All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[violet04]

pianojazzy:

4YO to start with 1-1 is fine. My 4YO are able to take 45min. Though their attn span might not be long enough to sustain but there are a lot of activities to do with them.


Normally i will tend to stretch their attn span every week on the piano so that they will be able to sit for 45min at the piano eventually. However, it depends on individual as well so some assessment is required. Generally it works well even for 3YO

Hope this helps.

Hi Pianojazzy,
Refer to \"stretch their attn span every week on the piano\", is it means play scales for 1 octave?

[corneyAmber]

Eg. first lesson the child can only sit there for 15min. After that she will be drifting away and not listening or following instructions. Which mean the child has only 15min attn span. 2nd lesson, i will try to make her sit longer then 15min. She will be drifting away as usual after 15min. But i will try to attract her attention, and make her focus slightly longer. If she can focus for another 5min will be v good enough and the rest of the time she will be doing other activities like colouring, copying of notes, flashcards and sticker pasting - all related to what i have taught her on the piano or going to start for the next lesson. I will be switching activities during lessons so as to keep her focus instead of her thinking of when is lesson ending etc. this goes on till she can sit for 45min on the piano etc.


Hope u understand what i mean

[sleepy]

titank:

Hi All,


Would a child at Age 4 too young to learn piano? I mean individual 1 to 1 piano lessons? Some teachers said it is too young wher suggest to start at 5.Other said it is ok & some would require assessment.

Would a 30 minutes or 45 minute session to start off with just Age 4?

Age 5 is a good time to start. Generally children would have longer span of attention by then. Can pick up piano at a faster pace. I would suggest starting off with group lessons. Much more fun for the child.

For my dd, she started at age 5. In group lessons for 9 months before switching her to individual lessons

[violet04]

pianojazzy:

Eg. first lesson the child can only sit there for 15min. After that she will be drifting away and not listening or following instructions. Which mean the child has only 15min attn span. 2nd lesson, i will try to make her sit longer then 15min. She will be drifting away as usual after 15min. But i will try to attract her attention, and make her focus slightly longer. If she can focus for another 5min will be v good enough and the rest of the time she will be doing other activities like colouring, copying of notes, flashcards and sticker pasting - all related to what i have taught her on the piano or going to start for the next lesson. I will be switching activities during lessons so as to keep her focus instead of her thinking of when is lesson ending etc. this goes on till she can sit for 45min on the piano etc.


Hope u understand what i mean

Thks for sharing. I'm fully understand your explanation.

[metz]

titank:

Hi All,


Would a child at Age 4 too young to learn piano? I mean individual 1 to 1 piano lessons? Some teachers said it is too young wher suggest to start at 5.Other said it is ok & some would require assessment.

Would a 30 minutes or 45 minute session to start off with just Age 4?

Besides attention span, you may want to consider the child's finger strength. If they are not strong enough, it's easy to develop bad playing habits which will affect his/her playing as the child advances to higher level playing.

My girl started at 3+ years old with 30 minutes sessions. The entire lesson is solely practical and aural training. But the teacher will spend additional 5 minutes to mark and explain some theory concepts. For theory, she'll complete the work at home.

[titank]

Hi All,


May I know how should I go about it select piano teacher? Some of them have Diploma, Degree, performance cert, teaching cert & even theory cert. 1 piano teacher quoted me $100/hr for beginner rates.

When should I start getting a keyboard?Most teacher said we need the keyboard so that the child can practise.

[BlurBee]

:shock: $100/hr!

I think that's too ex.

[corneyAmber]

Yup finger strength is impt too. For the pieces that they will be practising, finger strength shouldn’t be a problem.


As for certs teachers holding, generally for ABRSM, there are 3 diplomas - Dipabrsm, LRSM, FRSM. For trinityguildhall, there are ATCL, LTCL, FTCL.

Dipabrsm and ATCL are diploma lvl. LRSM and LTCL are somewhat similar to degree and FRSM and FTCL = PHD. Some schs pay teachers with ABRSM certs more than the other certs.

For ABRSM and Trinityguildhall, there are different diplomas. Being teaching and performing more popular.

For performing, the exam is similar to taking graded exam - preparing 3 pieces etc.

Teaching diploma is different - basically teaching skills are examined.

Some teachers took their degree in other countries like australia or states.
Or conservatories in Vienna, Shanghai or Beijing etc.

As teaching diploma relates more to teaching. Engaging a teacher with teaching diploma would be more appropriate. Or teachers with degree in Piano Pedagogy.

[sinus123]

Hi All,


Anyone can recommend a qualified piano teacher for my kid, age 7. She just ended her Yamaha Electone course at a nearby CC.

Preferably able to come to Toa Payoh, for either Monday or Tuesday mornings.

Pls PM me the details.

Thanks.

[titank]

pianojazzy:

Yup finger strength is impt too. For the pieces that they will be practising, finger strength shouldn't be a problem.


As for certs teachers holding, generally for ABRSM, there are 3 diplomas - Dipabrsm, LRSM, FRSM. For trinityguildhall, there are ATCL, LTCL, FTCL.

Dipabrsm and ATCL are diploma lvl. LRSM and LTCL are somewhat similar to degree and FRSM and FTCL = PHD. Some schs pay teachers with ABRSM certs more than the other certs.

For ABRSM and Trinityguildhall, there are different diplomas. Being teaching and performing more popular.

For performing, the exam is similar to taking graded exam - preparing 3 pieces etc.

Teaching diploma is different - basically teaching skills are examined.

Some teachers took their degree in other countries like australia or states.
Or conservatories in Vienna, Shanghai or Beijing etc.

As teaching diploma relates more to teaching. Engaging a teacher with teaching diploma would be more appropriate. Or teachers with degree in Piano Pedagogy.

Hi pianojazzy,

There is a teacher with Diploma in Piano Performance (DipABRSM) charging at $100 (4 lesson at 30 min) & another teacher with Master Degree in music, majoring in piano charging $130 (4 lesson at 45 min). May I know which should I consider to engage?

I had also went to the Singapore Music Teacher Association websitre but only some of them are registered. So I should let the child go thru ABRSM or TCL path?