I have students of all levels who do piano examinations for every grade level. I also have students who skipped all the examinations til the end and only do them at the advance levels for the highschool credits. Few have been positive experiences and few have been ugly.

Personally, the only piano examinations I did were for Grades 4, 8, 9, 10 and ARCT. I suffer from extreme stage fright and I specifically recall after my Grade 9 piano examination, running to the nearest pay phone to call my teacher in tears thinking I’ve failed it miserably.

I had a 15 year old student who has completed examinations for every grade found them so agonizing and upon her parent’s insistence, went in for her grade 7 examination. She was so nervous that when the examiner greeted her, she burst into tears.

A few of the students who are not self motivated to practice, I use examinations as a goal that forces them to practice to pass each level. Others, we work through all the requirements and instead of the required piece from each section and studys, I require the students to learn double the required pieces. On top of the technical requirements, we also work on sight reading and ear training. The kids are not losing in their lessons by not having an examination, but by knowing what I require from them to go on to the next level, they have their own goals.

By not having a specific timeline, as examinations are only held 3 times a year, most of my students who are self motivated to practice, complete the levels at a quicker pace. We do have regular performances held every 2 months which in itself allows the kids to work towards making their pieces performance ready.

The goal of learning the piano should be for the pleasure of it in itself. Rarely do I find a child who started piano to not like it. There is excitement on their faces when I play new pieces for them to select from. I haven’t met a student yet who did not beam in happiness everytime I checked their music and deemed it performance ready and finished – ready to move on to the next.

I found as long as the students know there is a clear structure to the levels as the RCM is great at providing and the students know clearly what is required from them to progress, examinations should only be used as a tool when necessary and not be the end goal in itself in learning.

Happy 256th Birthday Mozart!

From the students of Becky Yuan piano studio 2011

Franz Liszt was the world’s first ROCK STAR. Born 200 years ago, women would attack him and tear at his clothes. Pull out chunks of his hair and fight over broken piano strings.

He was the inventor of the recital. The first to stride from the wings to the piano in a concert hall. He was the first to place the piano sideways so the audience could see the profile of him. The first to perform without the musical score and the first to move his body with the music and whip his hair so beads of sweat would fall on the women in the front row. Before him, it was considered arrogant to play without the score.

All students who agonized about having to perform in recitals and memorize music have only Franz Liszt to blame. Known throughout Europe as one of THE most technically advanced pianist of his age and perhaps of all time, a composer and a teacher. His influence continues on today in his compositions. Here is one of Franz Liszt’s famous piano compositions performed by Tom in the cartoon, Tom and Jerry.

I had the pleasure to interview a lady in an advance level of piano.  Her playing was, to be kind, stiff and lifeless.  I spent the next hour going over the most basic of technique – a basic scale.  Teaching her how to make even a scale to sound like music and not a drill or exercise.  This 15 year old was most keen and asked me how to play with feeling.  How to bring what is inside into her music.  Unfortunately, as it sometimes happens, her mother,  was more interested in cost, chose a “cheaper” teacher without proper training and had a more open schedule to accomodate their lives instead.

There is more to music than the prestige of music competitions and excelling in examinations.  Here, students learn to sense freedom in music and feel it deeply.  To play the piano is more than to follow the notes.  It is to breathe and give life to an otherwise lifeless score. Music is an expression of one’s soul.

Here’s an interesting article about how visual cues affects how the audience perceives how good the music is.  I saw this first hand during the spring festival season.  I was astonished to find that without fail, the piano competitor who dressed the best and used body language to express the music while playing the piano, no matter how dull, usually won.  After that eye opener, I started teaching my students how to “perform” at the piano.

http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/visual-cues-impact-judgment-of-piano-performances-35579/

I’ve been asked many times how old does a child have to be to start lessons.  In general, I usually say 6 years old.  By the age of 6, your son or daughter would have attended 2 years of kindergarten classes.  They would be able to sit still for instruction and focus.

However, I have also taken in students at the age of 4 with the insistence of the parents and more often 5 years as well.  This is with the parent’s understanding that the learning process and teaching of a younger child might be slower than a 6 or 7 year old beginner.

Now, my standards for accepting a young child.  Your son or daughter must be able to count to 10 … in order.  Your son or daughter must be able to say the alphabet and write and recognize at least the first 7 letters.  Another criteria.  Your child must know the difference between high and low.  Lastly, the difference between the left hand and the right hand.   Difficult?  possibly, but not impossible.

Summer is a lazy time for me.  During the school year, it was easier to build piano practicing into the routine of the day.  Since January 2011, I had made it my new year’s resolution to make piano practicing more of a priority with my daughters.  They were in the middle of Grade 1 and definately ready to have piano as a part of their activities.  So, every day, during their lunch periods, I’d pick them up from school.  20 mins to eat, 20 mins to practice.

Now with summer, it’s so hard to have a routine.   When the kids are outside playing with their friends, it’s a little difficult to ask them to come in to work for 30 mins in a day.  So, instead, when the girls ask to ride their bikes outside, or ask a friend over for a playdate, as well as saying – “only after you’ve made your beds” or “have you finished eating your lunch”, I also include “after you’ve played your songs 5 times each”.  5 times doesn’t seem like a lot, but do it a few times a day when they ask for something that could be more constructive with their time, it’s enough.

This is a video of my students playing Viva La Vida by Coldplay. I took a video of a dozen students playing different parts of the song and edited it together.