this teacher scored distinctions. The rest scored mostly merits or passes. This teacher seemed incapable of maintaining standards across the board.

During lessons, I began to realize that she was not as critical as I expected. I sat in the lessons and I made it clear to the teacher that I expect my DD not to score lower than distinction. However, I notice she was not that particular about mistakes and often did not correct all the mistakes. She was also very easy with praises and often would praise sub-standard playing. I do not play any instrument myself, but I know when I heard a lousy playing. When I pressed her, she said she was aware of the mistakes but she said she did not want to overwhelm my DD too much. Granted, I am aware my DD easily get emotional and frustrated, but I wanted her to excel in piano to develop her discipline and to boost her confidence. I often had to ask her why she did not fix some of the obvious mistakes I heard, and only then she would fix those mistakes.

I decided to register my DD for grade 3 ABRSM this coming March. The teacher was actually against this idea as she said she wanted my DD to have more time to fix her technique and other things like sight-reading first. But I insisted because my DD was lagging behind and the exam would make her practice. Despite her reluctance, she agreed to enter DD for grade 3 after I assured her that I would make her practice very diligently. My DD admittedly was not really diligent in practice and a lot of things were not completed on schedule. But her teacher seemed content with the progress and did not scold or punish her. She pushed the blame to me, saying that I should have helped more with practice. I did try my best to get my DD to practice, but she would often just sat in front of the piano and refused to correct the mistakes I asked her. DD would then quarrel with me saying that teacher liked her playing and would proceed to tinker with the easy Disney songs the teacher assigned her for sight-reading instead. Exam is 2 weeks later and so far DD did manage to finish all the scales and songs, but with slips here and there. My DD still could not play all the 3 songs perfectly without any mistakes. Teacher said at most DD could only score at best a merit or a pass after considering all the other sections. Teacher said she was satisfied with the effort my DD has put in considering her current ability and said she was proud of her no matter how my DD would do in exam. I was very angry when I heard her said that. I specifically employed her because I wanted my DD to get a distinction, but now this is almost impossible.

Sorry for the long rant. If anybody has a recommendation on a teacher with much better track record of excellence. Do PM me.

Speaking from perspective of a teacher, I can't push a student beyond what he/she is willing to accomplish. I myself is similar to the teacher you have described above in that only 30%-40% of my students populations have scored distinctions. Getting almost 100% distinction rate I know may make a teacher feel spectacular, but that is not why I teach.

I teach to impart lifelong passion and appreciation for music, that is my main goal as a teacher. Exams are just a tool to help set milestones for learning progress. Of course I want my students when they actually take exams to score distinctions all the time. But I have to accept the fact that not all students will want to push themselves nor have the abilities to achieve that. Pushing students beyond what they want to accomplish may be detrimental to their interest. The last thing I want to hear is my students saying to me that they wanted to stop learning piano because they were so distressed by an exam preparation. If a student manages to score distinction but then proclaimed that he/she does not want to learn anymore, I would be extremely heartbroken.

That is why I have to be sensitive to each student's feeling and motivation level. I cannot run my studio like NAFA in that I filter out the students one by one until only the cream of the crop remain when exam is to be taken. I'm sure you would not want a teacher who will not hesitate to drop your DD when he/she sees that she's not progressing well, right?

To be honest, I see almost nothing wrong with what the teacher did. The teacher did voice her disagreement about your DD taking the exam. She was obviously technically skilled in teaching since by your admission that she had students 'who performed comparably to NAFA's'. Even if a student is talented and motivated, he/she still needs a very good teacher to bring him/her up to that level. Perhaps she adopted the more relaxed approach because she wanted her to enjoy lessons first. But I guess from your tone you are pretty much dead set against this. I just want to say that it goes both ways too. Teachers who are very much particular about maintaining the results would only want students who they feel have drive and ability to achieve that, so even if you do manage to find someone who fits your bill, there's no guarantee that he/she will accept your DD.

[waiyean]

After reading this long post, I still do not know what the teacher did wrong. Sounds like a very reasonable and patient teacher. Nowhere in the post was it mentioned that the teacher promised 100% distinction. Track record of churning distinction holders does not guarantee it, and is highly dependent on capability of the students and efforts put in.


Just try to relax. I understand the stress that parents go through before a piano exam. Parents always are more anxious than the kid who is taking the exam. Any mistakes made just before the exams feels like the end of the world.

I am just thankful that parents are not allowed to sit in during the exams.

[Mum at home]

Hi Phankao,


Can pm me the contact of your tuner.

Thank you.

[Dreamaurora]

waiyean:

After reading this long post, I still do not know what the teacher did wrong. Sounds like a very reasonable and patient teacher. Nowhere in the post was it mentioned that the teacher promised 100% distinction. Track record of churning distinction holders does not guarantee it, and is highly dependent on capability of the students and efforts put in.


Just try to relax. I understand the stress that parents go through before a piano exam. Parents always are more anxious than the kid who is taking the exam. Any mistakes made just before the exams feels like the end of the world.

I am just thankful that parents are not allowed to sit in during the exams.

Yeah lor, I think it's just a mismatch between expectation and reality. I know it's tempting when we see brilliant kids performing on the stage and then thinking that our kids can achieve the same. Basically it's tempting to believe 'if you put your heart to it, you can achieve anything'.

One's natural affinity or 'talent' does play a part in achieving a very high standard in performance. Then must have self-motivation and supportive parents. I guess classymadame was just very anxious, but I just feel that it's not exactly right to blame her current predicaments on the teacher who helped prepare her DD for grade 3 despite not being supportive of the move. If a parent attempts to be more critical than me and overrides my authority, I would seriously consider dropping the student.

Anyway, classymadame, on a more constructive note. Perhaps you can try taking piano lessons yourself too and practice together with your DD? Kids tend to follow after good examples set by their parents. Maybe it will be a better approach.

[classymadame]

waiyean:

After reading this long post, I still do not know what the teacher did wrong. Sounds like a very reasonable and patient teacher. Nowhere in the post was it mentioned that the teacher promised 100% distinction. Track record of churning distinction holders does not guarantee it, and is highly dependent on capability of the students and efforts put in.


Just try to relax. I understand the stress that parents go through before a piano exam. Parents always are more anxious than the kid who is taking the exam. Any mistakes made just before the exams feels like the end of the world.

I am just thankful that parents are not allowed to sit in during the exams.

One of the reasons why I am so pissed off is I was misled about DD’s teacher teaching style. Prior to starting the trial, the teacher allowed me to observe two lessons of her students. She was firm, strict, and had no nonsense approach. I was impressed by the professionalism displayed. The teacher also assessed DD first and she said to me with practice, DD can be trained to achieve distinction, but true, she never promised us distinctions. For the first few lessons, she adopted this no nonsense approach with DD. DD ended up crying at the end of the lessons, but I did not mind as I wanted the teacher to push DD more. But then suddenly from 3rd or 4th lesson onward, the teacher suddenly changed her style and became this extremely patient and encouraging teacher. This is when she started ignoring mistakes DD made and praising DD even though she did not deserve it. I was alarmed and the teacher explained to me that she wanted DD to enjoy lessons and not cried at the end of each lesson. I did not agree with this. If I hire a plumber to fix my toilet, I don’t need him to tell me how nice my toiletries are to make me feel good, I want him to fix my toilet. I hired the teacher to impart a skill to DD, not to make her feel good. My duty as a parent is to ensure DD is well equipped with many skills. I don’t really care if she wants them or not now, she can thank me later when she grows up. I asked the teacher to revert to her initial style with my DD, but she refused, saying that it goes against her principle to do that. I am the paying customer here, shouldn’t she listen to me and accommodate my request? Never mind, lesson learnt, I should have changed teacher before registering DD for her grade 3.

[classymadame]

Dreamaurora:

waiyean:

After reading this long post, I still do not know what the teacher did wrong. Sounds like a very reasonable and patient teacher. Nowhere in the post was it mentioned that the teacher promised 100% distinction. Track record of churning distinction holders does not guarantee it, and is highly dependent on capability of the students and efforts put in.


Just try to relax. I understand the stress that parents go through before a piano exam. Parents always are more anxious than the kid who is taking the exam. Any mistakes made just before the exams feels like the end of the world.

I am just thankful that parents are not allowed to sit in during the exams.

Yeah lor, I think it's just a mismatch between expectation and reality. I know it's tempting when we see brilliant kids performing on the stage and then thinking that our kids can achieve the same. Basically it's tempting to believe 'if you put your heart to it, you can achieve anything'.

One's natural affinity or 'talent' does play a part in achieving a very high standard in performance. Then must have self-motivation and supportive parents. I guess classymadame was just very anxious, but I just feel that it's not exactly right to blame her current predicaments on the teacher who helped prepare her DD for grade 3 despite not being supportive of the move. If a parent attempts to be more critical than me and overrides my authority, I would seriously consider dropping the student.

Anyway, classymadame, on a more constructive note. Perhaps you can try taking piano lessons yourself too and practice together with your DD? Kids tend to follow after good examples set by their parents. Maybe it will be a better approach.

I brought my DD to a few teachers before settling with the current teacher. All of them said DD played well and talented. I know DD can play very well if pushed, just sad that her current teacher refused to unlock DD's potential.

[justmummy90]

Kids have their ups and downs. Some kids have no natural talents but they work hard to achieve good results. Some kids are gifted but they are lazy. Parents should know their own kids well before they set relevant expectations. Your teacher was not wrong to adopt a gentler approach since your child cried. Which teacher won't want their students to do well? Music is a long journey, if the child is not disciplined enough on his or her own, there is nothing you can do. Whether gifted or not, self-discipline in practice is mandatory.


I hope you are not offended. Some kids find it a chore to sight-read properly, they rather play pop songs. (I am one of them hehe) I engaged a few good teachers and they do not always pick up all the details but my kid still scores very high distinction because he is very motivated on his own to practise. I never have to invite him to practise. I am sure I can find even better teachers at the same fees but I am contended enough because they are very kind and lenient towards him

If the child is ready, the teacher will be happier to send him for exam because the teacher can demand for higher fees when he passes a grade. Preferably, IMHO, for every grade, the child should be able to sight read around 75% for the exam pieces first, after playing other pieces the teacher have taught. If not, no point going for exam because there will be a lot of difficulty at higher grades.

Look for another teacher if you are not satisfied. Only then you will know discover more about the path. My kid was with nafa but we took him out. His nafa teacher was also very kind and had never ever raised a tone at him, contrary to what I heard. He loved nafa system but we thought with his ability, he will enjoy playing more interesting pieces learning outside. Nafa is good but I know music is not all about certain beliefs. With proper instructions and self discipline, the child can achieve the same success too, albeit the competitions You will be amazed how many hours the kids spend to join competitions. They should be praised for such tremendous initiative and hardwork. And competitions aren't always the best gauge to determine how good the child is. I myself cannot tolerate coping at home listening to my kid playing same piece again repeatedly (unless no choice for exams) . :evil:

[fifiyeo]

classymadame:

waiyean:

After reading this long post, I still do not know what the teacher did wrong. Sounds like a very reasonable and patient teacher. Nowhere in the post was it mentioned that the teacher promised 100% distinction. Track record of churning distinction holders does not guarantee it, and is highly dependent on capability of the students and efforts put in.


Just try to relax. I understand the stress that parents go through before a piano exam. Parents always are more anxious than the kid who is taking the exam. Any mistakes made just before the exams feels like the end of the world.

I am just thankful that parents are not allowed to sit in during the exams.

One of the reasons why I am so pissed off is I was misled about DD’s teacher teaching style. Prior to starting the trial, the teacher allowed me to observe two lessons of her students. She was firm, strict, and had no nonsense approach. I was impressed by the professionalism displayed. The teacher also assessed DD first and she said to me with practice, DD can be trained to achieve distinction, but true, she never promised us distinctions. For the first few lessons, she adopted this no nonsense approach with DD. DD ended up crying at the end of the lessons, but I did not mind as I wanted the teacher to push DD more. But then suddenly from 3rd or 4th lesson onward, the teacher suddenly changed her style and became this extremely patient and encouraging teacher. This is when she started ignoring mistakes DD made and praising DD even though she did not deserve it. I was alarmed and the teacher explained to me that she wanted DD to enjoy lessons and not cried at the end of each lesson. I did not agree with this. If I hire a plumber to fix my toilet, I don’t need him to tell me how nice my toiletries are to make me feel good, I want him to fix my toilet. I hired the teacher to impart a skill to DD, not to make her feel good. My duty as a parent is to ensure DD is well equipped with many skills. I don’t really care if she wants them or not now, she can thank me later when she grows up. I asked the teacher to revert to her initial style with my DD, but she refused, saying that it goes against her principle to do that. I am the paying customer here, shouldn’t she listen to me and accommodate my request? Never mind, lesson learnt, I should have changed teacher before registering DD for her grade 3.

Music is a lifelong learning process and to cultivate a love for it is really important to keep on going on the long run. I can understand why the teacher started to be encouraging and took a softer approach towards your DD after she was crying at the end of the lesson.

If the child feels motivated, he/she will practice and push on and it can go a long way. If the teacher is the one who is pushing too hard, then it will kill the interest totally.

My DS's piano teacher is also very encouraging and I think that is what kept DS going at a fast pace since he started his lessons back in Dec. DS will never not practice his piano and will often do extra theory work and learn new pieces ahead of what he is taught. His piano classes are something he looks forward to every week. In fact I think he is dying for those praises from his teacher that makes him practice and practice.