All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers
-
Miaor:
Well, I think teachers tend to feel the pressure of seeing their peers 'achieve' more. 'Achieving' in Singapore context seem to mean a lot of distinction scorers or young children passing high grades for a lot of teachers. That and also teachers may be eager to secure more students by promising fast results.
I found teachers also have very different criteria for grade. My DS's previous teacher always tells us it's not good to rush for grade 8 before P6. Later we tried several different teachers and some said can start on grade 3, some said can start from grade 4, one even said can start from grade 5 if we want to pass grade 8 before P6... I'm amazed that some teachers are very optimistic yet others could be more cautious. IMHO grade 8 doesn't mean anything if a kid cannot enjoy and appreciate piano.sleepy:
Haha, no need to be agitated la. Indeed speaking from my personal experience, being unnecessarily held back by a teacher who subsequently admitted it's her mistake in judgment, applying a blanket rule 1 year 1 grade, rather than assess every student individually.
So we stayed away from teachers who hold such firm belief from thereon. Oh well, obviously i can only speak from own experience, not representing anyone else. Chill la, no need to resort to name calling
As to accelerated progress, it's the norm with our previous private teacher. Her p5 student is taking diploma. Her youngest grade 8 student is in p1. In that learning environment, naturally it becomes the norm to us since we are surrounded by such students for 3 years +. Teacher is utterly dissatisfied with dd's progress though
Anyway no longer with that teacher. Over zealous teacher killed interests too, if that makes anyone feels better :siam:
To be honest, I think our culture of heaping praise on achievements at a young age is partly to blame. Considering two children of different age with equal playing level, the younger one will always be considered as more 'talented' as compared to the older one, regardless of how much effort they put in. Those older ones, even those who perform very well seem to be less impressive than younger ones.
I've long since stopped comparing myself with other teachers. Those who remember my earlier postings years ago would remember I was kind of...boastful. I was seeking validation from others I guess that I was a good teacher. But I think at the end of the day, what I want to see in my studio are students who are genuinely interested in learning music. And to achieve this, as a teacher I need to set the right attitude by acknowledging that each student is unique and has different level of abilities. -
sleepy:
Speaking from my own experience, my own students who do very well for performance and exams are most likely to have at least one parent who can play piano. I think almost half of my student population have mothers/fathers who managed who play or learned piano themselves.
Can't say I agreed with that percent. We are completely 100% reliant on teacher to teach. I have no idea if dd is practicing correctly. Even if she makes any mistakes, I can't tell at all. Piano sounds nice to me and that's itwaiyean:
Research has shown that for a child to clear grade 8 by P6, it's 10% dependent on teacher, and 90% dependent on the child and the supporting environment.....
Okay, the above statistics were plucked from the sky.... but the main point is, a child's success in accelerated learning is highly dependent on natural inclination, the amount of hard work put in, and how supportive the family environment is. Having the right teacher is one component of the equation, but it's certainly not the main one.
I'm not musically inclined le. My job is to find her the best teacher. She will refer to videos of teacher playing if she needs to clarify any minor parts over the week during home practice. She does her own practice. This has always been her learning style all these years. I don't sit next to her because I'm of no value add at all.
And so long no major complaints from teacher the following week, I would assume she is practicing correctly at home.
With these parents, progress are significantly a lot faster, especially for the higher grades. Mistakes are easily rectified as I can instruct the parents what to fix and the methods to fix them. And these students also have decidedly better technique.
Of course this does not mean those without non-pianist parents won't play well, but obviously there will be marked differences in progress and approach. With these students I generally set more generous timeline. I also take more time to explain and guide them so they will arrive at the answers themselves; for those with piano playing parents, I can be more methodical and direct to the point. -
pirate:
As I have mentioned earlier, regurgitating to children is a far faster and easier method to get things done in lesson. Making them think and experiment is harder and takes a lot more lesson time.pianoprincess:
As for the ABRSM exams , while it is a internationally recognised board, these ABRSM certs that parents value so much in Singapore do not hold much significance elsewhere , and that includes the UK. During my studies in Vienna the ABRSM certs were not recognised and I was repeatedly asked to explain to our dean what these certs meant , before finally having it declared invalid and useless. Even in RCM , which is a college under ABRSM , it doesnt hold much significance . Yes they recognise it , but even then, it does not score you any brownie points. All these certs were just shuffled under other papers and rendered useless during applications and interviews. It is the main audition which matters. So parents whose children who are considering to study music in the future , Id strongly advise to focus on proficiency , technicality, musicality and playing alot more than the ABRSM syllabus.
I used to go \"wah\" at youtube videos of all these young children playing fast pieces on the piano. They are so young and yet so proficient on the keys.
But now, I find it more interesting to see whether they can play the slow, \"easy\" pieces. It seems that many children can be taught to be technically proficient and to play faster and faster pieces. Musicality on the other hand...
Youtube is a great site for this. For example, for the ABRSM Grade 5 A3 2013-14 piece Allemande in A Minor by Handel, there are two (in my view) very enjoyable rendition (one by Dr Jason Sifford and the other by Cubus) with very different styles and tempo. Interestingly, these did not mention \"ABRSM Grade 5\". There are some videos by people who appear to be piano teachers (who shall remain nameless) that are merely so-so. And then there are quite a number of videos of it played by children, many sounding like metronomes.
But the real fun is in seeing how many youtube whiz kids can play something like Terrega's Adelita (B3).
But I think it is a sad state of affair these young students do not understand and connect to the music on the personal level. And even as a teacher, I face an uphill battle because a lot of local students are very passive and not really pro active. I try my best to guide them to understand their music by asking them to find out more about the music and the composer, make up story to accompany their pieces, set lyrics, think of mood and colors, etc. But everytime I have to prompt them and remind them. Very few will actually be curious and go beyond what I ask them to do. -
sleepy:
Yes, I see what you mean. But difficult lar to find your dream teacher because the qualities you are looking for may not coexist within one single teacher.Dreamaurora:
she is entitled to her opinion
Thanks for being so understanding
Dreamaurora:
Yes, I know very clearly what type of teacher I'm looking for, after many trials and errorsevery parent has his/her own set of criteria of what makes a good teacher and for her being able to achieve fast result is quite obviously at the top the of the list.
Er, regarding fast result.. not entirely true.
See my posting above.
Inclination, interests and right teacher to bring out potential.
If all these components are present, result should come nautrally -
pirate:
So easy to play fast, meh? I wish it were that case.
I used to go \"wah\" at youtube videos of all these young children playing fast pieces on the piano. They are so young and yet so proficient on the keys.
But now, I find it more interesting to see whether they can play the slow, \"easy\" pieces. It seems that many children can be taught to be technically proficient and to play faster and faster pieces. Musicality on the other hand...
. -
phankao:
Actually it's true, fast is easier than slow. Slow harder to emote the repertoire esp for young children.
So easy to play fast, meh? I wish it were that case.pirate:
I used to go \"wah\" at youtube videos of all these young children playing fast pieces on the piano. They are so young and yet so proficient on the keys.
But now, I find it more interesting to see whether they can play the slow, \"easy\" pieces. It seems that many children can be taught to be technically proficient and to play faster and faster pieces. Musicality on the other hand...
. -
Yes, I also think playing fast is easier than playing slow. Like pirate, I used to get so impressed w very young children playing so well. I remembered watching a little buy who played Bumblebee on YouTube.
These days I m less impressed. -
Dreamaurora:
Yes, but most teachers only have like an hour a week.As I have mentioned earlier, regurgitating to children is a far faster and easier method to get things done in lesson. Making them think and experiment is harder and takes a lot more lesson time.
But I think it is a sad state of affair these young students do not understand and connect to the music on the personal level. And even as a teacher, I face an uphill battle because a lot of local students are very passive and not really pro active. I try my best to guide them to understand their music by asking them to find out more about the music and the composer, make up story to accompany their pieces, set lyrics, think of mood and colors, etc. But everytime I have to prompt them and remind them. Very few will actually be curious and go beyond what I ask them to do.
I think this is an area that parents can actually do something about. Even for non musically trained parents like me, we can engage our children in the pieces that our children are learning. Often, all it takes is just a little googling on our part. We may not be able to engage on a musical level, but we can engage them on what that particular piece is about.
For DD, I tell her that Handel's Allemande is a court dance, and that a court dance is like a dance done by princesses at the palace. That then opens the door for me to ask her questions about her playing like: Wah, so fast, how to dance? Is that a princess dance or a robot? :evil:
For the Kabalevsky, I tell her the title means cavalryman. Then I ask her does her playing sound like a horse or does it sound like a donkey? Once, she said Little Pony. Then she says she wants to see Cavalia :slapshead: .
I remember when she was doing her grade 4, I told her once that her sun in the Sun is Setting just went \"plop\" into the sea. She went :razz: but it got her thinking. -
I think it depends on the pieces being played.
There are pieces that has very fast notes, with lots of jumps and large intervals, it’s technically challenging to play it fast with all the right and even tones. Also, many recordings on Youtube of children playing Flight of the Bubblebee are playing it too slowly anyway.
The difference though, is that tempo challenges can be overcomed with lots of practice. Whereas, a slower piece that has to be played expressively requires lots of musical maturity, which many young children are lacking. -
waiyean:
I think it depends on the pieces being played.
There are pieces that has very fast notes, with lots of jumps and large intervals, it's technically challenging to play it fast with all the right and even tones. Also, many recordings on Youtube of children playing Flight of the Bubblebee are playing it too slowly anyway.
The difference though, is that tempo challenges can be overcomed with lots of practice. Whereas, a slower piece that has to be played expressively requires lots of musical maturity, which many young children are lacking.
I find \"fast\" difficult bc of the \"technical challenges\" that you mention and the small hands.
Surprised you all find fast easier. I would think \"fast\" end up easier to create a \"mess\"! For small kids, I mean.
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login