markdis\" post_id=\"2135043\" time=\"1718378846\" user_id=\"203606:If money is no object, of course a very nice piano whether upright or grand can benefit even beginners.
Which piano would you choose for a complete beginner?
Reenie\" post_id=\"2112897\" time=\"1688902563\" user_id=\"7078:Depends on the qualification and the track record of your teacher, and also if you would like the teacher to travel to your place. You would be looking at anywhere from $70 to $120 per hour.
Hi!
May I know that is the usual charge for grade 8 piano lesson? Thanks!
eurostar\" post_id=\"2106968\" time=\"1682751077\" user_id=\"38555:Yes, you can use digital piano up to Grade 8 and ABRSM for the recorded exams.
any lobang for nord stage 3 88 key ?
btw i can confirm a standard acoustic piano is not mandatory for g5 n above
Reenie\" post_id=\"2112359\" time=\"1688452720\" user_id=\"7078:That will depend on your child's playing level.
Hi, after getting a grade 8 ABRSM piano and A level, what’s possible route for a child who wants to pursue music related studies? Any bachelor degree to look at and consider? Thank you!
Reenie\" post_id=\"2112359\" time=\"1688452720\" user_id=\"7078:That will depend on your child's playing level.
Hi, after getting a grade 8 ABRSM piano and A level, what’s possible route for a child who wants to pursue music related studies? Any bachelor degree to look at and consider? Thank you!
A few weekend slots have just opened up in my teaching schedule and I am looking for students to fill it. At my studio only.
Friday 4:00-6:00 PM, Saturday 11:30 PM, Sunday 3:00 PM.
Some of the achievements of past and current students:
- 9 year olds Grade 8 ABRSM Distinctions
- DipABRSM Performance Distinction
- 2nd Prize Asia Youth Piano Competition Junior Category
- 2nd Prize Pearl River Piano Competition Junior Category
- Quarterfinal National Piano and Violin Competition Artist Category
I am looking for hardworking and ambitious students who are willing to challenge themselves to fill these precious weekend slots.
Fees: Grades 1-5 $600 for 11 1-hour lessons. Grades 6-Diploma $800 for 11 1-hour lessons.
PM or Whatsapp 96535516 to arrange trials.
I wrote a new blog post for teachers who are struggling with students who don't practice. Parents might find the pointers useful also.
https://charleswupianostudio.blogspot.com/2023/04/my-student-did-not-practice-again.html?fbclid=IwAR36ZmDqtTZptHuCuxnOMXpymG7z2uyrfZRNf1a89Ug6ZCe16HLecSx4R4s
My Student Did Not Practice Again
I am sure the sight of a student who did not practice again was not unfamiliar to many of us teachers. I understand that it is frustrating and could suck the joy of teaching; I do know teachers who threw in the towel because of this. I must admit that it was a sore point at one point of my teaching career, but I decided to adopt a more positive approach because I genuinely wanted all my students to have a positive learning experience. Let me share with you a couple of pointers that hopefully could provide you with better solutions to this issue.
Empathize and diagnose
It might be an instinct for many of us to immediately ask “Why didn’t you practice?” in a disapproving tone when faced with a non-practicing student. We might even launch into a tirade chiding student or institute a penalty. Perhaps naively we think that the student would feel bad for disappointing us. But trust me on this, those actions are going to have opposite the effects we desire.
We could instead try to empathise with our non-practicing students. We could ask them gently for example “I’ve noticed that you did not do sufficient practice last week, could you tell me what prevented you from doing so?” When they feel that their teachers are genuinely concerned with their well-beings, they might start to share the real reasons and you could then start to find the solutions to those issues.
There are many possible reasons that might lead to decreased motivations to practice for example: lack of proper practice environment, poorly serviced piano, overbearing parents, relationship problems, lack of palpable progress, etc. We are not going to discuss the possible solutions of those issues in this article; my main point is we need to keep a cool head and work the issues cooperatively rather than simply asking a student to practice more.
Progressively increase practice
I think many of us are probably guilty of asking our students to practice a x amount of time every day. That was probably how many of us were instructed by our teachers to practice last time during our student days. Asking a non-practicing student to do this is probably only going to be a continual exercise in frustration as they would most likely be unable to meet the stipulated practice targets.
Instead, start by setting goals that could be realistically accomplished with whatever little practice time the student would be willing to commit at first. For example, if a student claimed he could only practice half hour during the week, assign practice goals that could be completed within that half hour. And then gradually increase the amount of difficulty of practice goals that would require the student to commit more practice hours. By achieving smaller and more realistic goals, the student would improve in confidence and start to find practice more rewarding. I find this approach very effective in my teaching practice and I have successfully rehabilitated many non-practicing students this way
monica15\" post_id=\"2102081\" time=\"1679418792\" user_id=\"201147:You can realize that dream yourself, or better still learn together with your kids. The pedagogy for adults have improved significantly in recent years and many younger professionally trained teachers are more than willing to teach adults with age appropriate methods and materials.
I always dreamed of playing the piano, I still have small children and I don't know if I should realize my dream in them?
but I know it's great for a baby's growth
Sharing an article I wrote on assigning repertoire for students. Hope parents here would it useful.
https://charleswupianostudio.blogspot.com/2022/07/assigning-repertoire-balanced-approach.html
Assigning Repertoire - The Balanced Approach
For the inaugural post of this blog, I am going to write about a topic that I feel is integral in piano teaching but strangely rarely discussed even in many pedagogical literatures.
When it comes to choosing and repertoire for students, teachers often do this in linear fashion. Meaning, the next pieces a student learn would be incrementally more difficult than the current ones. So, for example, once a Grade 4 student completed Grade 4, they would move on the Grade 5 and only work on pieces set for Grade 5.
Many teachers I know of follow this system, and to them it seems to be logical and fuss-free. But is it really? Consider that assigning repertoire this way means students would most likely be working only on pieces that are challenging for them. Motivated students might relish the challenge, but for majority of average students this might mean increasingly slow and frustrating progress that would gradually erode motivation.
In addition, this approach might also result in woefully minute amount of repertoire that a student might acquire in their learning journey. The practice of learning only 3 pieces per grade is tragically not uncommon. Students would only learn the bare minimum number of pieces necessary to complete a grade or exam so they could be promoted to the next grade. There are plenty Grade 8 holders who were barely exposed to the vast piano oeuvre and have little knowledge of what the instrument has to offer.
So, is there a better way? Yes, I do think so. I have always espoused a balanced approach towards assigning repertoire. Put it simply, this means a student should have a mix of pieces of various difficulties and genres. At minimum, a student should be simultaneously working on one challenge piece, one current level piece, and one easier piece. Then depending on the motivation and level of proficiency of the student, more pieces of appropriate difficulties could be added. So, for example, a very motivated and technically competent student might be working on more than 1 challenge piece. Whereas a more average student might have more easier pieces in the mix.
Increasing difficulties of learning are of course essential to move students forward. This balanced approach ensures that this objective is still met, but without the risk of stretching students beyond what are comfortable and realistic for them. With larger amount of repertoire acquired, this approach also enriches students’ learning experience more with added positive effect of maintaining their motivation level.
In addition to mixing difficulty levels, also consider the various genres that you would like your students to be more familiar with. Jumping into deep end of unfamiliar genres might not be the wisest thing to do. If say, the first jazz-like piece that a grade 8 student attempted was Gershwin’s 1st Prelude, it might be overwhelming. Instead, easier pieces of lower grades e.g., Oscar Peterson’s Jazz Exercises could be assigned first to familiarise a student with the jazz idiom. You could also explore collaborative works such as piano duets or instrumental accompaniments to further enrich students’ learning experiences.
Current level and easier pieces could also be used to introduce or further reinforce a technical aspect. For example, a Grade 6 student who was weak at chord voicing might be assigned Macdowell’s “To Wild Rose” to master it further.
If you would like to start to adopt a balanced approach of assigning repertoire but unsure where to start, there are numerous repertoire anthologies grouped according to grades for example ABRSM’s Core Classics and Encore series. There are also reference books such as Jane Magrath’s “The Pianist’s Guide to Standard Teaching and Performance Literature” and Maurice Hinson’s “Guide to the Pianist’s Repertoire” that provide descriptions and approximate grade levels of most standard pedagogical repertoire.
One last thing - don’t forget to involve your students in the selection process. Ask them if they had any pieces they would like to learn. Let them choose from a selection of pieces you had shortlisted. This way, they would take greater ownerships in the pieces they were learning and would be more likely to be motivated to practice them.
Hi all,
I am conducting another teaching experiment to assess the feasibility of tandem piano lessons before offering them officially at my studio. What is tandem piano lesson? It's basically a group lesson of 2 students with each student seated at separate piano. It should be in theory quite enjoyable because the two students can explore collaborative playing. And they can interact and give each other feedback.
I will give 3 free lessons for those who are interested to try. If you or your child would like to try, just let me know through PM or my email [email protected]. I will match students of around same age and level. I am also interested to try this lesson format with parent child combo.
Also, a couple of regular slots on Saturday have opened up due to students graduating, please contact me if you are interested. You can view my website at www.charleswupianostudio.com. I have student teachers learning with me also, so you can ask me too for teacher recommendation.