Teacher Dreamaurora - Piano Q&A

[Dreamaurora]

chamonix:

Dreamaurora:

Normally I will play through the pieces my students play unless it is their sightreading materials. I will then go through the notes for the more tricky sections; but in general I let them learn their own notes and they may refer to recordings if they are not sure. This is my personal belief and other teachers may have different methods to teach pieces, so don't take my words on this as facts.

Hi Dreamaurora,

Thanks for the explanation although I must confess the earlier post on sight-reading is a little too cheem for me. Nonetheless, it will be a good reference for my kids as they progress to higher levels.

My kids' experiences are kind of different. Their teacher often leaves them alone to work on new pieces. She will then correct their mistakes and have them refined the pieces over the next few lessons. No additional easier pieces below their levels are assigned to them too. I suppose she is training their sight-reading ability using their current level materials.

However, I do find your method of getting your students practise lower grade pieces interesting. In fact, my daughter often seeks out the easier pieces, e.g grade 1, and practises them to relieve herself the boredom of piano practices. You mentioned sightreading as being able to play an easier piece several grades lower immediately without any preparation or practice. What expectation do you hold for such pieces? Would you expect the student to play the piece at the indicated tempo immediately to perfection, i.e with articulation and the finer details?

Yes, when it comes to sight reading, a pianist should be able to play through an easier piece with almost all the details as if he/she has practiced it before. You can read up the exam boards' syllabus to find out the required sight-reading level for each grade. General rule of thumb is a student must be able to sight read 4 grades below his/her current grade.

[joyofmusic]

Hi Chamonix.


Rest assured. Your kids are doing well because they are able to learn independently. Their teacher is treating them as independent learners and that should be the goal of every teacher and pupil. Unfortunately here, the kids tend to be spoon fed alot. Many need to be led by the hand step by step, otherwise they can’t or won’t do it. Sad state. Partly because they expect everything to be done for them (with maids, tutors etc). Partly because their foundation is actually very poor. They learn only to take exams and so their actual level may be much lower than what they think. When the teacher assigns them a piece which is supposed to be at their grade level, they can’t manage to learn on their own becuase they are actually way below that grade.

[peanut_butter]

+1.

[Dreamaurora]

joyofmusic:

Hi Chamonix.


Rest assured. Your kids are doing well because they are able to learn independently. Their teacher is treating them as independent learners and that should be the goal of every teacher and pupil. Unfortunately here, the kids tend to be spoon fed alot. Many need to be led by the hand step by step, otherwise they can't or won't do it. Sad state. Partly because they expect everything to be done for them (with maids, tutors etc). Partly because their foundation is actually very poor. They learn only to take exams and so their actual level may be much lower than what they think. When the teacher assigns them a piece which is supposed to be at their grade level, they can't manage to learn on their own becuase they are actually way below that grade.

Some teachers do spoonfeeding simply because they can be in control over every single thing the student play; this will allow them to maintain a consistent standard of playing and translate to consistent mark during exams. The students may appear to play very well, but then we wonder if it is really the student playing or the teacher playing instead. But then some parents do not mind as long the result is good. I am against spoonfeeding, but nowadays in this instant digital age where a lot of young children expect information to be so readily available, students are little less willing to explore and discover on their own (thankfully my students are not like that).

[peanut_butter]

Dreamaurora:

Some teachers do spoonfeeding simply because they can be in control over every single thing the student play; this will allow them to maintain a consistent standard of playing and translate to consistent mark during exams.

i think joyofmusic and chamonix refer to spoonfeed as in the initial stage of reading a new piece. Because if the student can follow every detail, he/she must be really good.

[Dreamaurora]

peanut_butter:

Dreamaurora:

Some teachers do spoonfeeding simply because they can be in control over every single thing the student play; this will allow them to maintain a consistent standard of playing and translate to consistent mark during exams.

i think joyofmusic and chamonix refer to spoonfeed as in the initial stage of reading a new piece. Because if the student can follow every detail, he/she must be really good.

A few teachers I know actually sit down together with their students and literally ask the students to play along with them until they get the notes and details correct. I did ask one of them (yes, this particular teacher even does it up to diploma level and her students consistently score high for their pieces) before if she thinks it's healthy for the students. She just shrugged and said that is what most students want, to just copy whatever she tells them because she is very good in interpreting the pieces.

And speaking from my own personal experience, I actually received a complaint last time when I was working in music school. Typically in lesson I would try to stimulate the students by asking them questions, talking about the piece's background and styles, demonstrating them various ways to interpret the pieces, etc. And believe it or not, one of the high grade students assigned to me actually complained to the school management that I discussed too much and that I should focus on just teaching her about the pieces. So I guess not ALL students want to be independent.

[metz]

joyofmusic:

Hi Chamonix.


Rest assured. Your kids are doing well because they are able to learn independently. Their teacher is treating them as independent learners and that should be the goal of every teacher and pupil. Unfortunately here, the kids tend to be spoon fed alot. Many need to be led by the hand step by step, otherwise they can't or won't do it. Sad state. Partly because they expect everything to be done for them (with maids, tutors etc). Partly because their foundation is actually very poor. They learn only to take exams and so their actual level may be much lower than what they think. When the teacher assigns them a piece which is supposed to be at their grade level, they can't manage to learn on their own becuase they are actually way below that grade.

Hi Joyofmusic,

Thanks for the assurance. I am very grateful that the music teachers my kids met so far share similar ideals as yours. Not sure if it's a norm but the music teachers here are impressed with my children's foundation and I credit this to the previous music teachers who have done a great job in teaching my kids.

[metz]

Dreamaurora:

Yes, when it comes to sight reading, a pianist should be able to play through an easier piece with almost all the details as if he/she has practiced it before. You can read up the exam boards' syllabus to find out the required sight-reading level for each grade. General rule of thumb is a student must be able to sight read 4 grades below his/her current grade.

Thanks, I'll find out more on the abrsm sight reading requirements.

[Angelight]

Hi dreamaurora,


My child (she’s 4 yo turning 5 later this year) is currently learning piano in Yamaha’s JMC. She started only this year and I find that she has a good ear and memory for music. She can play a new piece after a few practices just by learning the solfege of that song, even before the teacher teaches them to play.

I’m thinking of letting her learn thru JMC till end of this year (cos she really enjoys her music class), after which I may find a private music teacher for her so she can start learning Grade 1. Is it advisable for her to start one-on-one so young, or shld I let her get one more year of music foundation in JMC?

[Dreamaurora]

Angelight:

Hi dreamaurora,


My child (she's 4 yo turning 5 later this year) is currently learning piano in Yamaha's JMC. She started only this year and I find that she has a good ear and memory for music. She can play a new piece after a few practices just by learning the solfege of that song, even before the teacher teaches them to play.

I'm thinking of letting her learn thru JMC till end of this year (cos she really enjoys her music class), after which I may find a private music teacher for her so she can start learning Grade 1. Is it advisable for her to start one-on-one so young, or shld I let her get one more year of music foundation in JMC?

I think this question got asked before and I replied to it before, but anyway I will restate my view on this. I think jmc is a good course for young kids as it focuses on building the basics such as listening skill, good pulse and learning a lot of simple songs. Kids below 7 are generally more focused towards creation and jmc is geared towards this principle; this explains why most young kids like jmc lessons.

Classical 1 to 1 lesson is geared towards cultivating the expressive quality of a student. There is a much greater emphasis to get a piece to sound 'right' i.e. with all the correct details such as articulation, dynamics, style, correct tempo, etc. In the sense, classical piano lesson seems to be more restrictive in terms of what a student can do. This also requires a deeper level of intelligence as the students will need to be taught the rationale behind the expression. Students will also spend significantly more time to finish a piece as compared to jmc. This is why children below 6 is not recommended to take 1 to 1 as they may not be able to understand the concepts behind the expression or lack the mental focus.

However there are exceptions. I am aware there are private teachers who adopt jmc like curriculum for very young kids. I also had success with young kids below 6 also, but one of the parents must have knowledge of piano. In fact, it is my studio policy to require the parent to know or still learning piano if they wish to start 1 to 1 below 6. This is because parental assistance for practice is essential as children that age cannot plan their practice yet.

My personal recommendation would be to continue jmc until your daughter about to turn 6 then switch her to 1 to 1. If you want to have 1 to 1 now, find a private teacher who relates to kids well and can teach similar to jmc so the transition to classical style lesson is smoother.