All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers
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germum:
what other things to consider?
Did your boy show interest ? -
phankao:
Hi Phankao,
Your 4yo can concentrate on a lesson at night?germum:
Hi,
I am looking for a female teacher to teach my 4 years old boy..
prefer to go teacher's plac/studio in the east as currently no piano at home.. planning to get a keyboard first.
Prefer a weekday night.
If anyone has any suitable teacher to recommend, please email me at [email protected]
Thanks in advance.
I know it can be tricky ... even in the late afternoon. Timing very important for lessons for preschoolers.
i think so.. i referring more to 7pm?cos i usually will do activities with him in the evening.i think he ok with that timing.P -
germum:
If you wish to start individual lesson, I generally recommend getting a full time home-based piano teacher if you want a stable teacher. It is more expensive and troublesome, but definitely worth the trouble if you want the quality and stability. Most music school and travelling teachers often suffer from poor attrition rate. Music schools' teachers often change (unless study direct with owner) and travelling teachers may drop your son out anytime (yes, it happened to one of my current student because the teacher wanted to focus on her full time career).Dreamaurora:
[quote=\"germum\"]Hi,
i am thinking of letting my 4 yr old boy learn piano.
i have a few questions and hope someone can help to answer.
-should i send to a school or to have a teacher coming or going to her place to learn
-can we get a keyboard first and test water the child interest? cos i dont want to have a white elephant in the house.
-anyone has contact of teacher to recommend?i staying in the east. can email me at [email protected]
-do we go teacher's place or teacher come our place?
- what is the current rate?
Thank you
As a starter instrument, I recommend a minimum of properly weighted digital piano, which nowadays you can get from $800-2000. Best if you can invest in a better instrument from the start to show to your son that you are serious about piano. If you just want to test the water first, you can send your son for appreciation courses such as JMC. For this purpose, a keyboard will be sufficient.
Hope that helps, PMed you a contact for a teacher in the East.
Hi Dreamaurora, thank you for your pm.
I have another question. My friends were advising me to go to musch school for lesson.. group classes.. as they felt that my boy is too young. but i see from this forum, a lot of kids started around his age.. some even young.
How do i determine whether to go for class or individual class? to go school or home-based teacher?
what other things to consider?
Sorry for many questions as i am new to all these[/quote]Do you play piano or other instrument yourself? 4 years old children are not independent learners and you will need to assist your son in practice, which means sitting down with him during practice. There is no need for a rush to start lessons early, unless you plan to prepare your son for professional music career or accelerated courses such as NAFA Young Talents. I myself started at 17 years old and still managed to get my Hons in piano. This is Kiasuparents and of course there will be parents who start their kids very early, but the only way I can see this working is if at least one parent has music knowledge and able to assist. Yes, all my young students below 7 have parents who sit in and assist in practice.
You need to ask yourself first what is the purpose of sending your son to learn piano. Piano learning is a long and expensive journey, not to mention a physically and mentally exhausting at higher level. And this means you will need to commit time and money for your son, which get exponentially more as time goes. There will be exams and concerts to prepare so you must be prepared for this also. There is this misconception that as long as your child is interested, he will practice. That is very misleading and both parents and the teachers share equal responsibility to assist and motivate the students.
As for interest, there is no way to find out until your son tries picking up the instrument. Just because I like to listen to music does not mean I will automatically like picking up an instrument to make music. My personal suggestion would be to go for a trial lesson for both the group lesson and the individual lesson. Then see which one your son prefers. -
germum:
What I do like about music schools is that there are frequent performing opportunities and concerts. eg. my ds' has monthly group sessions for violin - they perform together and are usually asked to perform in front of that group too, altho' among their peers. For piano, the group performing sessions are every 2 mths. Of course, there's the annual concerts.
I have another question. My friends were advising me to go to musch school for lesson.. group classes.. as they felt that my boy is too young. but i see from this forum, a lot of kids started around his age.. some even young.
How do i determine whether to go for class or individual class? to go school or home-based teacher?
The downside is like DreamAurora said, that there could be turnover of teachers. Thankfully, so far, nothing like that. Probably bc the teachers he's with all have a stake in the school.
Teachers who teach privately - to your house or at their house, only the rare few would hold group sessions and small group concerts, which are the additional \"perks\" I see to being in a school.
I'm afraid piano learning can be quite lonely unless there are chances to perform around with others to make music. Other instruments like violin, flute, cello, etc, etc, at least the kids can play together with others in an ensemble or orchestra. -
I have a few transferred JXC students. One of them completed grade 2 ABRSM, lost interest and switch back to Yamaha group lesson. She prefers the group and informal setting. The mother had initially wanted her to do Music for O'levels. But she is reluctant to practice Hanon and classical music. Another student dropped out of JXC because the pace was too slow for her. It took me quite a while to assess and catch up with her. She will practice classical and etudes, only if she likes them.
So a parent will need to consider if their kid are into classical or 'pop' tune; playing for leisure or as discipline.... They require different type of teachers.
A tuition agent said that there is a Master degree graduate who charges $120/45 min for beginner :?. I think the market rate is between $140-$160 for home/studio-based diploma holder. The teacher might over-work if s/he is underpaid.
Phankao, I find that busy parents who prefer teachers to go to their place usually do not want to \"waste\" their time on group sessions. I would like to rounded them up during their term breaks. -
peanut_butter:
At least you still do group sessions.
A tuition agent said that there is a Master degree graduate who charges $120/45 min for beginner :?. I think the market rate is between $140-$160 for home/studio-based diploma holder. The teacher might over-work if s/he is underpaid.
Phankao, I find that busy parents who prefer teachers to go to their place usually do not want to \"waste\" their time on group sessions. I would like to rounded them up during their term breaks.[/color]
Whether beginner or otherwise - aren't we still paying for that teacher's studio time? That's what I think. If I dont' think my child is worthy of that teacher - that is, I don't want to pay that teacher's fee scale, then I won't engage that teacher. The fees are already made known at the start. (yikes, mine takes lesson from one where I pay more than that for 30mins ). -
phankao:
Actually I think the music school your kids study in is a rare exception, because most music schools will at most provide an annual concert and maybe a mock exam for the students. That is still better than no activity at all which unfortunately many private teachers do not bother to organize. The logistics and costs of organizing group sessions and concerts are immense (I am losing money everytime I organize concerts for students), but I do believe they are integral part of the whole music learning experience.
What I do like about music schools is that there are frequent performing opportunities and concerts. eg. my ds' has monthly group sessions for violin - they perform together and are usually asked to perform in front of that group too, altho' among their peers. For piano, the group performing sessions are every 2 mths. Of course, there's the annual concerts.germum:
I have another question. My friends were advising me to go to musch school for lesson.. group classes.. as they felt that my boy is too young. but i see from this forum, a lot of kids started around his age.. some even young.
How do i determine whether to go for class or individual class? to go school or home-based teacher?
The downside is like DreamAurora said, that there could be turnover of teachers. Thankfully, so far, nothing like that. Probably bc the teachers he's with all have a stake in the school.
Teachers who teach privately - to your house or at their house, only the rare few would hold group sessions and small group concerts, which are the additional \"perks\" I see to being in a school.
I'm afraid piano learning can be quite lonely unless there are chances to perform around with others to make music. Other instruments like violin, flute, cello, etc, etc, at least the kids can play together with others in an ensemble or orchestra.
The lonely nature of piano actually makes many students reluctant to perform, even those already learning another instrument or in an ensemble. The prospect of sitting up there alone with noone to rescue you if anything goes wrong is indeed terrifying. And some parents do not even bother at all because they do not want the kids to spend too much time on the instrument. -
peanut_butter:
Sometimes no choice but to engage in price wars if a teacher does not have high profile in the public. A lot of parents still value good old-fashioned experience and recommendations.I have a few transferred JXC students. One of them completed grade 2 ABRSM, lost interest and switch back to Yamaha group lesson. She prefers the group and informal setting. The mother had initially wanted her to do Music for O'levels. But she is reluctant to practice Hanon and classical music. Another student dropped out of JXC because the pace was too slow for her. It took me quite a while to assess and catch up with her. She will practice classical and etudes, only if she likes them.
So a parent will need to consider if their kid are into classical or 'pop' tune; playing for leisure or as discipline.... They require different type of teachers.
A tuition agent said that there is a Master degree graduate who charges $120/45 min for beginner :?. I think the market rate is between $140-$160 for home/studio-based diploma holder. The teacher might over-work if s/he is underpaid.
Phankao, I find that busy parents who prefer teachers to go to their place usually do not want to \"waste\" their time on group sessions. I would like to rounded them up during their term breaks.
True story (paraphrased):
Friend - I am going to send my son for piano lesson once he hit 7 years old
Me - Oh, maybe I can teach him next time
Friend - Thinking of sending him to a piano teacher that I know of who has been teaching 20 years+
Me - You are aware that I have a degree in music and I am trained in latest pedagogy techniques. Right?
Friend - The lady has been teaching for 20 years now, so she must be good. And she's teaching my friends' kids.
Me - :stupid:
But I am glad the trend is changing and I see parents are now more critical and willing to research more before engaging a teacher. \\ -
Dreamaurora:
Only one kid going to that school. It's not a free group session hor. It's part of the programme. So the week there is group, there is no lesson with the teacher.
Actually I think the music school your kids study in is a rare exception, because most music schools will at most provide an annual concert and maybe a mock exam for the students. That is still better than no activity at all which unfortunately many private teachers do not bother to organize. The logistics and costs of organizing group sessions and concerts are immense (I am losing money everytime I organize concerts for students), but I do believe they are integral part of the whole music learning experience. . -
phankao:
Chey, at first I thought wah the school so nice provide free group sessions.
Only one kid going to that school. It's not a free group session hor. It's part of the programme. So the week there is group, there is no lesson with the teacher.Dreamaurora:
Actually I think the music school your kids study in is a rare exception, because most music schools will at most provide an annual concert and maybe a mock exam for the students. That is still better than no activity at all which unfortunately many private teachers do not bother to organize. The logistics and costs of organizing group sessions and concerts are immense (I am losing money everytime I organize concerts for students), but I do believe they are integral part of the whole music learning experience. .
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