Child wants to quit piano

[phankao]

jedamum:

you already took a huge step to get them to do karate and pursuing music!
i am paranoid. and in the past year, that playful ds2 already injured his fingers many many times! but all before we intro piano to his daily life. so now must 'nag' him to take care of his fingers and keep his hand on his lap when he sits around on the floor during lessons (more than one such occasions his fingers got stepped on! :faint:). then he once he wanted to dance like hiphop dancer (doing a one-hand hand stand :faint:) and almost dislocate his arm. :faint:

Actually I didn't *get* them to do any of that. They requested. I've not asked them to otherwise take special care in not getting injured leh. My kids have all had their fair share of injuries. They are boys - they like running wild! My elder boy is very daring and adventurous. Now he's even doing Wingchun. haha. Injuries - can always heal from. Just that it's super inconvenient if it's just before a music exam! How to do the exam? ;D

[violin_lover]

I disagree with the statement \" a bare minimum of an exam model piano like U1 is required.\". I have a lower end Yamaha piano. As long as it is \"exam model\", it is fine. This is according to my kid piano teacher (a very famous piano educator who has frequent performances, master degree holder from renowned UK university)


Pls note that a U1 piano (made in Japan, not Indonesia) cost around 5 digits.

Dreamaurora:

jce:

weighted keys do make a slight difference but keyboards just do not respond like acoustic pianos to variants of touch and weight. That's why there is an emphasis on getting a piano rather than a keyboard if one is to embark on the journey of learning

I second what jce said. That being said, I feel if parents are not sure they are willing to invest money on quality lessons and pianos, they can send the kids to appreciation classes first like Yamaha's JMC to see the kids' interest level. For this purpose, a 88 key weighted keyboard should be sufficient. But the moment the child switch to individual lessons and express interest in taking exams, a bare minimum of an exam model piano like U1 is required. If budget is really tight, at least a second hand Clavinova can be procured. But then if budget is really tight, you can't afford good teachers anyway and so kind of defeat the purpose.

[Dreamaurora]

violin_lover:

I disagree with the statement \" a bare minimum of an exam model piano like U1 is required.\". I have a lower end Yamaha piano. As long as it is \"exam model\", it is fine. This is according to my kid piano teacher (a very famous piano educator who has frequent performances, master degree holder from renowned UK university)


Pls note that a U1 piano (made in Japan, not Indonesia) cost around 5 digits.

I passed my grade 5 with merit using a very beat up 2nd hand Young Chang piano costing 1K+. And recently one of my adult students passed grade 7 using only a Clavinova. But is this the ideal situation? Definitely no. Hence my insistence on my students to acquire a proper piano like U1 if budget allows. Need not necessarily be brand new, a good condition 2nd hand model will suffice. 'Exam model' is a phrase thrown too freely nowadays to sell pianos.

A good analogy of not having a good piano will be like racing an F1 competition with a F2 or F3 car. You will still get to the finish line, but no chance of winning of whatsoever.

And may I know who is this teacher? J. Koh?

[violin_lover]

I disgaree again. Yamaha is particular about the phrase \"exam model\". At Yamaha, not all pianos are \"exam model\". Most of the kids who studied under the piano teacher score distinction and not all of them using piano as expensive as U1. For the teacher, I prefer not to disclose the name as based on the guideline of the forum (i.e. no advertising). Anymore, she has no bandwidth to take in any more student.

Dreamaurora:

violin_lover:

I disagree with the statement \" a bare minimum of an exam model piano like U1 is required.\". I have a lower end Yamaha piano. As long as it is \"exam model\", it is fine. This is according to my kid piano teacher (a very famous piano educator who has frequent performances, master degree holder from renowned UK university)

Pls note that a U1 piano (made in Japan, not Indonesia) cost around 5 digits.

I passed my grade 5 with merit using a very beat up 2nd hand Young Chang piano costing 1K+. And recently one of my adult students passed grade 7 using only a Clavinova. But is this the ideal situation? Hardly no. Hence my insistence on my students to acquire a proper piano like U1 if budget allows. Need not necessarily be brand new, a good condition 2nd hand model will suffice. 'Exam model' is a phrase thrown too freely nowadays to sell pianos.

And may I know who is this teacher? J. Koh?

[peanut_butter]

jedamum:

he is still reluctant to invest in a piano (he said playing piano is for fun, not to become a pianist, so why need to buy piano. :skeptical: ) unless ds2 stayed on course for another 2 years.


btw, is a 88key keyboard any difference from one that has lesser keys. the one we had at our place supposed to have 'weighted keys'. does that help?

Show him this figure: the piano fee x Students his teacher has. Tell him D$ might earn that much if he plays well. Show him videos of guys playing the masculine types of music. Guys are good at networking. Those who got lobangs and play in gigs are usually men. The good ones can easily earn thousands of dollars consistently per month playing part-time in night club/s.
:xedfingers: You never know....

Keyboards comes in many quality, even the weighted one. There's a strong correlation between the price and quality. The good ones has more 'feel' and of cause will include 88 keys. I find the keys on the entry-level 'weighted' ones still too shallow. Many acoustic piano dealers offer buy-back (50%) for customers who change their minds.

An jockey apprentice should never spend 2 years training seriously on a donkey. Neither should a good piano student. Unless he's into pop syllabus only.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P.S. I have nothing against pop music.


Added-on: I realised I borrowed Dreamaurora's definition of F1 car race.

[jedamum]

peanut-butter,

thanks for the input!

[Dreamaurora]

violin_lover:

I disgaree again. Yamaha is particular about the phrase \"exam model\". At Yamaha, not all pianos are \"exam model\". Most of the kids who studied under the piano teacher score distinction and not all of them using piano as expensive as U1. For the teacher, I prefer not to disclose the name as based on the guideline of the forum (i.e. no advertising). Anymore, she has no bandwidth to take in any more student.

Dreamaurora:

[quote=\"violin_lover\"]I disagree with the statement \" a bare minimum of an exam model piano like U1 is required.\". I have a lower end Yamaha piano. As long as it is \"exam model\", it is fine. This is according to my kid piano teacher (a very famous piano educator who has frequent performances, master degree holder from renowned UK university)

Pls note that a U1 piano (made in Japan, not Indonesia) cost around 5 digits.

I passed my grade 5 with merit using a very beat up 2nd hand Young Chang piano costing 1K+. And recently one of my adult students passed grade 7 using only a Clavinova. But is this the ideal situation? Hardly no. Hence my insistence on my students to acquire a proper piano like U1 if budget allows. Need not necessarily be brand new, a good condition 2nd hand model will suffice. 'Exam model' is a phrase thrown too freely nowadays to sell pianos.

And may I know who is this teacher? J. Koh?

[/quote]Hence you just state the reason why 'exam model' is such a vague word to be used. I prefer to just categorise pianos as good or bad, so normally I will try to accompany piano shopping with students so they are not swayed by salesmen or fancy terms. A non exam model can sound good just as likely as an exam model piano may sound not worth its price. You can PM me the name, I just want to know who my competitions are.

[sleepy]

Dreamaurora:

A good analogy of not having a good piano will be like racing an F1 competition with a F2 or F3 car. You will still get to the finish line, but no chance of winning of whatsoever.

I like your analogy

I told dh buying a good piano is not the highest cost. Teachers fees are!
$200 x 12 months = $2400 per annum. Haven't even factor in fees increase in higher grades. And a child typically needs numerous years to reach grade 8 & beyond. So if prepared to spend so much on fees, not logical to buy an underperforming piano :scratchhead:

[violin_lover]

Hmmm since when did I " state the reason why ‘exam model’ is such a vague word to be used"? I mention that yamaha took the words "exam model" seriously…pls read the post properly. I don’t want parents to discourage kids from learning piano just because of the wrong impression of someone saying "a bare minimum of U1 is required" (which cost around 5 digits). Only NAFA did that. I pull my kids off from NAFA. But I have to admit that most piano teachers outside are not NAFA teacher’s caliber (exclude my kid current teacher :-D)

[sleepy]

violin_lover:

I pull my kids off from NAFA. But I have to admit that most piano teachers outside are not NAFA teacher's caliber (exclude my kid current teacher :-D)

Ditto :hi5:


Nafa caliber... er, not sure how to ascertain Nafa teacher's calibre since my dd only had one impression of her ex-Nafa teacher - very fierce !!! :rotflmao: