All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[Dreamaurora]

pirate:

Dreamaurora:

Let me explain now why the prospect of accomplishing high grades or diplomas at early age is an attractive one to many parents. Let's assume for the sake of discussion that these students follow NAFA system that promises grade 8 by 11 and L Diplomas by 16; the students might also participate and win prizes in competitions. In this country that practices meritocracy, every advantage counts, and that includes non-academics ones. If grade 8 is achieved before completion of primary school, it will provide some advantages when applying to sec schools using DSA. A sec 1 student with grade 8 can prove to be very useful in assisting music-related activities in school e.g. providing accompaniments to music CCAs, helping to teach theory to band members, etc.

Yah. But I am asking what's the difference between a child that completes grade 8 by 10 and one that completes grade 8 by 11? Does it reflect anything more than perhaps the fact that the first child started lessons 6 months or a year earlier than the second child?

Would not an extra, say 6 months making sure that a young child has a strong technical foundation be considered well-spent instead of rushing through that 1 grade just for the bragging rights of having completed grade 8 one year earlier?

Actually, the age does not really matter. I think a student's progress and overall proficiency are determined by a number of factors:
- Teacher's teaching technique and method
- Student's amount of practice and how efficient he/she is in practicing
- Student's natural ability to learn and interpret music
- Parental support and assistance

So a 10 years old taking grade 8 who has a a fantastic teacher, practices efficiently for up to 2 or 3 hours a day, and reasonably 'talented' could possibly be more proficient and well-trained than an older child who has less than ideal factors supporting his/her piano study.

Unfortunately, some teachers cut corners in order to accelerate the grades. This can range from small things such as neglecting some components such as sight reading or aural to actually skipping the requirement for an intermediary grade. This normally causes a lot of problems further down the road and even let's say a student who is trained in this way manages to pass grade 8, he/she may find that many aspects of his learning lacking.

[Dreamaurora]

pirate:

Yah. But I am asking what's the difference between a child that completes grade 8 by 10 and one that completes grade 8 by 11? Does it reflect anything more than perhaps the fact that the first child started lessons 6 months or a year earlier than the second child?

Anyway, to answer this question, there is probably no noticeable difference if let's say the 10 year old grade 8 has better supporting factors I wrote in the post earlier than the one who complete grade 8 by 11. Bragging rights aside, there are practical benefits as well that are only possible with completion at lower ages, e.g. let's say the child want to join national piano competition. The junior category (<=12 years old) stipulates a 15-20 minutes competition program. And anyone who ever tracks this competition will know that it is understood that the program presented must be around grade 8-Diploma level to have a shot at any prizes.

So a child who completes grade 8 by 11 (assuming he does not work on any other pieces during exam preparation) will find that entering National Competition is almost impossible, whereas at least the one who got grade 8 by 10 would have at least one extra year to prepare the additional pieces required for the competition. It is for this reason that many teachers who send students to join National Competition push the children to pass grade 8 by 9 or 10.

[Imami]

Dreamaurora:

waiyean:

[quote=\"Dreamaurora\"]
Yeah, no piano may lose motivation. But anyway, it is indeed possible to start piano lessons without piano first. Some music schools offer piano studio rental at quite cheap rate. This is what I did last time when I started learning piano also. I did not have piano last time when I started lesson, so I just rented a studio for one hour everyday at Cristofori last time until I eventually got my own cheap 2nd hand piano.

Yes, that's definitely possible. Renting a studio one hour everyday is as good as having a piano. What I was trying to say is that parental support is very important for the child. It is a commitment, both in terms of time and money. Half-heartedness and adopting a wait and see attitude is not going to help the child much. Like what you mentioned in the previous post, how to expect child to be passionate about music when the parent is not?

:salute: :salute: :salute:

Yeah, parent's commitment is important. And it seems a lot of parents expect that it's the teacher's responsibilty to keep the child motivated. In fact responsibility actually goes both ways. The teacher should be able to communicate to the kids on the same level and create engaging lessons that expose the kids to piano comfortably. Parents should be interested in the lessons and assist in practice as often as possible. They should also provide the best resources money can buy. That's why I do not understand why some teachers and music schools do not allow parents to observe lessons. From my experience, students whose parents sit in lessons and assist practicing at home progress astronomically faster than students whose parents do not.

That being said, I did not have my parent's support at all when I started learning piano. In fact my parents actively discouraged me, saying things like 'you are simply untalented' or 'learning piano is a waste of time'. I only had a 3rd hand $1600 Young Chang piano to practice up to my grade 8, and there were times I simply had to self teach myself because no money for lessons. But I soldiered on until the completion of my full time study in NAFA. So yes, it is also possible without parent support to make it, but unlike others, I loved piano very very much even before learning piano. I would go to piano recitals by myself, buy CDs and scores (even though I did not know how to read them). So pretty much I decided I was going to make music my profession when I started learning piano.[/quote]

[Imami]

PhoBIA:

Young children needs lots of movitavion or rather carrots dangling in front of them.

Parents play a very important role to create a conducive and encouraging environment.

Apologies but this are I really need help - how to motivate the child?

I have a feeling that I would need to really push my kid to learn piano. But the last thing I want is to force piano on him. It should be about what he likes. My role should be to provide what is needed (find a good teacher, buy a good piano, get the needed material) and to be a cheer leader.

I seem horribly unimaginative in this aspect - to motivate. But on the other hand, I could already imagine what could possibly happen - I drag my kid to his piano lessons with him brawling at the door, every attempt to get his little fingers on the piano is a hair tearing episode. :stupid: :stupid:

I kind of agree that it is not the teacher's sole responsibility to motivate the kid. Parents play a huge part too. Which is why, I still haven't kicked start anything. I need to be sure how to do it to steer my kid ahead.

[XiaoXin]

Dreamaurora, totally agree with you.


I do not know how to play Piano but I still sit in the class when my son is playing and I practice with him at home too. My 4 years old son is correcting my mistakes whenever I play the wrong notes. :imsorry:

[Dreamaurora]

Imami:

PhoBIA:

Young children needs lots of movitavion or rather carrots dangling in front of them.

Parents play a very important role to create a conducive and encouraging environment.

Apologies but this are I really need help - how to motivate the child?

I have a feeling that I would need to really push my kid to learn piano. But the last thing I want is to force piano on him. It should be about what he likes. My role should be to provide what is needed (find a good teacher, buy a good piano, get the needed material) and to be a cheer leader.

I seem horribly unimaginative in this aspect - to motivate. But on the other hand, I could already imagine what could possibly happen - I drag my kid to his piano lessons with him brawling at the door, every attempt to get his little fingers on the piano is a hair tearing episode. :stupid: :stupid:

I kind of agree that it is not the teacher's sole responsibility to motivate the kid. Parents play a huge part too. Which is why, I still haven't kicked start anything. I need to be sure how to do it to steer my kid ahead.

Plenty of parents have shared here what they are doing with their kids. And I think you already more or less have an idea what to do. If you want to take it a step further, you may want to show the same love of music or piano that you expect your son to have. It is quite common nowadays to see parents learning piano simultaneously with their kids.

But sometimes, it is best not to try too hard and let nature take its course.

[Imami]

bhchng:

Dreamaurora, totally agree with you.


I do not know how to play Piano but I still sit in the class when my son is playing and I practice with him at home too. My 4 years old son is correcting my mistakes whenever I play the wrong notes. :imsorry:

Hi bbchng, how did you get your son started? Mine is also 4 this year.

I am just too scare to move, for fear that I kill his interest with my own hands.

[sleepy]

Imami:

bhchng:

Dreamaurora, totally agree with you.


I do not know how to play Piano but I still sit in the class when my son is playing and I practice with him at home too. My 4 years old son is correcting my mistakes whenever I play the wrong notes. :imsorry:

Hi bbchng, how did you get your son started? Mine is also 4 this year.

I am just too scare to move, for fear that I kill his interest with my own hands.

You might want to start off with group lessons (more fun) to test interests?
That's what we did when my dd2 was 5 years old.

Thereafter, you can assess whether he wishes to continue piano or even explore a different instrument

[Imami]

sleepy:

Imami:

[quote=\"bhchng\"]Dreamaurora, totally agree with you.


I do not know how to play Piano but I still sit in the class when my son is playing and I practice with him at home too. My 4 years old son is correcting my mistakes whenever I play the wrong notes. :imsorry:

Hi bbchng, how did you get your son started? Mine is also 4 this year.

I am just too scare to move, for fear that I kill his interest with my own hands.

You might want to start off with group lessons (more fun) to test interests?
That's what we did when my dd2 was 5 years old.

Thereafter, you can assess whether he wishes to continue piano or even explore a different instrument[/quote]Yes, I have explored that too - group lessons. But the few schools I have checked with are all more keen to enroll my kid on the one to one basis.

I just went checking medley music at safra toa payoh with him. The lady who attended to us took us for a tour around the facility. It looks better than cristofori (could be because this is a new facility). my kid only peeped into the first piano room. His eyes only lit up again when We were shown the drum room. Like i have said, he's seems more of a drum person.

[jedamum]

Another option for parents who planned in advance for future piano lessons is to try to source for preschools that conduct music lessons. My boy got his exposure to keyboard weekly in k1 for his school music lesson and eight months thereafter, we borrowed a keyboard and started him one to one . He was three months before his five year old birthday. We bought a second hand piano only ten months after his first lesson, before he started grade one prep, when he finished his primer lessons.