All About Choosing Piano Schools And Teachers

[6thisnthat9]

If the child is this young, it’s more impt to develop her appreciation and interest in music.

Is she attentive during piano lesson, able to sit through?
Is she practising through the hw that her piano tr assigned her? On her own?
When she practises her pieces, she is already sight reading, as long as you are not writing the solfege or notes down for her. No need to make any marking on the keyboard too.
Or is she playing by memory? You can tell, if she can play new pieces on her own.

Does your child enjoy the lessons, looking forward to it weekly? Is making music now, making her happy?
One of mine started at 4yo but in a group. No formal theory thought then. But my child learn to play the new pieces on her own, ahead of the lessons. Even so, we switched to 1 to 1 lessons only when she is 7yo.

Theory can be picked up as you learn. Tr explain the new terms as and when they come across them.

My other child started piano lesson only at 7yo. He is doing well now, enjoy making his music.

Some music school lessons allocate last 15mins to theory using theory book. But min age to take their 1 to 1 lesson is 6yo onwards.
Like Dream aurora said, talk to your current tr, hear her out first.

[SBT]

folks


kid turning 6 in few months time, looking at sending her for piano lessons and Aureus Academy is conveniently located near me, feedback?

[cse1217]

Hi all who are interested in learning piano or finding a FUN, Experienced, Patient, Flexible female piano teacher for yourself or your child, please PM me at 91468438.


Contact details and information
If you are interested to learn piano from her, please PM with the following details:
1) Your name
2) Contact number
3) Age of student
4) Venue of lesson (with postal code)
5) Preferred days and time for lessons
6) Learning piano for leisure and/or graded exam
a. If for leisure, specify any specific type of music
b. If for graded exam, specify what is the highest grade obtained

[VirtuosoPianist]

PIANO LESSONS BY COMPETITION WINNER


Lessons will be conducted at my home in Whampoa (nearest MRT Novena/Boon Keng).

Feel free to drop me a message at 9178 5243 if you're interested!

Lee Jie Qi
LRSM (with distinction)
DipABRSM (with distinction)
2nd prize winner of Cristofori Piano Competition 2009
Finalist at 2011 National Piano & Violin Competition
Ex-music director of Raffles Junior College Piano Ensemble

STUDENT'S ACHIEVEMENTS:
Samuel[list]

[musicglen]

For anyone who needs help in music / note reading / exams / accompanists etc..


https://musicglent.weebly.com

Or email me: musicglent@gmail.com

[Bearierie]

Hi. Looking for piano teacher willing to travel to Clementi. Kindly PM

[li.031032tingrui.031032hotmail.031032com]

Hi there, I am looking for a piano teacher who can come over to my place to teach a girl( sec 3).


Location: The scala, 138 Serangoon Ave 3, Singapore 554479
Rate: SGD $40~50/ 50mins, once a week is fine.
Piano teachers can be art college students etc with necessary qualifications in piano teaching.
Prefer female teachers who can speak Mandarin.

can email me at cygdzsg@hotmail.com

[yernying]

Hi,my name is Agnes.I have been teaching piano for 21 years.Recently ,I am looking for new students in North area especiallly in Woodlands.My qualification is I am ABRSM diploma holder in performance and teaching.I am experienced to teach from beginner to Gd 8.If interested,please contact me @90252089.

[Dreamaurora]

Hi parents, here's an article I wrote recently for my teaching practice to help parents support their children's practice. You can also get a downloadable PDF from the following link: http://charleswupianostudio.com/The%20Supportive%20Parent.pdf


Supporting Your Child’s Practice Effectively

By Charles Wu, BA(Hons) Performance, LRSM(Performance), LRSM(Teaching)

Introduction

Does this scenario sound familiar to you? You bought a nice shiny instrument for your child and started them on lessons with a qualified teacher. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly for a while, then suddenly you were fighting a losing battle to get your child to practice. You then wondered why was it so hard to get them to practice? And if they did practice, why did it sound bad most of the time? As a parent myself I fully empathize with this, and as a piano teacher with more than a decade under my belt I have encountered my fair share of non-practicing students as well. Conversely, I have had students who were practicing badly at first but later had turnarounds and went on to become quite decent players. So let me share a few useful pointers and practical tips you could start applying in your child’s practice.

Practice Is Hard Work

But is not practicing supposed to be enjoyable and fun? Perhaps you might have gotten this romantic notion from a movie or television show you had watched. But ask any decent player and they would have told you that to even produce a decent amateur performance of a popular masterwork would require a significant amount of often not fun practice.

Truth is practicing often involves tedious repetitions and careful troubleshooting. There might be brief moments where practice could be really rewarding like when you managed to solve a problem or finally was able to play through a piece. But most of the time it is really hard work and rarely fun. And really, rarely you would get to hear your child only playing through their pieces beautifully during their practice sessions. I often share an anecdote where an admirer tried to camp outside the great composer pianist Sergei Rachmaninov’s home in hope of hearing his magnificent playing. What he got was Rachmaninov repeatedly playing a few bars again and again very slowly for hours. I always joke that despite being a pianist myself, I would not really want another serious musician as my neighbour.

Once you understand and accept this fact, you would be more sympathetic to your child’s apprehension to practice and ready to be more supportive.

Be Involved

In a documentary, Evgeny Kissin recounted how as a young child prodigy he would excitedly dash to the piano the moment he came home from school and practiced for hours by himself. I think we all hope our children could be like that, but the reality is that most young learners do not have that innate motivation and need their parents to be a constant part of their learning journeys.

I know parents who practically tutor their children during their practice sessions. I am not asking you to do the same, but there are some small steps you could start taking to be more involved. You were already taking the first step when you started reading this article but let me offer you a few more suggestions.

Starting to be more involved with your child’s practice certainly does not mean constantly reminding them to practice; this only vexes your child and might demotivate them. Rather than doing that, you could start by asking your child to prepare and perform what they are supposed to practice. For example, you could say this to your child “I like that cool piece you’ve just started learning. Can you practice and play it for me later?” This will send a signal to your child that you like music and are personally invested in what they are learning.

You could take this a step further and weave your child’s music making into the fabric of your family life. You can ask your child for example to perform for family dinners or parties. Celebrate completion of a piece by recording a performance of it and sharing it to social media. Learn an instrument yourself and practice duets with your child.
I encourage you to try them out and hope you would be able to see positive improvements soon. These suggestions do not remove the tedium of practicing, but when your child see that their parents are constant part of their learning journey, they would be more motivated to bear the slog.

Do Not Micromanage

On the other side of the fence, I have witnessed parents who had gotten a tad too involved with their children’s practices, especially if their children show great potential in the instrument. I do think there is nothing wrong with guiding your child more proactively if you wish to, but you will need to be careful that you do not become over-bearing.

A big part of learning an instrument is learning to practice and troubleshoot issues independently. Trying to admonish and correct every issue cropping up during your child’s practice would only increase the tedium and misery of practicing, not to mention that your child might become overly dependent on you. It is okay to point out the issues and give suggestions on how to solve them, but it is also perfectly fine to let your child make mistakes and discover for themselves what would work and what would not work. This way, they are far more likely to mature faster to become independent musicians.

Be Accepting and Encouraging

Just as we would not expect someone who is learning to cook or bake to always produce delicious food; the same goes with learning an instrument. It is nice to think your child might be the next prodigy in town, but the sobering reality is really that most young learners would have to contend with chugging steadily with plenty ups and downs on their ways to become decent amateur players. And really, there is nothing wrong with this; I always say to everyone that I am equally as proud of both my precocious and average students.

I have heard parents who complained that practice sessions were ordeals; their children often could not accomplish the tasks set for them even after many exhortations and repetitions. And their playing often sound grating to their parents’ more discerning ear. I understand the frustration but showing your displeasure visibly to your child would only be detrimental to their motivation level in the long run. What is more important is lauding your child for putting in consistent effort and showing constant improvement. Even when a practice session did not go well as planned, still congratulate your child for trying their best and encourage them to try again next time.

The road to an instrument proficiency is a long and difficult one. As a parent we should be prepared to experience the highs and lows together with your child. Remember: Reward the effort, not the result.

Help Your Child Plan and Organize

Left on their own, a young child would just probably replay continuously the pieces they had learned in lessons because they wanted to just play their instrument. While this might be fine and more fun at the beginning when the pieces are marginally difficult, this way of “practicing” would lead to glacial progress when the pieces were more challenging.

Practice sessions should ideally be equally as well structured as good lessons; they need to have clear short-term objectives that work towards larger goals. Whenever possible, discuss with the teacher to work out a practice plan that your child could follow in their daily practice sessions. Just like we need to follow specific instructions when consuming prescribed medicine, the same goes for practice sessions. It is not sufficient to just have broad goals like “practice piece A”, it needs to be more precise such as “Improve the fluency of left-hand part of piece A from bars 1-8”. Expanding on the earlier suggestion of asking your child to perform a piece for you after practicing, you could also ask your child to perform with these specific goals.

It is helpful to keep a practice planner that outlines what your child needs to specifically work on their practice sessions; the planner can be used to record your child’s practice progress and any unresolved issues that the teacher will need to address in the coming lessons.

Provide an Ideal Practice Environment

It is common-sense that we learn best when we are well-rested in a comfortable environment that is free from any distractions. Yet students often shared that they were unable to have this ideal condition when practicing. If your child experiences this long term, it would send a mixed signal to them that you lack concern for their learning. This might have an adverse effect on their motivation level.

The practice room should be well-lit and free from nearby distractions such as television; that latest episode of your favourite TV show or sports match can wait just a little while more. If your child is already tired from earlier activities, a rest, or a short nap before starting their practice would do wonder. Make sure your child’s instrument is well maintained and ready to play. Be ready to render assistance if needed like for example tuning your child’s violin or adjust the height of a piano bench.

[Wei Jun]

Hi Everyone,


I’m an aspiring Edtech entrepreneur and looking to undertake some piano students during off-peak hours! Would be great if I can get some advice on acquiring students. Music has been my passion ever since I was a child and I was fortunate enough to be guided by the best teachers in Singapore. Hopefully, will be able to transfer some of those learning techniques I’ve picked up through the years!

These are my credentials:
-Trinity Guildhall ATCL Diploma (Distinction), former student of Benjamin Loh
-ABRSM Cello Grade 8 (Distinction)
-Two piano recitals in Esplanade
-Ex-NUS Symphonic Orchestra under the conductorship of Maestro Lim Soon Lee for 4 years.

Any help and advice is much appreciated!