All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[Maple Oak]

zac's mum:

Does your son have any particular instrument in mind? Some boys like drums, it helps them vent their anger/frustration in a legitimate way haha...

Really good advice zac's mum!
Speaking of venting anger/frustration in a legitimate way, maybe instead of music lessons, one could go the martial arts route, judo, etc...

[Sallyting74]

1st one, didn’t take interest, waste of money really. Second one took interest at a young age, so sent her for piano lessons, still enjoying it now!

[Hydrate02]

My 6yo has been learning piano 1-1 for 6 months. Thgh she is not adversed to lessons and practising, she doesnt seem v eager about it too (same for other enrichment that she is gg). My purpose of sending her is to train her concentration skills. Now she is practising on a hand me down keyboard. Progress is slow cos she cannot focus. Will been reading up alot and also wondering if i shld get a second hand Kawai / Yahama or a brand new Hailun.


Parents / teachers, any advice?

[zac's mum]

Hydrate02:

My 6yo has been learning piano 1-1 for 6 months. Thgh she is not adversed to lessons and practising, she doesnt seem v eager about it too (same for other enrichment that she is gg). My purpose of sending her is to train her concentration skills. Now she is practising on a hand me down keyboard. Progress is slow cos she cannot focus. Will been reading up alot and also wondering if i shld get a second hand Kawai / Yahama or a brand new Hailun.


Parents / teachers, any advice?

Is she able to focus when she does other activities? Or is it just limited to piano?

Because frankly, if she is able to focus when she’s doing other things she likes (eg maybe art and craft?) but not for piano, then it’s pretty obvious her interest is not there. Is the teacher letting her play fun songs like Frozen theme song? That may help. But if still doesn’t help, then it’s probably time to cut your losses instead of investing a big lump sum into a piano now.

[zac's mum]

I just came across this in FB:


https://www.facebook.com/AureusAcademy/posts/1686901688022764

Aureus Academy is having their annual (?) sale of used pianos. They also have a rental scheme if you don’t want to commit to buying one. Just sharing here for you to compare the prices. IMO no hurry to jump in. The do this type of clearance once or twice a year. I heard Yamaha shops do this also, showroom models.

[CastleKoppie]

zac's mum:

Hydrate02:

My 6yo has been learning piano 1-1 for 6 months. Thgh she is not adversed to lessons and practising, she doesnt seem v eager about it too (same for other enrichment that she is gg). My purpose of sending her is to train her concentration skills. Now she is practising on a hand me down keyboard. Progress is slow cos she cannot focus. Will been reading up alot and also wondering if i shld get a second hand Kawai / Yahama or a brand new Hailun.


Parents / teachers, any advice?

Is she able to focus when she does other activities? Or is it just limited to piano?

Because frankly, if she is able to focus when she’s doing other things she likes (eg maybe art and craft?) but not for piano, then it’s pretty obvious her interest is not there. Is the teacher letting her play fun songs like Frozen theme song? That may help. But if still doesn’t help, then it’s probably time to cut your losses instead of investing a big lump sum into a piano now.

As a piano teacher, I would not expect the concentration span of a 6yo to be very long. Yes, interest might help to prolong her concentration, but overall they are still very young and it is perfectly normal for them to lose concentration and be distracted by other things.Therefore it is important for teachers to notice when the student starts to lose focus. Personally I do start off with 30 min lessons for younger children to gauge their concentration span, and usually 30 mins is enough for a start. I rather have an effective 30 min lesson than an ineffective 45 min lesson.

I would say she is probably too young to know where her interests are. I also believe 6 months is too early to tell whether or not she has interest. Even with interest, students still need to practice in order to improve.

\"Genius is 1% talent and 99% hard work\".

[CastleKoppie]

There is also no need to invest in a new piano, unless the current one is not functioning well. I personally don’t find the need to buy new piano for beginners, because at the end of the day, I expect my students to be able to play on all pianos. They should acquire the skill to adapt to different types of piano and not having to choose which piano they like to play on.

[cse1217]

Hi All,

If any of you would like to request for piano scores for songs which your child would like to learn but couldn't find a version suitable online, please contact me at 91468438.

Details to provide: Title of the song (with youtube link), what grade your child is at now and how long have your child been learning piano so far.

[Cherryplum]

Hydrate02:

My 6yo has been learning piano 1-1 for 6 months. Thgh she is not adversed to lessons and practising, she doesnt seem v eager about it too (same for other enrichment that she is gg). My purpose of sending her is to train her concentration skills. Now she is practising on a hand me down keyboard. Progress is slow cos she cannot focus. Will been reading up alot and also wondering if i shld get a second hand Kawai / Yahama or a brand new Hailun.


Parents / teachers, any advice?

Hi Hydrate02
I would suggest you look for another piano teacher who is experience in teaching yound children.
Children can concentrate very well if the teacher is engaging and has a good teaching method.
We got a Yamaha Arius digital piano as we also weren't sure if our child will sustain but so far so good. The piano is decent, has recording and playback functions so it adds some fun to playing and perfecting a song. We'll only consider getting a classic piano when child hits Grade 3 or higher.

[Dreamaurora]

Dear all,


the new syllabus will be out very soon. I will be organising a mini seminar to explore a selection of repertoire from Grade 1, 3 and 5. I will discuss also practice strategies and give technical tips to tackle these pieces. I will keep the seminar as accessible as possible so both students and teachers can benefit from it. Please PM or contact me to indicate if you are coming so I could arrange a seat for you. Selected copies of public domain scores will be provided but bring your own scores for the rest. I will update the post when I finalise the list of pieces I will discuss.

http://i68.tinypic.com/oj47cj.png\">