NAFA School of Young Talents - Discussion
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chamonix:
Thanks, chamonix. It is a morale booster to him and now he has less resistence to practise piano. He enjoys piano practice more after he got the results, though he still prefers spending hours on reading and science everyday...Picolo:
. My son has been learning to play piano for 2 years and recently got a distinction in ABRSM Gr 1.
Congratulations! :celebrate:
Thanks to pianojazzy, AppleTree and chamonix for your insights. Sorry to AppleTree cos I kind of hijack your thread...pianojazzy:
Look at my child,Hi Picolo,
Dun be too confused. All these are very common. It depends on individual. I have students who can play gr 4 exam pieces at the age of 5. But i also have students who learnt of 3 yrs but yet to take exams.
What determine these is the child's attitude, parental support, amount of practise and lastly talent.
1) the child's attitude - DS1 has good attitude and he is a fast learner. However, for him, piano is not in his priority list.
2) parental support - I need a lot of pushing from the piano teacher too, so, I am also not the conscientious type of parent who will make sure that my kid practise everyday.
3) amount of practice - in comparison to others, DS1 hardly practise...
4) lastly, talent- nil.
DS1 does not mind learning piano so long as it does not take up too much of his time, ie. more than 3 hours a week. I am ok with it so long as he can meet the teacher's expectations with little practice. When I feel kancheong, I make him practise more
Thanks to AppleTree and chamonix for explaining to me in details.
[quote][quote][quote]However, I know of 2 parents with other piano teachers who commented that their kids are only learning piano for about 1 - 1.5 years and they are already attempting Gr 2 - 3 exams pieces. To these parents, Gr 1 and 2 are too easy and kids should progress faster. [/quote]A few possibilities...
- the kids are musical and hardworking
- very hands-on parents with good music background
- erm, according to my kids' piano teacher, there are some students that do only exam pieces. [/quote]chamonix:
[/quote][/quote]
Chamonix, one of them is very talented (as commented by a NAFA teacher) and the mother can afford to spend at least 2 hours practising with the boy. Though the mother has no music background, she is able to guide her boy very well.
The other kid is a fast learner, and good in academic results and gymnastics, but I don't know her and her family well enough to comment on the rest of the points.
[quote]Let me guess, her daughter did the Yamaha Junior Course? This course touches more on music appreciation and electrone and lasts for 4 years. Perhaps that's why she did grade 1 exam only after so many years.
Yes you are right :lol: If I have to spend 4 years on a junior course, my interest would sure dwindle. -
Hi Dennisl, going back to your question about how I managed to make my son practices for so many hours a day… I think mainly its because of the work assigned by his teacher. His teacher will tell us which songs to practise during the week and how many times each day. So by the time all is done, it will be 2/3hours. But this is including the time he gets down to have a drink, go washroom etc… But in general, it will be a good 1 and 1/2hours on the piano. …Kids are very smart and are usually "afraid" of their teacher. They will usually do what they teacher tell them. Maybe you can sync up with the teacher on this, and let her tell your child his/her homework.
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Thanks Appletree ! Last week I saw a TV program with 2 NAFA SYT students playing piano and violin. The boy who plays piano is 9 yrs old and the girl who plays violin is 8 yrs old I think. The host asked the boy how much time he practices the piano daily, the boys said 2 to 4 hours per day :shock: . Sounds this is like the norm in NAFA SYT.... and you really have to pay the price to excel in a musical instrument.
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Hi Dennisl, I can't help but agree with you (despite the fact that I am getting tired of sitting in front of the piano already
) ... But even for an amateur like me, I can see the difference in his playing skills and improvement. So I will continue to hang in there for now... 
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What I find most amazing is how these kids manage to find and concentrate for 2 - 4 hours on one activity, each day. My dd practices for about 1 hr, 3-4 times a week and even those 1 hr practices are filled with 101 interruptions in between. It’s a good thing she has finished her Grade 8 exam cos I can’t imagine what it would be like when the school ratches it up from P4 onwards.
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I'm so envious of you watmekiasu ! your kid can finish grade 8 before P4 :celebrate:
I don't think every kid can take 2 - 4 hrs of training everyday, but for those who could be disciplined or passionate enough to do this, I think they could really excel in a few year time. I remembered seeing a list of winners of the national piano competition , and most of the winners are from NAFA, may be that's the reason why it's so attractive to the parents . But once they get in they'll start to realize the commitments required for both student and parents are quite high, and they starts to get nervous and feel the pressure ....
My girl is in K2 and she's been learning violin in NAFA for 1 yr , half of the original class are gone so far for various reasons. ( with some new students to come in to fill the slots). Every half year there is an exam and after the exam a few students will disappear
That put a lot of pressure to the parents.... Tough world 
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dennisl:
Thanks Appletree ! Last week I saw a TV program with 2 NAFA SYT students playing piano and violin. The boy who plays piano is 9 yrs old and the girl who plays violin is 8 yrs old I think. The host asked the boy how much time he practices the piano daily, the boys said 2 to 4 hours per day :shock: . Sounds this is like the norm in NAFA SYT.... and you really have to pay the price to excel in a musical instrument.
WOW I am VERY IMPRESSED indeed. I can't even get my kid to practise more than 15 mins each time ...With such determination, honestly I think they deserve to win as well eh?
My kid has learnt 2 years at Junior Yamaha Course - not required to sit for exams I believe until end of year 4. For me, I am not too concern when he'll finish his grade and whether he is technically perfect (I dont understand if it is anyway ). I am just happy the way he is - loving music and looking forward to every lesson. -
Petlover:
I think it helped that dd only took 2 practical exams being Gr3 and 8 plus gd5 theory. Hence, she was not put off by too much intensive practices. Her usual practice is sloppy, to say the least, but she does it happily. She does ratch it up 2 months or so before the exams though. It has produced results, not brilliant ,just 2 distinctions and a merit. Her passion for music is there as she frequently plays old pieces that she likes, not required for her current lessons. It also helped that we pruned her schedule at P2 for more R&R. She stopped chinese-dance lessons (this required a ridiculous amount of extra lessons leading to the exam :x) and Piano. Currently, she's doing both violin and cello. She's really loving the cello - once again, no graded exam target.I'm so envious of you watmekiasu ! your kid can finish grade 8 before P4 :celebrate:
My girl is in K2 and she's been learning violin in NAFA for 1 yr , half of the original class are gone so far for various reasons. ( with some new students to come in to fill the slots). Every half year there is an exam and after the exam a few students will disappear That put a lot of pressure to the parents.... Tough world
Basically, what I'm trying to say is let your child learn music for the right reasons. Let them develope a lifelong love for music. Let them learn at their own pace for that. Not everyone is born a Gabriel Ng or Phoebe Sim or even close. -
Hi All,
I am new here. My girl is 5 year old, next Feb will 6. She is now study Yamaha Junior course Term 3. She likes piano and erveryday practises 1-2 hours. I am interested in NAFA Gifted Young piano course and Yamaha Junior Special Advance Course. Anyone know which one is better? I want to compare course content , durations, fees… -
hhtang:
Hi hhtang,Hi All,
I am new here. My girl is 5 year old, next Feb will 6. She is now study Yamaha Junior course Term 3. She likes piano and erveryday practises 1-2 hours. I am interested in NAFA Gifted Young piano course and Yamaha Junior Special Advance Course. Anyone know which one is better? I want to compare course content , durations, fees...
We had some discussion here on Yamaha JSAC.
http://www.kiasuparents.com/kiasu/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2423
Hope it helps.
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Look here for 2nd hand music books!
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