All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[waiyean]

phankao:

waiyean:

Does the teacher actually teach your DD how to play it well? How much time is spent during lessons going through that piece?


Or is your DD expected to bring it back home and play it well by herself? In that case you probably don't need a teacher then.

So your DD's teacher spends a lot of time on teaching how to play well?

Yes, almost the entire lesson is spent by teacher teaching how to play the pieces well. Teacher does demonstrate and teach bar by bar how she wants it to be played, down to the precise movement of the fingers and tone. However, there is only time to cover just 1-2 pages of music per lesson, never the entire piece.

I would have thought that most parents will expect teachers to actually teach their child how to play the piece, right? Not assign a piece to be practiced at home, to be played the following week and then move on.

[phankao]

waiyean:

phankao:

[quote=\"waiyean\"]Does the teacher actually teach your DD how to play it well? How much time is spent during lessons going through that piece?


Or is your DD expected to bring it back home and play it well by herself? In that case you probably don't need a teacher then.

So your DD's teacher spends a lot of time on teaching how to play well?

Yes, almost the entire lesson is spent by teacher teaching how to play the pieces well. Teacher does demonstrate and teach bar by bar how she wants it to be played, down to the precise movement of the fingers and tone. However, there is only time to cover just 1-2 pages of music per lesson, never the entire piece.

I would have thought that most parents will expect teachers to actually teach their child how to play the piece, right? Not assign a piece to be practiced at home, to be played the following week and then move on.[/quote]That's nice. My son's piano teacher spends long time on polishing too. It's the other teacher for the other instrument who does expect more independent learning. And I thought yours would be similar in style. Barely much time spent on polishing. Only on etudes. And then you make the statement of \"might as well not have teacher\". Yikes!

[waiyean]

phankao:

That's nice. My son's piano teacher spends long time on polishing too. It's the other teacher for the other instrument who does expect more independent learning. And I thought yours would be similar in style. Barely much time spent on polishing. Only on etudes. And then you make the statement of \"might as well not have teacher\". Yikes!

Lol... I know what you mean. But then, like you say, it's another instrument.... different style perhaps. Lots of polishing.... need to take videos during lessons and zoom in close in order to follow at home.

[phankao]

waiyean:

phankao:

That's nice. My son's piano teacher spends long time on polishing too. It's the other teacher for the other instrument who does expect more independent learning. And I thought yours would be similar in style. Barely much time spent on polishing. Only on etudes. And then you make the statement of \"might as well not have teacher\". Yikes!

Lol... I know what you mean. But then, like you say, it's another instrument.... different style perhaps. Lots of polishing.... need to take videos during lessons and zoom in close in order to follow at home.

Yes. I do videos too, only not of entire lesson. So far I don't need. Only certain parts. I zoom bc I don't want see teacher's face. hahahhaha! Best part is teacher \"kaypoh\" about my \"powerful tiny camera\".

Granted, I do see quite a fair bit of improvement, despite what appears to be \"little instruction\"! So I believe there is some good going on, and without a teacher, we cannot progress likewise.

[waiyean]

phankao:

Granted, I do see quite a fair bit of improvement, despite what appears to be \"little instruction\"! So I believe there is some good going on, and without a teacher, we cannot progress likewise.

Little instruction = Fair bit of improvement
Proper instruction = Superkid???

Seriously Phankao.... your boy very talented... it's not a normal benchmark.

[cathylmg]

waiyean:

phankao:

[quote=\"waiyean\"]Does the teacher actually teach your DD how to play it well? How much time is spent during lessons going through that piece?


Or is your DD expected to bring it back home and play it well by herself? In that case you probably don't need a teacher then.

So your DD's teacher spends a lot of time on teaching how to play well?

Yes, almost the entire lesson is spent by teacher teaching how to play the pieces well. Teacher does demonstrate and teach bar by bar how she wants it to be played, down to the precise movement of the fingers and tone. However, there is only time to cover just 1-2 pages of music per lesson, never the entire piece.

I would have thought that most parents will expect teachers to actually teach their child how to play the piece, right? Not assign a piece to be practiced at home, to be played the following week and then move on.[/quote]Same for dd too. At the end of the lesson parent is made to take video of teacher (hands only) playing the piece then go home to practice. But one piece per lesson. Is it normal?

[waiyean]

cathylmg:

waiyean:

Yes, almost the entire lesson is spent by teacher teaching how to play the pieces well. Teacher does demonstrate and teach bar by bar how she wants it to be played, down to the precise movement of the fingers and tone. However, there is only time to cover just 1-2 pages of music per lesson, never the entire piece.


I would have thought that most parents will expect teachers to actually teach their child how to play the piece, right? Not assign a piece to be practiced at home, to be played the following week and then move on.

Same for dd too. At the end of the lesson parent is made to take video of teacher (hands only) playing the piece then go home to practice. But one piece per lesson. Is it normal?

In that case, I think your DD is fine. At least the teacher did teach her, and even demo how it should be played and let you video.

The number of pieces covered per lesson is not a big deal, but rather it's the depth. Afterall, would you be happy if teacher let your DD play 5 pieces per week, superficially?

Relax.... it's grade 1. Building up a big repertoire is probably not high on teacher's priority list

[AspiringPianoTeacher]

[quote=\"phankao\"][quote=\"waiyean\"]Does the teacher actually teach your DD how to play it well? How much time is spent during lessons going through that piece?


Or is your DD expected to bring it back home and play it well by herself? In that case you probably don't need a teacher then.

So your DD's teacher spends a lot of time on teaching how to play well?

Yes, almost the entire lesson is spent by teacher teaching how to play the pieces well. Teacher does demonstrate and teach bar by bar how she wants it to be played, down to the precise movement of the fingers and tone. However, there is only time to cover just 1-2 pages of music per lesson, never the entire piece.

I would have thought that most parents will expect teachers to actually teach their child how to play the piece, right? Not assign a piece to be practiced at home, to be played the following week and then move on.[/quote]

Same for dd too. At the end of the lesson parent is made to take video of teacher (hands only) playing the piece then go home to practice. But one piece per lesson. Is it normal?[/quote]

Hello parents,

I would like to share my experience learning the piano. So basically, there should be a responsibility that both the child and the teacher should have. What I have experienced is that my teacher would give me a piece, then she would try to teach as much as she can in the lesson, then after the lesson it depends on me to practice the part she teaches me, and to progress to the other parts she have not taught. As the student's grade increases, the teacher will have a decreasing role in teaching the students their notes, the learning of the piece becomes much more independent. The amount of time the teacher needs to teach depends on how musically inclined the student is as well, so it is better for parents to allow the teacher to continue with the detailed teaching, because the teacher's rationale is to decrease the amount of mistakes that can arise if the teacher just only gloss through the whole piece during lessons. Also, it can be beneficial for the teacher to just assign pieces for practice at home without teaching first, it trains the students' independence and allows the student to intepret the piece his way, and not just follow how the teacher wants it to be. This may be able to create more attachment to the piece than if the teacher just spoonfeeds the child.

Hope this helped

[jedamum]

For us, i get my son to sight read as much as he can for new pieces and familiarize with the notes for portion that the teacher has not taught. Skip portions where he can’t figure out the markings. Then when teacher fine tune during lesson, he can absorb more readily than still trying to work the keys.

[phankao]

waiyean:

phankao:

Granted, I do see quite a fair bit of improvement, despite what appears to be \"little instruction\"! So I believe there is some good going on, and without a teacher, we cannot progress likewise.

Little instruction = Fair bit of improvement
Proper instruction = Superkid???

Seriously Phankao.... your boy very talented... it's not a normal benchmark.

Thanks! But hey - how do I comment on whether the instruction is \"proper\" or not? Perhaps it is? I'm just not used to it. To me, actually I'm quite happy - the improvement is noticeable but again, I don't know how to benchmark, so better say it's \"fair bit of improvement\" . Maybe if teacher says, he'll say \"only little bit improve?!\". :sad: Focussing on techniques via Etudes probably is the way to improvement instead of more on pieces - as in, it will flow to the pieces? Gee, I'm not sure, but I see the result. It's good enough for us to be satisfied. No need to get too stressed over it. Do what we can within limitations. That's what I've learnt to-date.