All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[kwcllf]

Hi titank,


Yes, we have no choice as to who they assigned, As for the timing, we can always request for a particular time slot but they may not have any available.

Before I pulled my children out, I asked to change from Saturday to Sunday early afternoon. But after as few months, they still could not find a slot for me. This is another reason why I pulled my children out.

Also, there was a change of teacher for my son after about a year. Then they just replaced another one for us. I would not said that they are not good but we would have preferred someone with more experience. According to Cristofori, they have full-time and part-time teachers and I guessed who they assigned depend on which teacher is available when you sign up.

[belinda]

Hi,


I would just to like to share my experience on Cristofori and My Inspiration( at Hougang)

I enrol my girl when she is 41/2yr old on the little mozart at cristofori( when she ask for music class) but it is totally a failure, the teacher is unable to arouse the interest for music so after 2 terms. I terminated her class with them and transfer to My Inspiration for a 1-1 lesson and the teacher has to start all over again, so the half year spend is waste. now she is in her grade 1.


Hi pianojazzy/ Chief Kiasu,
My gal tell me that she enjoys the class but not keen on the exam, so not sure what to tell the teacher and also is it wise to listen to my girl cos she always change her mind.

Any advice.
izit true that if I send her for leisure piano class the fees is lower?
my son also asking for music class, edvox music school has one funtime doreme which encompass 2 terms of piano and 2 terms of violin, izit suitable for little boy?

thanks

[corneyAmber]

Hi Belinda, Do let the teacher know she is doing leisure but still continue on exam materials and grading as you know children tends to change their mind easily. This way when she is decided to take exam, she won’t have to start on exam materials again and she will be ready. However it depends on the policy of the school, so do talk to the teacher. As for fees it depends on the policy of the school as well.


How old is your son?

[heyhoe]

Hi kwcllf,


Thanks for sharing your experience.

This sets me wonder, if it is better to start a child at an older age? Does that means music appreciation is not a good gadge whether a child is interested in music?

Also, would 1:1 for a young child (say around 4 years) would be "too dry"?

[corneyAmber]

Music appreciation class is to cultivate the child’s interest. They do it through music and movt, rhythm clapping and singing etc. For older classes they do teach some note reading etc.

[belinda]

Hi pianojazzy,


My son is 4+, he is a active child and some commented he is very audio( cannot stop talking), he can even sing during his Jelic class ( younger version of MPM).

therefore not sure ok to send him for the music class ( Piano or Violin) or the one offer by Edvox. any suggestion?

thanks

[kwcllf]

Hi heyhoe,



I am no expert. Perhaps a music teacher like pianojazzy could anwer your query better.

Nevertheless, from my personal experience, it depends on the child. I wouldn’t say music appreciation is a waste of time. At the Little Mozart class that my daughter attended when she was 4+, it taught her things like high and low notes, rhythm, simple notes reading, etc… It is quite fun I should say and the children should enjoy the lesson. However, as I have mentioned, the teacher was very unprofessional and that is one reason why I pulled my daughter out.

But putting my daughther on a 1-to-1 piano class before she turned 5 years old, she managed quite well. In fact, her progress surprised us. For such a young age, I think we should let her progress at her "own" pace and the chemistry with the teacher is very important. Hence, a teacher with expereince with young kids (should you decide on a 1-to-1 lesson) is very important , in my humble opinion. The teacher should be able to sustain the child’s progress and able to handle their restlessness. Talking about restlessness and attention span, I think a 1/2 hour session once a week, for a start, should suffice.

[paopei]

I am very blur about piano but my gal loves to play piano so I signed her 1 to 1 in Christofori - Woodlands Mart. We do not have piano at home so basically she just plays during her lesson time. My question is, how do I know the teacher is good? and how do we know that the children is progressing well or not? I mean, for ballet, we can see how she can etc. Piano? Sorry, really not good with music note etc … really need help as I do not want to waste my money, my time and my gal time. She really enjoys playing piano so really hope she can learn the proper and correct way. Thanks a lot

[kwcllf]

Hi paopei,


For a start, I thinkyou will need at least a keyboard at home so that your gal can practise.

For both my children, we had a casiotone borrowed from my in-law at first for them to practise. As we not know how well they would progress or whether their interests would sustain, we decided against buying a acoustic piano.

But after more than 6 months, my older kids has progressed sufficiently and he started to place some simple pieces that required him to use the piano pedals. That is when we decided to get an acoustic piano.

As to your question as to whether your gal is progressing well or not, I think you have to be able to see how she practises at home. For my two kids, they would play/practise their music every now and then using the casiotone. This is how I can gauge their interest and progress.

During lessons time, I would also peep into the room without my kids knowing to see how they learned and how the teacher handled them. This would give me some idea whether the teacher is good or not.

My older kid has a childcare classmate learning piano just beside his room. Sometimes, I tried to be a little 'kay-poh" and peeped into his room. To my astonishment, the kid is extremely restless and playful, and the teacher seemed to let him be. According to this kid’s mom, he had learnt the piano for quite a while and I thik longer than my own kid. But he did not seem to be more advanced than my son.

[corneyAmber]

Hi belinda, i will recommend music appreciation for children at age from 2-3. As for 4+, it will be good to go for one to one. However, if you feel that your son might not be able to focus, then go for music appreciation first.


I agree with kwcllf that 1-1 will be able to cater to the child’s pace and the chemistry with the teacher is very impt. Teacher will be able to cater lesson plan according to the child’s attention span and to lengthen it as time goes by.

Paopei, you have to let you girl learn notes as when she progress, note and rhythm reading is very very impt. Practise at home is also very impt if you want her to progress well. If not the progress will be very slow.

I feel that once start learning piano, should learn the correct way and build a strong and good foundation. Hence it is good to learn from the correct way and practises regularly at home. Practise straight after the first lesson is also impt as the child will develop a good habit and discipline. Hence music becomes part of their life. This way, they will not give up easily as music is already part of their life and they are used to practising regularly. So as when work load becomes heavier in school, they will still tend to continue music as well.