All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[Green-apple 0]

anyone can advise how much do they charge for grade 3 (piano school and private piano teacher?)

[crm]

Taking about ABRSM syllabus, it is really not a big issue. As a parent without any music background, I am now able to teach any elements except for practical playing. Purchasing the whole set of syllabus books and reading thru them , that’s all

[reddiechan]

:whut:

[sleepy]

reddiechan:

Did you actually mean 'renowned'?

:oops: renowned
Highly acclaimed

Just to add, this is just my impression of Shanghai conservatory

But i still prefer our own YST grad to teach. personal preference

[Dreamaurora]

sleepy:

Puzz...zzle:

[quote=\"sleepy\"]
No idea what level to ABRSM.
But if reference to our own Yong Siew Toh, obviously a full time degree from YST conservatory is way higher than ABRSM/Trinity. My impression at least.

What if a Degree?

See above quote

You engaging a Shanghai conservatory graduate? What is the asking fees?

Very important to check if that teacher is familiar with ABRSM syllabus.
I ever engaged a degree graduate from another conservatory (not Shanghai), exceptionally good in playing that instrument (not piano) but unfamiliar with ABRSM syllabus and we had some hiccups as a result[/quote]I think in general a lot of people tend to equate high proficiency in playing = qualified to teach. Not entirely wrong though as one of the criteria of a good teacher is someone who can perform and demonstrate competently the repertoire he/she is teaching.

As a full time graduate myself I can say that is often not true. The primary focus of these full time institutions is still afterall to produce good performers, and equipping these students with teaching skills is often an afterthought. When I was in NAFA full time, there was only one compulsory module on instrumental teaching that lasted for one semester, and an optional module in another semester if students wished to. These modules were basic and generalist, the students were not really taught how to apply these principles in real-life teaching (partly because the lecturer was anti-ABRSM and similar exams). Stuff like how to plan students for an exam or how to communicate with students' parents were not really taught and emphasized.

So when I graduated, I was practically still blind in terms of actual teaching skills. So still have to do a lot of trials and errors. And looking back at my early years of teaching, I think it was quite embarrassing at some of amateurish mistakes I made. The reality of this field is only a very very small minority can make comfortable living as a performer. For pianists, one of the options is to become a full time accompanist, but how many full time accompanists are needed in Singapore. Even then still need to teach to supplement income. So a lot of full time grads were hit with this realisation only after they graduate. Some music school owners who auditioned these full time grads, whether local or overseas, remarked to me they definitely don't lack the skills to play, but when quizzed on basic teaching knowledge, most don't even bother to try to find out.

[Dreamaurora]

crm:

Taking about ABRSM syllabus, it is really not a big issue. As a parent without any music background, I am now able to teach any elements except for practical playing. Purchasing the whole set of syllabus books and reading thru them , that's all

That is if you are willing to do this, and most parents are not so on or free to learn parallel with their children and assist them at home. Even then, you still need a qualified teacher who is familiar with the syllabus to provide feedback if you are assisting your child correctly.

[Dreamaurora]

sleepy:

tong2:

actually I want to get such kind of valued teacher as soon as possible. but as you know, most in current market, it is a dream or look like a lucky draw.

Dont have to hesitate to change teachers. We are on our 6th teacher right now. Okay, i guess we are the exception rather than the norm to switch so many teachers. Even if you think you found the 'perfect' teacher, circumstances or chemistry may change over the years too that render the need to switch teacher again.

For theory exam prep, we went music school. So different teachers 1 theory and 1 practical. Practical teacher, although strong in practical, is too erractic so hardly prep properly for theory. No choice i engage another teacher just for theory.

Even then, that practical teacher has been spoon feeding my dd. Current teacher complained wrong approach, so my dd is not independent loh

Being not independent is a common issue with a lot of children who are accelerated to complete grade 8 before 12. Teaching kids to understand and apply advanced music concepts is time consuming, the faster way is still to demonstrate to them and asking them to copy. This is an issue I struggle also now that I am preparing a few of these kids for grade 8. If I demonstrate they could easily play what I want them do to in practically a few minutes, but if I explain more thoroughly and lead them to the answer instead it takes a far longer time like say around 10-15 minutes. So with tight deadlines and limited lesson time, it is often tempting to just spoon feed the kids. But I try to have a balance lar, if not the kids will find it not interesting if they are just trying to channel my playing all the time.

[crm]

Taking about ABRSM syllabus, it is really not a big issue. As a parent without any music background, I am now able to teach any elements except for practical playing. Purchasing the whole set of syllabus books and reading thru them , that’s all

That is if you are willing to do this, and most parents are not so on or free to learn parallel with their children and assist them at home. Even then, you still need a qualified teacher who is familiar with the syllabus to provide feedback if you are assisting your child correctly.

Being free or not is simply an excuse,
Those with this kind of excuse can expect tr to be so responsible ?

[pianoprincess]

tong2:

Thank you very much! -- Pianoprincess and Dreamaurora.


as you said, this girl is holding 10Ji of cert in China. and I searched via internet, this 10ji is even lower than ABRSM grade 3. she doesn't have such experience to focus on how to pass ABRSM exam. this is most I am worry about.
I mentioned to her on trial lesson that we are preparing to have ABRSM exam in next year. she promised me that she can help if we followed her teaching method and do homework/practices properly.

As same as Dreamaurora's opinion, after learning almost 1year, my girl lack independence and she is very reluctant to learn pieces by herself, preferring instead to wait for teacher to play for her ,memorize teacher's play/ finger movement and sounds like. this is really weak points. I don't want her be that, feel boring and lost interesting.

So, at this moment, I only can do is to let young girl teach my girl a while just to let my girl re-learn notes. At least, my girl can firm her basic theory .After that I have to look for experienced teacher who did exam of ABRSM.

actually I want to get such kind of valued teacher as soon as possible. but as you know, most in current market, it is a dream or look like a lucky draw.

I suggest you continue teacher shopping , maybe you have friends who can recommend you their teachers ? By learning parallel with 2 teachers you may confuse your child , and spend extra time for lessons and not to mention extra money for 2 teachers.

Keep searching , it is not impossible! Dreamaurora may be able to help you or even I can.

[pianoprincess]

Green-apple:

anyone can advise how much do they charge for grade 3 (piano school and private piano teacher?)

I think the average market rate would be 160-200 for 4 lessons , 1 hour. Depends on your teacher , experience , qualifications and if private , whether the teacher needs to travel to you.