All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[fifiyeo]

:mad: Just got lectured over the phone by a tuner because I can't let him come over to tune my piano within 1 hour's notice. Is that how tuners work? This is the first time we are having our piano tuned after buying and this tuner is from the company we bought our piano. Really spoil my day!

[phankao]

fifiyeo:

:mad: Just got lectured over the phone by a tuner because I can't let him come over to tune my piano within 1 hour's notice. Is that how tuners work? This is the first time we are having our piano tuned after buying and this tuner is from the company we bought our piano. Really spoil my day!

LOL - of course not.

[fifiyeo]

phankao:

fifiyeo:

:mad: Just got lectured over the phone by a tuner because I can't let him come over to tune my piano within 1 hour's notice. Is that how tuners work? This is the first time we are having our piano tuned after buying and this tuner is from the company we bought our piano. Really spoil my day!

LOL - of course not.

I thought so too. I am calling piano gallery to complain! Ridiculous.

[fifiyeo]

I am happy with our piano and the sales girl from piano gallery so far has been helpful. But this tuner is really too much!

[phankao]

fifiyeo:

I am happy with our piano and the sales girl from piano gallery so far has been helpful. But this tuner is really too much!

Is it free service?

If not - use another one lah. The one I use - I only SMS or whatsapp him. We just fix the timing via texting. no mistake. haha. S$50 each time he tunes the piano.

[happyheart]

phankao:

fifiyeo:

I am happy with our piano and the sales girl from piano gallery so far has been helpful. But this tuner is really too much!

Is it free service?

If not - use another one lah. The one I use - I only SMS or whatsapp him. We just fix the timing via texting. no mistake. haha. S$50 each time he tunes the piano.

hi phankao, can you pm me the contact of your tuner? Thanks.

[classymadame]

Dear fellow parents,


I just want to rant about my DD’s current piano teacher. I feel frustrated at recent developments and seriously considering a new teacher. My DD is 7 years old. She auditioned for NAFA when she was 6 and got rejected. I was very disappointed but I believed my DD was very capable. My DD does not really enjoy playing piano, but I believe that she should be equipped with the best instruction so she can excel. I then began to look for a teacher who could provide standards equivalent to NAFA’s. I was recommended a teacher who supposedly one of the better ones and had track record of churning out distinction holders. I did contact a few ‘branded’ teachers but they said they did not take in lower grade students or beginners. So, I settled for this teacher. The first shock came during the first performance class that she organized for her students in our first month of lessons. There were very impressive students comparable to NAFA’s, but majority of her students actually played average. I talked to the parents and seemed like only 40% who had taken exams with this teacher scored distinctions. The rest scored mostly merits or passes. This teacher seemed incapable of maintaining standards across the board.

During lessons, I began to realize that she was not as critical as I expected. I sat in the lessons and I made it clear to the teacher that I expect my DD not to score lower than distinction. However, I notice she was not that particular about mistakes and often did not correct all the mistakes. She was also very easy with praises and often would praise sub-standard playing. I do not play any instrument myself, but I know when I heard a lousy playing. When I pressed her, she said she was aware of the mistakes but she said she did not want to overwhelm my DD too much. Granted, I am aware my DD easily get emotional and frustrated, but I wanted her to excel in piano to develop her discipline and to boost her confidence. I often had to ask her why she did not fix some of the obvious mistakes I heard, and only then she would fix those mistakes.

I decided to register my DD for grade 3 ABRSM this coming March. The teacher was actually against this idea as she said she wanted my DD to have more time to fix her technique and other things like sight-reading first. But I insisted because my DD was lagging behind and the exam would make her practice. Despite her reluctance, she agreed to enter DD for grade 3 after I assured her that I would make her practice very diligently. My DD admittedly was not really diligent in practice and a lot of things were not completed on schedule. But her teacher seemed content with the progress and did not scold or punish her. She pushed the blame to me, saying that I should have helped more with practice. I did try my best to get my DD to practice, but she would often just sat in front of the piano and refused to correct the mistakes I asked her. DD would then quarrel with me saying that teacher liked her playing and would proceed to tinker with the easy Disney songs the teacher assigned her for sight-reading instead. Exam is 2 weeks later and so far DD did manage to finish all the scales and songs, but with slips here and there. My DD still could not play all the 3 songs perfectly without any mistakes. Teacher said at most DD could only score at best a merit or a pass after considering all the other sections. Teacher said she was satisfied with the effort my DD has put in considering her current ability and said she was proud of her no matter how my DD would do in exam. I was very angry when I heard her said that. I specifically employed her because I wanted my DD to get a distinction, but now this is almost impossible.

Sorry for the long rant. If anybody has a recommendation on a teacher with much better track record of excellence. Do PM me.

[phankao]

classymadame:

Dear fellow parents,


I just want to rant about my DD’s current piano teacher. I feel frustrated at recent developments and seriously considering a new teacher. My DD is 7 years old. She auditioned for NAFA when she was 6 and got rejected. I was very disappointed but I believed my DD was very capable. My DD does not really enjoy playing piano, but I believe that she should be equipped with the best instruction so she can excel. I then began to look for a teacher who could provide standards equivalent to NAFA’s. I was recommended a teacher who supposedly one of the better ones and had track record of churning out distinction holders. I did contact a few ‘branded’ teachers but they said they did not take in lower grade students or beginners. So, I settled for this teacher. The first shock came during the first performance class that she organized for her students in our first month of lessons. There were very impressive students comparable to NAFA’s, but majority of her students actually played average. I talked to the parents and seemed like only 40% who had taken exams with this teacher scored distinctions. The rest scored mostly merits or passes. This teacher seemed incapable of maintaining standards across the board.

During lessons, I began to realize that she was not as critical as I expected. I sat in the lessons and I made it clear to the teacher that I expect my DD not to score lower than distinction. However, I notice she was not that particular about mistakes and often did not correct all the mistakes. She was also very easy with praises and often would praise sub-standard playing. I do not play any instrument myself, but I know when I heard a lousy playing. When I pressed her, she said she was aware of the mistakes but she said she did not want to overwhelm my DD too much. Granted, I am aware my DD easily get emotional and frustrated, but I wanted her to excel in piano to develop her discipline and to boost her confidence. I often had to ask her why she did not fix some of the obvious mistakes I heard, and only then she would fix those mistakes.

I decided to register my DD for grade 3 ABRSM this coming March. The teacher was actually against this idea as she said she wanted my DD to have more time to fix her technique and other things like sight-reading first. But I insisted because my DD was lagging behind and the exam would make her practice. Despite her reluctance, she agreed to enter DD for grade 3 after I assured her that I would make her practice very diligently. My DD admittedly was not really diligent in practice and a lot of things were not completed on schedule. But her teacher seemed content with the progress and did not scold or punish her. She pushed the blame to me, saying that I should have helped more with practice. I did try my best to get my DD to practice, but she would often just sat in front of the piano and refused to correct the mistakes I asked her. DD would then quarrel with me saying that teacher liked her playing and would proceed to tinker with the easy Disney songs the teacher assigned her for sight-reading instead. Exam is 2 weeks later and so far DD did manage to finish all the scales and songs, but with slips here and there. My DD still could not play all the 3 songs perfectly without any mistakes. Teacher said at most DD could only score at best a merit or a pass after considering all the other sections. Teacher said she was satisfied with the effort my DD has put in considering her current ability and said she was proud of her no matter how my DD would do in exam. I was very angry when I heard her said that. I specifically employed her because I wanted my DD to get a distinction, but now this is almost impossible.

Sorry for the long rant. If anybody has a recommendation on a teacher with much better track record of excellence. Do PM me.

I'd be suspicious if the teacher can promise all distinctions.

[Dreamaurora]

phankao:

classymadame:

Dear fellow parents,


I just want to rant about my DD’s current piano teacher. I feel frustrated at recent developments and seriously considering a new teacher. My DD is 7 years old. She auditioned for NAFA when she was 6 and got rejected. I was very disappointed but I believed my DD was very capable. My DD does not really enjoy playing piano, but I believe that she should be equipped with the best instruction so she can excel. I then began to look for a teacher who could provide standards equivalent to NAFA’s. I was recommended a teacher who supposedly one of the better ones and had track record of churning out distinction holders. I did contact a few ‘branded’ teachers but they said they did not take in lower grade students or beginners. So, I settled for this teacher. The first shock came during the first performance class that she organized for her students in our first month of lessons. There were very impressive students comparable to NAFA’s, but majority of her students actually played average. I talked to the parents and seemed like only 40% who had taken exams with this teacher scored distinctions. The rest scored mostly merits or passes. This teacher seemed incapable of maintaining standards across the board.

During lessons, I began to realize that she was not as critical as I expected. I sat in the lessons and I made it clear to the teacher that I expect my DD not to score lower than distinction. However, I notice she was not that particular about mistakes and often did not correct all the mistakes. She was also very easy with praises and often would praise sub-standard playing. I do not play any instrument myself, but I know when I heard a lousy playing. When I pressed her, she said she was aware of the mistakes but she said she did not want to overwhelm my DD too much. Granted, I am aware my DD easily get emotional and frustrated, but I wanted her to excel in piano to develop her discipline and to boost her confidence. I often had to ask her why she did not fix some of the obvious mistakes I heard, and only then she would fix those mistakes.

I decided to register my DD for grade 3 ABRSM this coming March. The teacher was actually against this idea as she said she wanted my DD to have more time to fix her technique and other things like sight-reading first. But I insisted because my DD was lagging behind and the exam would make her practice. Despite her reluctance, she agreed to enter DD for grade 3 after I assured her that I would make her practice very diligently. My DD admittedly was not really diligent in practice and a lot of things were not completed on schedule. But her teacher seemed content with the progress and did not scold or punish her. She pushed the blame to me, saying that I should have helped more with practice. I did try my best to get my DD to practice, but she would often just sat in front of the piano and refused to correct the mistakes I asked her. DD would then quarrel with me saying that teacher liked her playing and would proceed to tinker with the easy Disney songs the teacher assigned her for sight-reading instead. Exam is 2 weeks later and so far DD did manage to finish all the scales and songs, but with slips here and there. My DD still could not play all the 3 songs perfectly without any mistakes. Teacher said at most DD could only score at best a merit or a pass after considering all the other sections. Teacher said she was satisfied with the effort my DD has put in considering her current ability and said she was proud of her no matter how my DD would do in exam. I was very angry when I heard her said that. I specifically employed her because I wanted my DD to get a distinction, but now this is almost impossible.

Sorry for the long rant. If anybody has a recommendation on a teacher with much better track record of excellence. Do PM me.

I'd be suspicious if the teacher can promise all distinctions.

I don't think 'branded' teachers can even promise 100% pass and distinction rates. Some of my ex teachers who are quite celebrated in the field could not even claim that. They had their fair shares of students who tanked Diplomas and grade 8s. I also had the privilege of accessing the late Lucien Wang's (Ong Lip Tat's teacher) students' exam records during the course of my thesis on her. She like any other teachers had distinctions, merits, passes, and fails distributed across her students. But all her ex students I spoke to recalled tales of passionate and encouraging teacher who instilled in them lifelong love of music, and I think at the end of the day that was what really matters.

The only way to ensure almost 100% distinction chance is to ensure the student is already performing at merit/distinction level by the time the student is registered. For most cases this means all the pieces and scales are done by the time the exam is registered. But alas, I often had to work with limitations e.g. student entering exam earlier by half a year so won't clash with PSLE. In this case as long the students are realistic about what they could achieve in exams, normally I will relent.

[Dreamaurora]

classymadame:

Dear fellow parents,


I just want to rant about my DD’s current piano teacher. I feel frustrated at recent developments and seriously considering a new teacher. My DD is 7 years old. She auditioned for NAFA when she was 6 and got rejected. I was very disappointed but I believed my DD was very capable. My DD does not really enjoy playing piano, but I believe that she should be equipped with the best instruction so she can excel. I then began to look for a teacher who could provide standards equivalent to NAFA’s. I was recommended a teacher who supposedly one of the better ones and had track record of churning out distinction holders. I did contact a few ‘branded’ teachers but they said they did not take in lower grade students or beginners. So, I settled for this teacher. The first shock came during the first performance class that she organized for her students in our first month of lessons. There were very impressive students comparable to NAFA’s, but majority of her students actually played average. I talked to the parents and seemed like only 40% who had taken exams with this teacher scored distinctions. The rest scored mostly merits or passes. This teacher seemed incapable of maintaining standards across the board.

During lessons, I began to realize that she was not as critical as I expected. I sat in the lessons and I made it clear to the teacher that I expect my DD not to score lower than distinction. However, I notice she was not that particular about mistakes and often did not correct all the mistakes. She was also very easy with praises and often would praise sub-standard playing. I do not play any instrument myself, but I know when I heard a lousy playing. When I pressed her, she said she was aware of the mistakes but she said she did not want to overwhelm my DD too much. Granted, I am aware my DD easily get emotional and frustrated, but I wanted her to excel in piano to develop her discipline and to boost her confidence. I often had to ask her why she did not fix some of the obvious mistakes I heard, and only then she would fix those mistakes.

I decided to register my DD for grade 3 ABRSM this coming March. The teacher was actually against this idea as she said she wanted my DD to have more time to fix her technique and other things like sight-reading first. But I insisted because my DD was lagging behind and the exam would make her practice. Despite her reluctance, she agreed to enter DD for grade 3 after I assured her that I would make her practice very diligently. My DD admittedly was not really diligent in practice and a lot of things were not completed on schedule. But her teacher seemed content with the progress and did not scold or punish her. She pushed the blame to me, saying that I should have helped more with practice. I did try my best to get my DD to practice, but she would often just sat in front of the piano and refused to correct the mistakes I asked her. DD would then quarrel with me saying that teacher liked her playing and would proceed to tinker with the easy Disney songs the teacher assigned her for sight-reading instead. Exam is 2 weeks later and so far DD did manage to finish all the scales and songs, but with slips here and there. My DD still could not play all the 3 songs perfectly without any mistakes. Teacher said at most DD could only score at best a merit or a pass after considering all the other sections. Teacher said she was satisfied with the effort my DD has put in considering her current ability and said she was proud of her no matter how my DD would do in exam. I was very angry when I heard her said that. I specifically employed her because I wanted my DD to get a distinction, but now this is almost impossible.

Sorry for the long rant. If anybody has a recommendation on a teacher with much better track record of excellence. Do PM me.

Speaking from perspective of a teacher, I can't push a student beyond what he/she is willing to accomplish. I myself is similar to the teacher you have described above in that only 30%-40% of my students populations have scored distinctions. Getting almost 100% distinction rate I know may make a teacher feel spectacular, but that is not why I teach.

I teach to impart lifelong passion and appreciation for music, that is my main goal as a teacher. Exams are just a tool to help set milestones for learning progress. Of course I want my students when they actually take exams to score distinctions all the time. But I have to accept the fact that not all students will want to push themselves nor have the abilities to achieve that. Pushing students beyond what they want to accomplish may be detrimental to their interest. The last thing I want to hear is my students saying to me that they wanted to stop learning piano because they were so distressed by an exam preparation. If a student manages to score distinction but then proclaimed that he/she does not want to learn anymore, I would be extremely heartbroken.

That is why I have to be sensitive to each student's feeling and motivation level. I cannot run my studio like NAFA in that I filter out the students one by one until only the cream of the crop remain when exam is to be taken. I'm sure you would not want a teacher who will not hesitate to drop your DD when he/she sees that she's not progressing well, right?

To be honest, I see almost nothing wrong with what the teacher did. The teacher did voice her disagreement about your DD taking the exam. She was obviously technically skilled in teaching since by your admission that she had students 'who performed comparably to NAFA's'. Even if a student is talented and motivated, he/she still needs a very good teacher to bring him/her up to that level. Perhaps she adopted the more relaxed approach because she wanted her to enjoy lessons first. But I guess from your tone you are pretty much dead set against this. I just want to say that it goes both ways too. Teachers who are very much particular about maintaining the results would only want students who they feel have drive and ability to achieve that, so even if you do manage to find someone who fits your bill, there's no guarantee that he/she will accept your DD.