Teacher Dreamaurora - Piano Q&A

[Dreamaurora]

Dreamaurora:

sacredmusicals:

I concur with dreamaurora about young pianists' capabilities nowadays. But I do find the instance of the YouTube recording provided above suspicious. It sounds too clean like it was recorded in a recording studio and not at home studio. Normally can hear things like background noise but there is none totally there as far as I can tell. But this is just a hunch and for all we know he could be a sound engineer too. And oh by the way dreamaurora, are you going to perform anytime soon? Would love to see you play.

Possible to get that kind of quality at home, need very good condenser mic and the piano should be in a soundproof room. Anyway, passing off artists' recordings as their own are quite rampant even among students applying to conservatories. So much so that many established conservatories only accept video recordings now. And in the professional classical world, there was this very embarassing scandal that made a lot of professionals see red; google Joyce Hatto.

Oh yes, this year is quite exciting. I actually have at least 2 small concerts scheduled this year, one of them is a solo (details to be confirmed). The last time I played full solo was during my graduation recital in NAFA 2 years ago. So, keeping fingers crossed it will turn out good. Can always meet you for a chat and will be happy to play for you in a piano showroom.

[windows]

Thanks for the article. When is a metronome needed?

[Dreamaurora]

windows:

Thanks for the article. When is a metronome needed?

My personal opinion on this is that as soon as first lesson is started. I am a firm believer that students must have a good sense of rhythm and pulse; and this has to be emphasized even when playing the simplest tunes. It is true that good music is seldom metronomical and depending on metronome too much can actually be detrimental to actual music making. But as a practice tool, metronome is a powerful tool that is especially useful to slowly practice sections of pieces to their intended speed. However do take note that different teachers may have different opinions regarding metronome usage and even in professional world this topic is still debated quite often, so don't take my words on this matter as the absolute fact.

[i3mum]

Hi all,


Wanted to ask if it is common to skip grades for piano?

[Dreamaurora]

i3mum:

Hi all,


Wanted to ask if it is common to skip grades for piano?

It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

[i3mum]

Hi Dreamaurora,


Thanks for your reply. Now I have a better view. I understand that those from NAFA take 2 grades in a year, it's amazing and I guess it must be very taxing on the students!

Dreamaurora:

It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

[phankao]

i3mum:

Hi Dreamaurora,


Thanks for your reply. Now I have a better view. I understand that those from NAFA take 2 grades in a year, it's amazing and I guess it must be very taxing on the students!

Dreamaurora:

It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

In NAFA, they might not actually take the ABRSM exam. Bc they do conduct internal exams 2x a year, I think.

[Dreamaurora]

phankao:

i3mum:

Hi Dreamaurora,


Thanks for your reply. Now I have a better view. I understand that those from NAFA take 2 grades in a year, it's amazing and I guess it must be very taxing on the students!
[quote=\"Dreamaurora\"]
It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

In NAFA, they might not actually take the ABRSM exam. Bc they do conduct internal exams 2x a year, I think.[/quote]You are correct. They have internal exams, the only actual ABRMS exams the students take are grade 5 and 8.

[i3mum]

Now I know

Dreamaurora:

You are correct. They have internal exams, the only actual ABRMS exams the students take are grade 5 and 8.

[peachbubble]

Dreamaurora:

i3mum:

Hi all,


Wanted to ask if it is common to skip grades for piano?

It is common for students to skip exams, but not skip grades. Teachers understand that it is a hassle to take every single graded exam from grade 1-8, so most will only choose selected grades to be taken. For my studio, most of my students take either grade 3 or 5 as their first exam. This does not mean any grades is skipped. Skipping grades is dangerous and will cause massive difficulty spike for students, not to mention weaker foundation overall because of lesser time spent building foundation and acquiring repertoire. So let's say even if the first exam a student takes is grade 3, the teacher would have gone through the materials and pieces in grade 1-2 before preparing for grade 3.

Dreamaurora,

Can you share the materials that you are using for each grade? Do you have specific sets of materials/books/songs etc that the students must complete before upgrading them to the next grade? In addition, how many songs or what's the workload for your students?

Thanks.

PeachBubble