meiah:

Hi,


I started teaching my 2.8yo dd middle C 3 days ago. She's so happy counting 1234 that she went on and on but her finger did not move! :stupid:

reiner:

Compass point... hmmmm... too far for me yah... how much you got them?

reiner:

hi sunflower,


can share where do you get the piano books mentioned in your blog? from the Tr?

jce:

Sight reading - comes with practice. The more pieces one plays the better the reading. Recognising patterns is another way eg being able to spot triads, scales. Must train the child to read ahead so once the child starts the piece, use a piece of paper to cover up a few notes ahead. This makes the child look ahead.

jce:

Phankao, you're right, it's something I don't quite understand as well (which explains why I don't choose Suzuki method as my norm). Middle c is much easier to recognise than the high c. But the main focal point of Suzuki method is repetition and rhythm, not so much note reading.

chamonix:

sashimi:

Considering that my daughter spends a mere 30 mins a week at the music school, then schellen, I, my brother and sometimes my mom, all have to spend something like 3 hours+ coaching her at home, it does feel more like we are the piano teachers instead of the music sch teacher. I often feel that the music school should be paying us parents to teach our kids music.

My kids' violin teacher told them directly that the 30 minutes is for him to pick on their playing. They should practise hard at home and not during his lessons. Otherwise, it's a waste of time.

I suppose it boils down to expectations from both sides. If we parents don't chip in at home, we'll have to accept slower progress (and in my case, more scoldings from teachers). That's fine if we just want the kids to learn an instrument for fun. But as a musician yourself, I doubt you can stand someone making noise at the piano instead of music. So, no choice, you got to help supervising. At least you have others to share the work. I have to supervise the practices all by myself, and I'm not even musically trained.

sunflower2005:

I had write out what I had learned and share it in my blog.. hope the little notes will help those who's want to teach piano at home...

empressplace:

......where is the best place to buy these beginner piano books like the Bastien Series/ John Thompson and Lina Ng ...?

phankao:

The idea of Suzuki method being repetition is possibly bc to \"create the environment\", parents are encouraged to let the child listen, listen, listen, and watch, watch, watch, observe lots so that becomes part of the child's world. It becomes something that is not \"practice\", but part of their life. Just like how they do not find learning their mother tongue a drudgery (and yeah, we're not talking about learning chinese here, which can be like a 2nd language to some of us! *hahah*!). Think of the japanese environment where Jap/Jap dialect is their mother tongue.

Wow Phankao, I have a lot of respect for you and those Japanese parents for the commitment in something that seem so unimportant to the society. My previous piano instructor was trained in Suzuki method. She blamed her weak sight-reading and some other problems on her Suzuki teacher. But she's such a good pianist, it's very difficult to have me convinced.

peanut_butter:

phankao:

I'm looking at the Suzuki Piano book now. It's interesting how it starts off teaching the beginner with \"High C\" note instead of \"Middle C\". This is unlike violin where they start with A, which is a basic note for violin.

Hi Phankao,
Do you mind sharing your story after you go through a few pieces with your students? I wonder if I should use it if I had 4.5 years old student.

phankao:

I'm looking at the Suzuki Piano book now. It's interesting how it starts off teaching the beginner with \"High C\" note instead of \"Middle C\". This is unlike violin where they start with A, which is a basic note for violin.

jce:

Suzuki is about \"drilling\" so for example, a simple tune like Twinkle twinkle, is repeated again and again in different time values. I personally am not very fond of it, but this method may work for some. I only use Suzuki method with certain students when deemed necessary.

jce:

I only use Suzuki method with certain students when deemed necessary.