All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[metz]

sandunes:

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

Actually; the above statement will put me off, rather than attract my interest. (but that's just me)

I would be more interested in \"how\" a teacher can engage and motivate the students. [/quote]On top of that, i'll also be curious how well a teacher's students can play in general. My piano teacher shared that she ever had 'transferred' students who played exam pieces excellently, but performed below par for all other non-exam pieces.

[sleepy]

Dreamaurora:

phankao:

You actually \"advertise\"? Not by word of mouth?

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.

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'.

I noticed that too. Some what a 'buyer's market' in teaching industry. When I was searching for a music teacher recently, I was surprised for such an ulu instrument (not piano), there're actually so many teachers!
I spoke to around 7 to 8 teachers over the phone, shortlisted 3 to meet up and eventually chose 1

So not to mention for such a popular instrument like piano, parents would have an even wider pool to choose from. Indeed very competitive among piano teachers.

Assume all are good piano teachers technically, in order to stand out from competition, I believe attitude counts. Teachers who teach seriously, with proper lesson plan & not just pondering along would sit well with parents. And teachers should not be too calculative. I've heard of teachers who travelled to students home but asking for payment for extra couple minutes of time or transport fare after a few lessons. How to get recommendation through 'word of mouth' this way?

And with wider pool of teachers to choose from, naturally parents become slightly more price sensitive.
Encountered a few recent year diploma graduates who seem to unknowingly price themselves out of the market, asking $200 to $250/mth. Quite expensive considering some degree teachers with many years experience also charging similar range.

Just sharing my 2cts, no offence to any teachers wor

[Dreamaurora]

chamonix:

sandunes:

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

Actually; the above statement will put me off, rather than attract my interest. (but that's just me)

I would be more interested in \"how\" a teacher can engage and motivate the students.

On top of that, i'll also be curious how well a teacher's students can play in general. My piano teacher shared that she ever had 'transferred' students who played exam pieces excellently, but performed below par for all other non-exam pieces.[/quote]If a student keeps playing the same 3 pieces all over and over again for a period of one year, the exam pieces are most likely to sound good. But ultimately the students have to develop their own musicianship and become more independent. What I do is I give easier pieces for my students for them to practice. They will then need to bring those pieces up to performance level with minimum assistance from me. I also try to engage them in discussions and will often ask them questions about their pieces.

However, not all students want to do this. Last time in music school I taught a girl who just wished to get her exams done. She actually complained to school when I tried to give her extra non exam pieces.

[Dreamaurora]

sleepy:

Dreamaurora:

[quote=\"phankao\"]
You actually \"advertise\"? Not by word of mouth?

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.

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'.

I noticed that too. Some what a 'buyer's market' in teaching industry. When I was searching for a music teacher recently, I was surprised for such an ulu instrument (not piano), there're actually so many teachers!
I spoke to around 7 to 8 teachers over the phone, shortlisted 3 to meet up and eventually chose 1

So not to mention for such a popular instrument like piano, parents would have an even wider pool to choose from. Indeed very competitive among piano teachers.

Assume all are good piano teachers technically, in order to stand out from competition, I believe attitude counts. Teachers who teach seriously, with proper lesson plan & not just pondering along would sit well with parents. And teachers should not be too calculative. I've heard of teachers who travelled to students home but asking for payment for extra couple minutes of time or transport fare after a few lessons. How to get recommendation through 'word of mouth' this way?

And with wider pool of teachers to choose from, naturally parents become slightly more price sensitive.
Encountered a few recent year diploma graduates who seem to unknowingly price themselves out of the market, asking $200 to $250/mth. Quite expensive considering some degree teachers with many years experience also charging similar range.

Just sharing my 2cts, no offence to any teachers wor [/quote]Agreed, cannot be too greedy as a teacher and have to be more transparent in lesson plans and fees. That is why I recently acquired a domain name and is in the process of creating a website so all the relevant info can be accessed readily for prospective students.

[sleepy]

Dreamaurora:

Last time in music school I taught a girl who just wished to get her exams done. She actually complained to school when I tried to give her extra non exam pieces.

a FOCUS student

[sacredmusicals]

Hey dreamaurora, I checked out your website in progress (can find the link in his profile). Something caught my eye. You STARTED learning piano at the age of 17? I never thought NAFA accepts adults for their piano department.

[phankao]

sacredmusicals:

Hey dreamaurora, I checked out your website in progress (can find the link in his profile). Something caught my eye. You STARTED learning piano at the age of 17? I never thought NAFA accepts adults for their piano department.

For their diploma and degree c courses, why not?

[Dreamaurora]

phankao:

sacredmusicals:

Hey dreamaurora, I checked out your website in progress (can find the link in his profile). Something caught my eye. You STARTED learning piano at the age of 17? I never thought NAFA accepts adults for their piano department.

For their diploma and degree c courses, why not?

You will be very surprised quite a few adults actually entered NAFA Music Diploma and BA courses. Though for piano quite rare, but not nonexistant. In my batch, there were 2 ladies who were older than me (I was 22 then). In the previous batch, there was a 27 year old man who got in. In other instruments such as vocal and composition, they even have students who are over 30 years old.

I did wish I started piano earlier though because I was seriously outclassed for the first few years by my younger peers. But then last time my parents were very much against me learning piano. They sincerely believed that all males who learn piano will turn homosexual (I am not making this up) and so forbade me from picking up piano when I was a child. I had to save up money just for my first piano lessons and rented piano room at Cristofori to practice.

[sleepy]

Dreamaurora:

phankao:

For their diploma and degree c courses, why not?

You will be very surprised quite a few adults actually entered NAFA Music Diploma and BA courses. Though for piano quite rare, but not nonexistant. In my batch, there were 2 ladies who were older than me (I was 22 then). In the previous batch, there was a 27 year old man who got in. In other instruments such as vocal and composition, they even have students who are over 30 years old.

I thought Nafa only has diploma for music? No degree course for music.

Degree is by Royal College of Music but only newly launched this year. So students not graduated yet.

[Dreamaurora]

sleepy:

Dreamaurora:

[quote=\"phankao\"]For their diploma and degree c courses, why not?

You will be very surprised quite a few adults actually entered NAFA Music Diploma and BA courses. Though for piano quite rare, but not nonexistant. In my batch, there were 2 ladies who were older than me (I was 22 then). In the previous batch, there was a 27 year old man who got in. In other instruments such as vocal and composition, they even have students who are over 30 years old.

I thought Nafa only has diploma for music? No degree course for music.

Degree is by Royal College of Music but only newly launched this year. So students not graduated yet.[/quote]Last time NAFA offers BA Music by University of Wales. Only this year change to RCM.