All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[jce]

You should see the ones in UK, worse! Haha! Because UK is so big there are many, many, many centres so I think they just "make do" with what’s available as long as the piano is in-tune. From what I know, music centres here will apply to be an examination venue and as long as within a certain catchment there are no other examination venues then that’s ok. Of course the music schools can apply for in-house centre for their own students only. I guess ABRSM believes that the player plays a more important role than the tool, which I too agree. However can be a bit of a "scare" for the inexperienced ones

[phankao]

daisyt:

phankao:

No, the theory exams are at various centres around Singapore. eg. Suntec city convention halls, school halls, hotel & business meeting rooms, etc, etc, just to name a few.

As for practical exam studios, you can actually request for a certain area(altho' not the exact studio) when you register online but then, the studio they assign you - really up to your luck. eg. we were given an exam studio in the next town when we have one in our neighbourhood *sigh*. And the one given was quite a lousy studio, altho' ABRSM says it is within their standard (which must be quite low standards, then).

Yep! dd just encountered a very lousy piano in the exam studio. Echo and light. So different from our home and the piano teacher's one.

As in - your dd rented the studio for trial? Can change studio or not, I wonder?

My son's exam studio was quite lousy, and so I complained to ABRSM. The studio so small, and acoustics quite lousy. My son had to really project his violin sound even though it's such a small place. He usually only has to do this in a big hall. And then the aircon was right in the center of the tiny studio, making there no place for him to stand except at the back of the studio behind the piano, which was a very cramped space because they had many bookshelves there filled with music toys and art material (bc it is a art & music school?!!!) .... unless he wanted to stand right in front of the examiner's desk! Aircon blowing on violin is a no-no bc the strings would keep going out of tune and the bow tensity would vary too. *sigh* I was there during his trial. We were very disappointed.

I really regretted not requesting for a studio in town instead. Surely those in town not so lousy, right?

Anyway, when I complained to ABRSM, they say they inspect the studios regularly, including the pianos - apparently the UK office will send an inspector to do the job. Well, what can we say then, right?

[Faun]

phankao,


it’s difficult to get a group class for music theory and people say learning one to one at higher grade is boring.

Dd was asked if she wants to join a group class but the kids in there were all sec2’s, my dd only p4. I thought she’d be slower in understanding but her teacher thinks it’s okay. The class was for G6 theory. I didn’t feel comfortable, so we never sign up.

For earlier grades, the teacher did as part of piano lessons. She did okay, got merit for G5 last year. Do you think it’s okay to do grade 8 without proceeding with the theory for now. No time lah. They always say it’s best to proceed but is it necessary?

[jce]

It’s not necessary per se. Can go ahead with grade 8, even diploma without gr 6 - 8 theory, that’s why so many drop-out after 5.


Learning 1-1 is not boring if one finds the right teacher. I always believe theroy, at whichever level enhances the practical understanding of the way composers write their pieces, and these pieces are practical ways of learning theory too.

[phankao]

Faun:

phankao,


it's difficult to get a group class for music theory and people say learning one to one at higher grade is boring.

Dd was asked if she wants to join a group class but the kids in there were all sec2's, my dd only p4. I thought she'd be slower in understanding but her teacher thinks it's okay. The class was for G6 theory. I didn't feel comfortable, so we never sign up.

For earlier grades, the teacher did as part of piano lessons. She did okay, got merit for G5 last year. Do you think it's okay to do grade 8 without proceeding with the theory for now. No time lah. They always say it's best to proceed but is it necessary?

I don't see why learning 1-to-1 is boring? But yeah, why do more than g5 theory unless your child is interested in doing so?

[Faun]

phankao,


I think the same too. Just need some affirmation because I don’t know music education much and I think sometime I just get politically correct answers/advice from the pros. Need to be prudent with dd’s time. She’s still very young, must have some idle time to enjoy her childhood. Thanks!

[daisyt]

phankao:

daisyt:

[quote=\"phankao\"]
No, the theory exams are at various centres around Singapore. eg. Suntec city convention halls, school halls, hotel & business meeting rooms, etc, etc, just to name a few.

As for practical exam studios, you can actually request for a certain area(altho' not the exact studio) when you register online but then, the studio they assign you - really up to your luck. eg. we were given an exam studio in the next town when we have one in our neighbourhood *sigh*. And the one given was quite a lousy studio, altho' ABRSM says it is within their standard (which must be quite low standards, then).

Yep! dd just encountered a very lousy piano in the exam studio. Echo and light. So different from our home and the piano teacher's one.

As in - your dd rented the studio for trial? Can change studio or not, I wonder?

My son's exam studio was quite lousy, and so I complained to ABRSM. The studio so small, and acoustics quite lousy. My son had to really project his violin sound even though it's such a small place. He usually only has to do this in a big hall. And then the aircon was right in the center of the tiny studio, making there no place for him to stand except at the back of the studio behind the piano, which was a very cramped space because they had many bookshelves there filled with music toys and art material (bc it is a art & music school?!!!) .... unless he wanted to stand right in front of the examiner's desk! Aircon blowing on violin is a no-no bc the strings would keep going out of tune and the bow tensity would vary too. *sigh* I was there during his trial. We were very disappointed.

I really regretted not requesting for a studio in town instead. Surely those in town not so lousy, right?

Anyway, when I complained to ABRSM, they say they inspect the studios regularly, including the pianos - apparently the UK office will send an inspector to do the job. Well, what can we say then, right?[/quote]Yes, we rented the studio for trial. From my understanding, cannot change or maybe not enough time to rebook and change. Anyway I have feedback to the teacher and hopefully next year, would book elsewhere.

[phankao]

daisyt:

Yes, we rented the studio for trial. From my understanding, cannot change or maybe not enough time to rebook and change. Anyway I have feedback to the teacher and hopefully next year, would book elsewhere.

Why don't you feedback directly to ABRSM?

[daisyt]

phankao:

daisyt:

Yes, we rented the studio for trial. From my understanding, cannot change or maybe not enough time to rebook and change. Anyway I have feedback to the teacher and hopefully next year, would book elsewhere.

Why don't you feedback directly to ABRSM?

Because I feel that at this grade, one should possess the skill to play all kinds of piano at whatever circumstances. So I just let it be .... And I leave it to the teacher to decide for future exam venue.

[winniel_tlh]

Hello,


I'm looking for Piano Teacher for my son (7 yrs old, doing grade 1). I'd prefer house visit if possible, as I realized that bringing him for lessons at Yamaha Tampines takes up quite a bit of time for a mere 45 mins lesson.

Can anyone recommend an experienced teacher? We live in Pasir Ris

Thank you!