All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[sleepy]

Dreamaurora:

1. Dedicated piano teacher who instill strong love of music in his fun and informative lessons.

2. Teacher of two of youngest students in Singapore to achieve grade 5 with distinctions.

I will be lying if I say I don't plan to milk my teaching achievements to get more good students.

I would go for number 1

I mentioned earlier I picked a teacher with little teaching experience (ie. no success story to tell) but is super encouraging, over another teacher who is too critical in my opinion but with many more years of teaching experience

[sleepy]

chamonix:

I am of the same school of thought. No point dictating what they should

learn. Both pick up the instruments themselves willingly.

:hi5:

[Dreamaurora]

chamonix:

If I am a parent for aiming for only exams and grades, I'll definitely answer the ad. Hehe

Haha, true. But the demand is still there judging by the hordes of kids auditioning for School of Young Talents.

But there is a flip side to this. Most of my students pick up piano without any expectation of stellar result. When they actually managed to improve or get good result in exams, they are pleasantly surprised and get motivated more. I always stress its the journey that matters. Although my students take exams, I tell them even after they put in their best efforts and they only secure a pass, it is a still a job well done. And for some of them, even passing an exam is like a super big achievement for them. And failures are not the end of the road really. I had an adult beginner student who took grade 5 under me and failed because of some really poor time management. But the failure actually stirred him up more and he learnt from his mistakes. Fast forward 2 years later and he just passed his grade 7 under me a few months ago. I am really proud of him, and I dare say even more than the two 6 year olds.

I think criticising a student's playing just because it is not up to my expectation despite the student putting in his/her best effort is a very mean thing to do. A teacher can criticize a student's attitude, but never the student's effort.

[Dreamaurora]

sleepy:

Dreamaurora:

1. Dedicated piano teacher who instill strong love of music in his fun and informative lessons.

2. Teacher of two of youngest students in Singapore to achieve grade 5 with distinctions.

I will be lying if I say I don't plan to milk my teaching achievements to get more good students.

I would go for number 1

I mentioned earlier I picked a teacher with little teaching experience (ie. no success story to tell) but is super encouraging, over another teacher who is too critical in my opinion but with many more years of teaching experience

Haha, the logical solution for me would be to put BOTH then. :imcool:

[metz]

Dreamaurora:

I think criticising a student's playing just because it is not up to my expectation despite the student putting in his/her best effort is a very mean thing to do. A teacher can criticize a student's attitude, but never the student's effort.

Yes, a parent (and child) has to discern the types of criticism carefully.

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

sleepy:

[quote=\"Dreamaurora\"]1. Dedicated piano teacher who instill strong love of music in his fun and informative lessons.

2. Teacher of two of youngest students in Singapore to achieve grade 5 with distinctions.

I will be lying if I say I don't plan to milk my teaching achievements to get more good students.

I would go for number 1

I mentioned earlier I picked a teacher with little teaching experience (ie. no success story to tell) but is super encouraging, over another teacher who is too critical in my opinion but with many more years of teaching experience

Haha, the logical solution for me would be to put BOTH then. :imcool:[/quote]You actually \"advertise\"? Not by word of mouth? Whoa, then would parents rush to sign up if the teacher has \"groomed competition prizewinner\" in portfolio? LOL.

[metz]

phankao:

You actually \"advertise\"? Not by word of mouth? Whoa, then would parents rush to sign up if the teacher has \"groomed competition prizewinner\" in portfolio? LOL.

:rotflmao:

[metz]

sleepy:

chamonix:

I am of the same school of thought. No point dictating what they should

learn. Both pick up the instruments themselves willingly.

:hi5:

:hi5:

[Dreamaurora]

phankao:

You actually \"advertise\"? Not by word of mouth? Whoa, then would parents rush to sign up if the teacher has \"groomed competition prizewinner\" in portfolio? LOL.

You will be surprised that competition is quite fierce now. Even the established teachers in Singapore are finding it hard to find students, mainly because now there are far more qualified teachers in Singapore as compared to last time.

My coursemates from NAFA had to resort to teach music schools and travel to students' place. Some, even after teaching for 3 or 4 years, only have 2 or 3 fully private students. I had to teach music schools for almost 2 years after my graduation and only this year that I've gone fully private, so my student population is still quite small, but thankfully all are of good quality. The main issue here is word of mouth only works for teachers who have many years in the field. Like what jce has said, parents are normally reluctant to engage new teachers, preferring to go instead for those with 'years of experience'.

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

phankao:

You actually \"advertise\"? Not by word of mouth? Whoa, then would parents rush to sign up if the teacher has \"groomed competition prizewinner\" in portfolio? LOL.

You will be surprised that competition is quite fierce now. Even the established teachers in Singapore are finding it hard to find students, mainly because now there are far more qualified teachers in Singapore as compared to last time.

I must say that I did have a way easier time finding a suitable piano teacher for my toddler than a violin teacher. Actually I wasn't even looking for a piano teacher in the 1st place! So the pool of piano teachers IS larger, I guess.