All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[Dreamaurora]

peanut_butter:

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.

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.

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. \\

[phankao]

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. .

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]

phankao:

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. .

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.

Chey, at first I thought wah the school so nice provide free group sessions.

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

phankao:

[quote=\"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. .

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.

Chey, at first I thought wah the school so nice provide free group sessions.[/quote]Haha - hope lah. Only the big concert no need pay. Except you buy your own outfit!

[germum]

phankao:

germum:

what other things to consider?

Did your boy show interest ?

Hi Phankao, i dont know how to define that.. except he is very into piano touching... will use all opportunity to touch it.. during the recent voilin audition, he went straight to the piano instead of the teacher...

can this be considered as showed interest?LOL

[germum]

Dreamaurora:

[/color]

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

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).

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.[/quote]
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.[/quote]

Hi Dreamaurora, I don't play any instrument except during school days. as for the time commitment to practice, I should say should not be an issue.

Actually, I wanted him to pick up an instrument. in fact, violin...I brought him for an audition recently, and the teacher commented his fingers are more suitable for piano(i dun know why she said that and I din ask her too as this is supposed to be audition for violin) and I brought him to another violin assessment. the teacher again asked whether he had learnt piano as my boy is able to identify one of the piano key.

So my friends advised since the pro said he is better off in piano, why don't let him go for piano.

As for why to pick up instrument, just wanted him to be give an opportunity, if at the end of the day, he doesn't like it then no regrets loh.

His interest level, still early to tell cos when i asked him piano or voilin, he said both... think he still does not know that learning an instrument means hard work..

unlike my gal who is 12, have been asking for a voilin for 2 yrs. I will say her interest is really there, esp she is in school band for 4 yrs. so going to start her voilin in oct.. maybe i should pick up myself too.


guess i have to trial and error for my boy.

[phankao]

germum:

Actually, I wanted him to pick up an instrument. in fact, violin...I brought him for an audition recently, and the teacher commented his fingers are more suitable for piano(i dun know why she said that and I din ask her too as this is supposed to be audition for violin) and I brought him to another violin assessment. the teacher again asked whether he had learnt piano as my boy is able to identify one of the piano key.

So my friends advised since the pro said he is better off in piano, why don't let him go for piano.

As for why to pick up instrument, just wanted him to be give an opportunity, if at the end of the day, he doesn't like it then no regrets loh.

His interest level, still early to tell cos when i asked him piano or voilin, he said both... think he still does not know that learning an instrument means hard work..

unlike my gal who is 12, have been asking for a voilin for 2 yrs. I will say her interest is really there, esp she is in school band for 4 yrs. so going to start her voilin in oct.. maybe i should pick up myself too.


guess i have to trial and error for my boy.

Wah, how come got violin audition one, har?

I guess sometimes you have to go by gut feel. If the elder sister is into music, the younger one might be inspired.

[kooky83]

Guest:

For very young children, do go for any music appreciation class. Do not start one to one unles your child can understand, read and write alphabets and numbers.


it is good to start from young even if your child has short attention span. As it help them to focus, improve maths and behaviour etc.

Too many advantages to list them all. Have fun with music!

Cheers

Guest makes a very very good point. It is always good let the child listen to music regularly and find out how he or she responds to melodies and rhythms. Some kids naturally have a good ear and will pick up music faster than others.

[Dreamaurora]

kooky83:

Guest:

For very young children, do go for any music appreciation class. Do not start one to one unles your child can understand, read and write alphabets and numbers.


it is good to start from young even if your child has short attention span. As it help them to focus, improve maths and behaviour etc.

Too many advantages to list them all. Have fun with music!

Cheers

Guest makes a very very good point. It is always good let the child listen to music regularly and find out how he or she responds to melodies and rhythms. Some kids naturally have a good ear and will pick up music faster than others.

Haha, but must make sure they listen to the appropriate music also. My friend was saying that he brought his son to watch a Mahler symphony conducted by SSO and that his son was extremely bored by it. Duh, which children will enjoy an overly long-winded and dense work such as Mahler.

Recorded classical music specifically composed for children are rather rare (but strangely there are plenty of scores in the market), that is why it's quite an uphill task to get children to like classical music. It is definitely an area that can be improved in music pedagogy.

[phankao]

Dreamaurora:

Haha, but must make sure they listen to the appropriate music also. My friend was saying that he brought his son to watch a Mahler symphony conducted by SSO and that his son was extremely bored by it. Duh, which children will enjoy an overly long-winded and dense work such as Mahler. .

Must be not too young son anyway, or else how to get in to watch SSO?

For introduction to concerts, I find the Beautiful Sunday Concerts useful since they are on every month. And since it's free, if the kid fusses, then just go off - no loss. How often the little toddlers get to watch performances at Esplanade Concert Hall ?