All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[Porky Pig]

My Dd has started to learn piano since Dec 2013. Currently we go to her piano teacher’s place once a week for a 45 mins lesson. She is in K1 this year and her school also exposes her to keyboard lessons. Will a different in coaching style and methods confuse the kid?

[waiyean]

Porky Pig:

My Dd has started to learn piano since Dec 2013. Currently we go to her piano teacher's place once a week for a 45 mins lesson. She is in K1 this year and her school also exposes her to keyboard lessons. Will a different in coaching style and methods confuse the kid?

Preschools do not focus on techniques at all. It's purely for music appreciation. The teachers conducting those keyboard lessons are not piano teachers.

My daughter's preschool did have keyboard lessons too. However I told her to avoid playing on those keyboards. I didn't want her to pick up bad habits on those non-weighed keyboards.

[davidtanac]

Any parents in Punggol area can recommend a good music appreciation school for a pre-school kid. My girl is turning 3 in Sep this year.

[TTBCOOL]

Dreamaurora:

Yes, sight reading and aural have to be consistently practiced to improve. But like what I have said the timeline of 1 year is very tight for grade 8 preparation. Grade 8 pieces are quite a jump in difficulty from grade 6 and 7 and they can be easily twice as long. The 3 pieces and scales carry the most weightage (111/150) and so logically within the short time constraint, these have to be worked on urgently to ensure a comfortable pass first. As such, the entire lessons will be probably devoted to go through the pieces. Another explanation is probably the teacher are not that good in sight-reading and aural himself/herself.

I am little puzzled though. If the teacher said she's ready for grade 8, then shouldn't be it a confirmation that your DD's aural and sight reading are ready for grade 8 as well? Or did the teacher just meant your DD could attempt grade 8 pieces? I personally will not confirm a student to be ready to attempt grade 8 if the sight-reading and aural are not up to standard required.

If the teacher does not go through sight-reading, then the onus will be on your DD to improve it herself. She should regularly learn easier grade 3-5 pieces from different musical eras to familiarize herself with the styles and patterns. Aural unfortunately harder to self-study, but the least she can do is to buy a sight-singing book and improve her singing. There are also software such as Auralia that can train the aspect of identifying chords.

Hi Dreamaurora,

:thankyou: for your view and advice.

[Blue Pearl]

Hi Dreamaurora


If the kid is going to take grade 1 next year, what are the preparations should the teacher do now so that the kid is ready for the exam next year. thank you.

[fifiyeo]

Piano teacher is planning to put DS in for grade2 / 3 exams next mar depending on his learning curve the next few months. DS is currently 4 months into learning the piano. She is confident he should be able to do at least grade 2. What should I look out for?

[Dreamaurora]

Blue Pearl:

Hi Dreamaurora


If the kid is going to take grade 1 next year, what are the preparations should the teacher do now so that the kid is ready for the exam next year. thank you.

If want to be cautious, it is always prudent to aim to complete most of the requirement by the time registration is closed. So perhaps should start working on the one or two exam pieces now? Though for lower grades it is possible to start and finish the requirements after the student is registered, that will depend if you are willing to take the risk.

[Dreamaurora]

fifiyeo:

Piano teacher is planning to put DS in for grade2 / 3 exams next mar depending on his learning curve the next few months. DS is currently 4 months into learning the piano. She is confident he should be able to do at least grade 2. What should I look out for?

Hard to say. But you will probably want to ensure the technique and foundations are set correctly instead of just rushing to learn the exam pieces. Just because one can play the notes for the exam pieces for a particular grade does not mean he/she is ready to take that grade.

[Blue Pearl]

Dreamaurora:

Blue Pearl:

Hi Dreamaurora


If the kid is going to take grade 1 next year, what are the preparations should the teacher do now so that the kid is ready for the exam next year. thank you.

If want to be cautious, it is always prudent to aim to complete most of the requirement by the time registration is closed. So perhaps should start working on the one or two exam pieces now? Though for lower grades it is possible to start and finish the requirements after the student is registered, that will depend if you are willing to take the risk.

Thank you Dreamaurora. May i know what are the requirements? Where can i get more details. Thank you.

[Dreamaurora]

Blue Pearl:

Dreamaurora:

[quote=\"Blue Pearl\"]Hi Dreamaurora


If the kid is going to take grade 1 next year, what are the preparations should the teacher do now so that the kid is ready for the exam next year. thank you.

If want to be cautious, it is always prudent to aim to complete most of the requirement by the time registration is closed. So perhaps should start working on the one or two exam pieces now? Though for lower grades it is possible to start and finish the requirements after the student is registered, that will depend if you are willing to take the risk.

Thank you Dreamaurora. May i know what are the requirements? Where can i get more details. Thank you.[/quote]ABRSM website has the syllabus and marking criteria.

The teacher should be able to explain the syllabus clearly to you if he/she is entering students for grade 1. If teacher himself/herself is not familiar or comfortable with the syllabus, then perhaps it is not a good idea to prepare for the exam under the teacher.