All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers
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Imami:
we've done 3 lina ng books. The arrangement is different lah.
this is beyond me. Using suzuki books or not, I can't tell what's Suzuki method. But she stresses a lot on listening to the piano. This is \"quite Suzuki\" right?phankao:
Piano suzuki?
No teacher would teach using suzuki method partway into the course of lessons. Most likely she is only teaching *using* the suzuki books.
She asked us to listen to both CDs.
We have been using Lina ng's books so far. Suzuki book 1 has many songs also found in Lina ng's book 1 so I guess, not much diff for the time being?
Yes, listening is important for suzuki. Oh well, doens't matter as long as your boy enjoys and progresses. -
My dd is preparing for ABSRM Piano Grade 8 exam in March next year. She just changed her piano teacher. However, the new piano teacher does not cover aural and sight reading every lesson unlike the previous one. When I asked her, she said that she will cover the aural and sight reading after my dd has mastered the three pieces because the three pieces take up a large percentage of the total exam marks. May I know whether is this ok if the target is to get distinction for the Grade 8 Piano exam?
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TTBCOOL:
My dd is preparing for ABSRM Piano Grade 8 exam in March next year. She just changed her piano teacher. However, the new piano teacher does not cover aural and sight reading every lesson unlike the previous one. When I asked her, she said that she will cover the aural and sight reading after my dd has mastered the three pieces because the three pieces take up a large percentage of the total exam marks. May I know whether is this ok if the target is to get distinction for the Grade 8 Piano exam?
Have you communicated the intention to get distinction to the teacher?
When I accept transfer students, ideally I would want to spend some time developing the technique, sight-reading, and aural so these are up to the standard at least to the preceding before the intended grade i.e. if grade 8 is planned, then the student should have all those proficiencies up to grade 7 level. I would advise the parents not to consider any exam first.
If the goal is grade 8 distinction next year, the timeframe of one year is extremely tight, especially if your DD has just started learning the notes and have some deficiencies that need fixing. I assume your DD is P5 this year and PSLE next year, thus this timeframe? -
Imami:
Suzuki method focuses a lot on aural development and students are expected to be able to play back a piece just by listening it.
this is beyond me. Using suzuki books or not, I can't tell what's Suzuki method. But she stresses a lot on listening to the piano. This is \"quite Suzuki\" right?phankao:
Piano suzuki?
No teacher would teach using suzuki method partway into the course of lessons. Most likely she is only teaching *using* the suzuki books.
She asked us to listen to both CDs.
We have been using Lina ng's books so far. Suzuki book 1 has many songs also found in Lina ng's book 1 so I guess, not much diff for the time being?
I don't use Suzuki in my lessons, but I think it is still important to develop the aural skill even in the early stage. A lot of piano method books focus on reading so much and not enough on listening, so the onus is on the teacher to train this. It is not necessary to acquire the skill of picking up a tune by listening to play piano well (though it is still a useful skill), but there are useful aural skills that can benefit playing. For example, beginners can be trained aurally to identify phrases, dynamic shaping, etc. -
Dreamaurora:
If the goal is grade 8 distinction next year, the timeframe of one year is extremely tight, especially if your DD has just started learning the notes and have some deficiencies that need fixing.
Hi Dreamaurora,
Just curious, how long does it take typically to prepare grade 8 piano to a reasonably high level? 1.5 years? Is such a long timeframe required because of the aural components, or the pieces?
Hence, for a student who has no problems with the aural and sight reading components, how much time is required to learn the pieces?
Thanks. -
waiyean:
That will depend on the overall proficiency of the student prior to preparing the grade 8 and practice time. I think if a student manages to be highly proficient at grade 5 level and manage to score a very good distinction, then I believe 2 years should be sufficient to attempt grade 8 after grade 5 provided the student could sustain at least 1 hour practice a day. Now I have to stress this is provided the student has no urgent technical issues by the time the grade 5 is passed, so time is not wasted fixing stuff.Dreamaurora:
If the goal is grade 8 distinction next year, the timeframe of one year is extremely tight, especially if your DD has just started learning the notes and have some deficiencies that need fixing.
Hi Dreamaurora,
Just curious, how long does it take typically to prepare grade 8 piano to a reasonably high level? 1.5 years? Is such a long timeframe required because of the aural components, or the pieces?
Hence, for a student who has no problems with the aural and sight reading components, how much time is required to learn the pieces?
Thanks.
This timeline of 2 years will allow the learning of the 3 grade 8 pieces to be spread over a period of one and half year, meaning one piece completed every half a year. Other grade 6 and 7 level pieces can be assigned along the way, but in this manner student only works on one grade 8 piece at a time. So this is a more comfortable approach I feel and the students are not overwhelmed from preparing simultaneously 3 very difficult pieces. Note that I only set this kind of timeline to students who have learnt and taken grade 5 under me. For transfer students, I will evaluate first and fix what is broken before considering grade 8.
A word of caution to parents whose children are not in NAFA program or similar courses. I understand that it is attractive to pass grade 8 before PSLE, but bear in mind that these students are handpicked and received specialized training from early grades to ensure secure technique. They also have specialized aural classes so the teachers can only just focus on scales and pieces. I have seen too many train wreck cases of 12/11 year olds attempting grade 8 when they were obviously not ready yet. -
Dreamaurora:
That will depend on the overall proficiency of the student prior to preparing the grade 8 and practice time. I think if a student manages to be highly proficient at grade 5 level and manage to score a very good distinction, then I believe 2 years should be sufficient to attempt grade 8 after grade 5 provided the student could sustain at least 1 hour practice a day. Now I have to stress this is provided the student has no urgent technical issues by the time the grade 5 is passed, so time is not wasted fixing stuff.waiyean:
[quote=\"Dreamaurora\"]If the goal is grade 8 distinction next year, the timeframe of one year is extremely tight, especially if your DD has just started learning the notes and have some deficiencies that need fixing.
Hi Dreamaurora,
Just curious, how long does it take typically to prepare grade 8 piano to a reasonably high level? 1.5 years? Is such a long timeframe required because of the aural components, or the pieces?
Hence, for a student who has no problems with the aural and sight reading components, how much time is required to learn the pieces?
Thanks.
This timeline of 2 years will allow the learning of the 3 grade 8 pieces to be spread over a period of one and half year, meaning one piece completed every half a year. Other grade 6 and 7 level pieces can be assigned along the way, but in this manner student only works on one grade 8 piece at a time. So this is a more comfortable approach I feel and the students are not overwhelmed from preparing simultaneously 3 very difficult pieces. Note that I only set this kind of timeline to students who have learnt and taken grade 5 under me. For transfer students, I will evaluate first and fix what is broken before considering grade 8.
A word of caution to parents whose children are not in NAFA program or similar courses. I understand that it is attractive to pass grade 8 before PSLE, but bear in mind that these students are handpicked and received specialized training from early grades to ensure secure technique. They also have specialized aural classes so the teachers can only just focus on scales and pieces. I have seen too many train wreck cases of 12/11 year olds attempting grade 8 when they were obviously not ready yet.[/quote]
Dreamaurora,
How do you determine whether a child is ready for exam esp in beginners and lower grade? -
Hi, any one knows of piano teacher teaching at CCK/Yew Tee area? Child doing beginners level, have not attempt any exam yet. We only have a digital piano at home. So if a classical piano is a must, it will be good if we can go to teacher’s house. Can pm me urgently?
If you are a piano teacher yourself, please also include your rate, qualification and experience. Tks. -
Dreamaurora:
Hi Dreamaurora,TTBCOOL:
My dd is preparing for ABSRM Piano Grade 8 exam in March next year. She just changed her piano teacher. However, the new piano teacher does not cover aural and sight reading every lesson unlike the previous one. When I asked her, she said that she will cover the aural and sight reading after my dd has mastered the three pieces because the three pieces take up a large percentage of the total exam marks. May I know whether is this ok if the target is to get distinction for the Grade 8 Piano exam?
Have you communicated the intention to get distinction to the teacher?
When I accept transfer students, ideally I would want to spend some time developing the technique, sight-reading, and aural so these are up to the standard at least to the preceding before the intended grade i.e. if grade 8 is planned, then the student should have all those proficiencies up to grade 7 level. I would advise the parents not to consider any exam first.
If the goal is grade 8 distinction next year, the timeframe of one year is extremely tight, especially if your DD has just started learning the notes and have some deficiencies that need fixing. I assume your DD is P5 this year and PSLE next year, thus this timeframe?
Thanks for your reply. My dd is in Sec 2 this year. She has learnt G7 halfway but I feel that it is better to skip G7 and have more time to prepare for G8 and get a distinction. Thus, she has just switched to G8 since Feb 2014. The new teacher had a trial lesson with her first before confirming that she is ready for G8. My concern here is that my dd is weaker in aural and sight reading and for the last G6 piano practical exam, she was pulled down by these 2 components. She scored almost full mark for her scales. I thought that there should be consistent practice in aural and sight reading in order to improve. Would like to hear your view. TIA. -
Porky Pig:
I believe a student should achieve equal proficiencies in all aspects before an exam is attempted. A good way to test this is to give a mock exam near the exam registration time. If a student could achieve a pass or merit in this mock exam, then a distinction can be worked towards in the remaining months. This means the majority if not all the exam requirements are completed before registration time.
Dreamaurora,
How do you determine whether a child is ready for exam esp in beginners and lower grade?
For young kids though, it's more tricky. Kids below 8 years old may not have the mental maturity yet to strive for good results. So often, even if they are technically capable to do well for exams, it may not be a good idea to subject them to the pressure and push them beyond what they are willing to do. So usually, if parents request for exams for these young kids for the experience, I will adjust the expectation. If the above criteria I described is not met and the student is entered for exam anyway, then expectation has to be adjusted as well. Best solution I believe if possible is to skip the lower grades altogether if this is the case and instead wait until the child is more mentally mature to want to take an exam.
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