NAFA School of Young Talents - Discussion

[watmekiasu]

What I find most amazing is how these kids manage to find and concentrate for 2 - 4 hours on one activity, each day. My dd practices for about 1 hr, 3-4 times a week and even those 1 hr practices are filled with 101 interruptions in between. It’s a good thing she has finished her Grade 8 exam cos I can’t imagine what it would be like when the school ratches it up from P4 onwards.

[Petlover]

I'm so envious of you watmekiasu ! your kid can finish grade 8 before P4 :celebrate:


I don't think every kid can take 2 - 4 hrs of training everyday, but for those who could be disciplined or passionate enough to do this, I think they could really excel in a few year time. I remembered seeing a list of winners of the national piano competition , and most of the winners are from NAFA, may be that's the reason why it's so attractive to the parents . But once they get in they'll start to realize the commitments required for both student and parents are quite high, and they starts to get nervous and feel the pressure ....

My girl is in K2 and she's been learning violin in NAFA for 1 yr , half of the original class are gone so far for various reasons. ( with some new students to come in to fill the slots). Every half year there is an exam and after the exam a few students will disappear That put a lot of pressure to the parents.... Tough world

[radiantmum]

dennisl:

Thanks Appletree ! Last week I saw a TV program with 2 NAFA SYT students playing piano and violin. The boy who plays piano is 9 yrs old and the girl who plays violin is 8 yrs old I think. The host asked the boy how much time he practices the piano daily, the boys said 2 to 4 hours per day :shock: . Sounds this is like the norm in NAFA SYT.... and you really have to pay the price to excel in a musical instrument.

WOW I am VERY IMPRESSED indeed. I can't even get my kid to practise more than 15 mins each time ...With such determination, honestly I think they deserve to win as well eh?

My kid has learnt 2 years at Junior Yamaha Course - not required to sit for exams I believe until end of year 4. For me, I am not too concern when he'll finish his grade and whether he is technically perfect (I dont understand if it is anyway ). I am just happy the way he is - loving music and looking forward to every lesson.

[watmekiasu]

Petlover:

I'm so envious of you watmekiasu ! your kid can finish grade 8 before P4 :celebrate:


My girl is in K2 and she's been learning violin in NAFA for 1 yr , half of the original class are gone so far for various reasons. ( with some new students to come in to fill the slots). Every half year there is an exam and after the exam a few students will disappear That put a lot of pressure to the parents.... Tough world

I think it helped that dd only took 2 practical exams being Gr3 and 8 plus gd5 theory. Hence, she was not put off by too much intensive practices. Her usual practice is sloppy, to say the least, but she does it happily. She does ratch it up 2 months or so before the exams though. It has produced results, not brilliant ,just 2 distinctions and a merit. Her passion for music is there as she frequently plays old pieces that she likes, not required for her current lessons. It also helped that we pruned her schedule at P2 for more R&R. She stopped chinese-dance lessons (this required a ridiculous amount of extra lessons leading to the exam :x) and Piano. Currently, she's doing both violin and cello. She's really loving the cello - once again, no graded exam target.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is let your child learn music for the right reasons. Let them develope a lifelong love for music. Let them learn at their own pace for that. Not everyone is born a Gabriel Ng or Phoebe Sim or even close.

[hhtang]

Hi All,

I am new here. My girl is 5 year old, next Feb will 6. She is now study Yamaha Junior course Term 3. She likes piano and erveryday practises 1-2 hours. I am interested in NAFA Gifted Young piano course and Yamaha Junior Special Advance Course. Anyone know which one is better? I want to compare course content , durations, fees…

[acforfamily]

hhtang:

Hi All,

I am new here. My girl is 5 year old, next Feb will 6. She is now study Yamaha Junior course Term 3. She likes piano and erveryday practises 1-2 hours. I am interested in NAFA Gifted Young piano course and Yamaha Junior Special Advance Course. Anyone know which one is better? I want to compare course content , durations, fees...

Hi hhtang,
We had some discussion here on Yamaha JSAC.
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2423
Hope it helps.

...............................................................
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[sleepy]

Can parents with kids in Nafa share what happened during audition?


How is the audition being conducted?
Child needs to prepare a piano piece to play on day of audition?

Thanks for sharing your experience

[hhtang]

acforfamily:

Hi hhtang,

We had some discussion here on Yamaha JSAC.
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2423
Hope it helps.

Thanks acforfamily.

[Petlover]

sleepy:

Can parents with kids in Nafa share what happened during audition?


How is the audition being conducted?
Child needs to prepare a piano piece to play on day of audition?

Thanks for sharing your experience

Yes Sleepy. you need to prepare a piano piece and also a song to sing. If I remember correctly, they will test sight reading ( around 2 to 3 bars and they may ask your kid to count out loud) and recognize chord and single note when they play on the piano. Teacher will also play part of a song and ask your kid to sing the melody. i think that's about all .

[Petlover]

watmekiasu:

Basically, what I'm trying to say is let your child learn music for the right reasons. Let them develope a lifelong love for music. Let them learn at their own pace for that. Not everyone is born a Gabriel Ng or Phoebe Sim or even close.

Very enlightening Watmekiasu! But 2 distinctions and 1 merit are BRILLIANT result Thank you for sharing !