All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[phankao]

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.

[crm]

I have a small child who played a slow song during exam. At first yes really play like robot but eventually got full mark in the exam

It can be trained anyway
I kind of being touched while listen to my child play more than I did when listen to cd

[Imami]

Recently spoke to my son’s teacher. She has a p2 kid who just did g2. She said her kid got a merit for g2 after putting in a lot of effort from her and her son. I am not very sure but I believe her kid must have taken the exam earlier this year (not the most recent batch). I don’t think the results for the most recent exam has been released?


She said her kid’s classmate scored a distinction whereas her kid just managed a merit. I asked her how long her child had been learning piano, her reply was "close to two years".

Then she told me, she would be registering her kid for g5 exam for next mar14. That came as a shocker to me. For one, I personally think the time gap between g2 exam and g5 exam is too short in this instance. Secondly, from the way she said, I figured that the kid’s foundation had not been built firmly. Either that or it has been too rush for the child.

Is this a rational move given that

-the child scored a merit for g2 this march. While the score for this grade may not necessarily be a natural extrapolation for future grades, I believe the students should get high score at the lower grades and that, unless there are valid reasons (such as being sick on exam day itself), a lower score is a reflection of poor mastery of the syllabus.

- there is only about 12 months to prepare for g5?

-

[ipiano1980]

Pirate,


i think it is wonderful that you help your child by invoking imagination into the pieces that he/she is playing. It really helps very much. I hope more parents would do that.

Most of my students’ parents do not play the piano but their child can still score decently in their performances due to very good imagery which helps with the expression department. So good point.

[Dreamaurora]

Imami:

Recently spoke to my son's teacher. She has a p2 kid who just did g2. She said her kid got a merit for g2 after putting in a lot of effort from her and her son. I am not very sure but I believe her kid must have taken the exam earlier this year (not the most recent batch). I don't think the results for the most recent exam has been released?


She said her kid's classmate scored a distinction whereas her kid just managed a merit. I asked her how long her child had been learning piano, her reply was \"close to two years\".

Then she told me, she would be registering her kid for g5 exam for next mar14. That came as a shocker to me. For one, I personally think the time gap between g2 exam and g5 exam is too short in this instance. Secondly, from the way she said, I figured that the kid's foundation had not been built firmly. Either that or it has been too rush for the child.

Is this a rational move given that

-the child scored a merit for g2 this march. While the score for this grade may not necessarily be a natural extrapolation for future grades, I believe the students should get high score at the lower grades and that, unless there are valid reasons (such as being sick on exam day itself), a lower score is a reflection of poor mastery of the syllabus.

- there is only about 12 months to prepare for g5?

-

Well, I have entered students for exams for crazier circumstances before. That being said, I think we must be careful that passing the exams do not become the end goals of learning.

I am convinced now that it is far more prudent to build foundation and independence correctly at the lower grades to ensure smoother and more enjoyable learning later on. It is similar to run a marathon. Run too fast early and we risk losing the stamina and drive at the later part of the race.

Merit is by no means a bad result, but it usually denotes at least one weak section and playing that was sufficiently fluent but lacking in stylistic awareness and authority. You are right to deduce that exam result is by no means an accurate prediction on how a student will do for a future exam, but at least a strong distinction is somewhat an indication of overall proficiency for that particular grade. Whenever an exam is completed and the result is gotten back, I think it is important to analyse what goes wrong first before even considering for the next grades. Then the lesson plan should focus to fix on this deficiency first.

I have been burned too many times entering students for exams who clearly has not demonstrated full proficiency of the grade at the point of the registration; these students normally only ended up with pass or merit. I think it is tempting to entertain the thought that the students will pick up the pace and practice more when set with goals that pose challenges to them. But in my experience, very few students would do well under such circumstances. If the student is not practicing his sight-reading regularly without any exam, he will most likely not practice sight-reading with an exam looming. So now I make it clear to my students and parents. If you want me to prepare you for an exam, show me the proficiency and discipline required at that grade, then we consider.

I would not comment on whether the move from grade 2 to 5 within 12 months is rational one as I don't know the factors that lead to your son's teacher making this decision. Considering that mother is a piano teacher, the son has significantly better support compared to other children, so I would say the possibility of achieving that grade 5 is higher for him. I've prepared a young boy for grade 5 before from grade 3 within half a year, but mother can play piano and the boy willing to practice in excess of one hour a day. So it really depends. Anyway nowadays, I try not to do this kind of stunt any more lar. No point going through the grades so fast but the child does not develop deeper appreciation and independence.

[Imami]

Thanks Dreamaurora, for the comments. No la, it’s not my son. It’s someone I know and her son. The kid’s teacher is a different person from my son’s teacher. And no, the mother doesn’t play piano.

[GTGT]

Hi


Looking for teachers to teach grade 5 piano

Teachers’ studio must be in the vicinity of Novena, Toa Payoh, Braddell, Bishan, Balestier

Must be available for teaching on weekends

Please PM if interested

[beautyseek]

Hi


My girl 6 yr old has been learning piano with yamaha for past 6 months and using a keyboard. She will be sitting for her Foundation Test in early December. Her teacher told me to get her a proper piano asap.

I am considering:
1. a new Hailun HL125 (seems to be fairly well received) from Piano Master at S$3800.
2. a used Yamaha U1J (claimed to be year2009 with warranty finishing soon) at S$2900.

Which is a better buy? None of us knows piano. If I get the Yamaha U1J, should I get the Yamaha technician to go down and make assessment before I complete purchase (costs S$64.20)?

Any advise from any one?

[scotia]

Anyone can tell me more about The Eighth Note Music School. Any comment

[fifiyeo]

DS has been asking about this -

Lang Lang Piano Academy: mastering the piano Level 3
Anyone knows if this is sold in Singapore?
Thanks!