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    Too late to start learning piano at 7yrs old?

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved Music, Singing, Dancing, Speech & Drama
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    • S Offline
      sleepy
      last edited by

      Depends on the objective or goal in mind. If learn for leisure, any age is fine.


      If intend to be a serious pianist, well, according to dd's ex-nafa teacher, she said should start learning at age 3. She complained my dd started learning way too late at age 5 :shock:

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      • W Offline
        waiyean
        last edited by

        sleepy:
        Depends on the objective or goal in mind. If learn for leisure, any age is fine.


        If intend to be a serious pianist, well, according to dd's ex-nafa teacher, she said should start learning at age 3. She complained my dd started learning way too late at age 5 :shock:
        Strange that an ex-NAFA teacher would say to start at age 3. Why do they take students only from 5 years old then?

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        • S Offline
          sleepy
          last edited by

          waiyean:
          Strange that an ex-NAFA teacher would say to start at age 3. Why do they take students only from 5 years old then?

          No idea le. I suppose students would have some foundation before joining nafa.

          Anyway, my dd already quit nafa. No chemistry with that assigned teacher.
          By the way, that teacher could very well still be teaching in nafa. She is ex only to my dd πŸ˜‰

          Now dd is learning from another nafa teacher as private student.

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          • W Offline
            waiyean
            last edited by

            sleepy:
            waiyean:

            Strange that an ex-NAFA teacher would say to start at age 3. Why do they take students only from 5 years old then?


            No idea le. I suppose students would have some foundation before joining nafa.

            Anyway, my dd already quit nafa. No chemistry with that assigned teacher.
            By the way, that teacher could very well still be teaching in nafa. She is ex only to my dd πŸ˜‰

            Now dd is learning from another nafa teacher as private student.

            5 years old is the prep class, don't suppose you need 2 years of foundation to attend a prep class πŸ˜„

            Why did your DD leave NAFA instead of just switching teachers? Any advantages of learning from NAFA teacher as private student?

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            • S Offline
              sleepy
              last edited by

              waiyean:
              5 years old is the prep class, don't suppose you need 2 years of foundation to attend a prep class πŸ˜„


              Why did your DD leave NAFA instead of just switching teachers? Any advantages of learning from NAFA teacher as private student?
              My dd was not in prep class. She joined grade 1 at nafa directly at 6 yo.

              She didn't enjoy her learning experience in Nafa le. That 'fingers up high' thingy totally killed passions. Too much drilling on fingering techniques. It's not a bad thing to drill techniques but way too boring for a 6 yo kid. And she absolutely disliked that assigned nafa teacher. She asked to quit.

              We supported her decision and suggested she continue learning from another nafa teacher instead, as a private student. At least existing teacher doesn't tell her to lift her 'fingers up high' :rotflmao: I suppose her progress could be faster if she persisted in nafa, following nafa syllabus. Or she could hate piano & give up totally. Either spectrum is possible.

              As a private student, she has the flexibility to select pieces she enjoyed learning such as Christmas songs & classic pieces, not merely practising exam pieces & scales repeatedly. At this rate, she definitely won't be winning any national competitions but her learning experience is much more enjoyable so we're glad we listened to her. She is now learning grade 5 at 8 yo.

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              • W Offline
                waiyean
                last edited by

                sleepy:

                My dd was not in prep class. She joined grade 1 at nafa directly at 6 yo.

                She didn't enjoy her learning experience in Nafa le. That 'fingers up high' thingy totally killed passions. Too much drilling on fingering techniques. It's not a bad thing to drill techniques but way too boring for a 6 yo kid. And she absolutely disliked that assigned nafa teacher. She asked to quit.

                We supported her decision and suggested she continue learning from another nafa teacher instead, as a private student. At least existing teacher doesn't tell her to lift her 'fingers up high' :rotflmao: I suppose her progress could be faster if she persisted in nafa, following nafa syllabus. Or she could hate piano & give up totally. Either spectrum is possible.

                As a private student, she has the flexibility to select pieces she enjoyed learning such as Christmas songs & classic pieces, not merely practising exam pieces & scales repeatedly. At this rate, she definitely won't be winning any national competitions but her learning experience is much more enjoyable so we're glad we listened to her. She is now learning grade 5 at 8 yo.
                No, what I meant was, they only take 5 years old for their prep class, and 6 years for grade 1. So, either way, it didn't seem to match the teacher's suggestion that 3 years old is the age to begin. Anyway, that doesn't matter.

                Anyway, quite curious about this 'fingers up high\" technique. Is this what was described as \"finger tapping\" technique in another thread? Is this some kind of powerful technique that gives NAFA students the ability to win competitions, etc?

                Well, if your dd is doing grade 5 at age 8, then it isn't different from what the NAFA students do, right?

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                • C Offline
                  concern2
                  last edited by

                  sleepy:
                  waiyean:

                  Strange that an ex-NAFA teacher would say to start at age 3. Why do they take students only from 5 years old then?


                  No idea le. I suppose students would have some foundation before joining nafa.

                  Easier mah, at least don't need to teach from do re mi - makes a high expecting teacher go senile. πŸ˜†

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                  • phankaoP Offline
                    phankao
                    last edited by

                    concern2:
                    sleepy:

                    [quote=\"waiyean\"]Strange that an ex-NAFA teacher would say to start at age 3. Why do they take students only from 5 years old then?


                    No idea le. I suppose students would have some foundation before joining nafa.

                    Easier mah, at least don't need to teach from do re mi - makes a high expecting teacher go senile. πŸ˜†[/quote]
                    Just shows that NAFA has no confidence in their teachers' ability in handling 3 year olds, lah! Not all teachers can, wat. I have personally had a teacher whose bio states she is experienced in teaching children from 3yos for past 10+yrs. But she certainly did not show that in her interaction with my son.

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                    • C Offline
                      concern2
                      last edited by

                      phankao:


                      Just shows that NAFA has no confidence in their teachers' ability in handling 3 year olds, lah! Not all teachers can, wat. I have personally had a teacher whose bio states she is experienced in teaching children from 3yos for past 10+yrs. But she certainly did not show that in her interaction with my son.
                      πŸ˜† Maybe it is different culture? :evil:

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                      • W Offline
                        waiyean
                        last edited by

                        concern2:
                        phankao:



                        Just shows that NAFA has no confidence in their teachers' ability in handling 3 year olds, lah! Not all teachers can, wat. I have personally had a teacher whose bio states she is experienced in teaching children from 3yos for past 10+yrs. But she certainly did not show that in her interaction with my son.

                        πŸ˜† Maybe it is different culture? :evil:

                        Sometimes, it's not just different culture. There are teachers who absolutely has no idea how to communicate with 3 years old. The language they use, the tone, their ability to explain concepts in a simple and interesting way...

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