Any Mommies in mid-late 30s or over 40 with small children?

Hi Sharon,

If a child is music prodigy of some sort, he can handle any grade (theory/practical). The world has seen many young children excel naturally with various instruments and academic subjects. I think what's important is to consider the child's own ability, interests and the relevance (be it career, personal development or to use for application to xxx etc)

I think I passed Grade 4 theory when I was in Primary 2. Didn't understand half of what I was reading/doing/answering but enough to pass
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Never took any Grade 123 and the teacher signed me up straight for Grade 4 for some strange reason.

I only know I dreaded theory and only enjoyed playing pieces. If not for the exams that put me off, I might have continued taking lessons. But since I didn't want to take exams, I'd rather give up proper piano lessons altogether because it's total waste of daily time sitting by the piano doing drills after drills just so to pass exams. Seriously many kids (alot of my friends) can play anything if their sight-reading skills are excellent.
 


aa,

a minimum amount of time needs to be dedicated for focused practise. 2 hours a day is actually not that much... time just pass without us even noticing. He is with music school... not private teacher studio. If you look at the Trinity syllabus carefully, in terms of the pieces, Trinity grade 5 pieces are included as Abrsm grade 6 pieces. Trinity pieces are consistently a grade tougher compared to Abrsm. However, Trinity has lesser scale requirement eg. abrsm may have 2 3-octave scales versus one for trinity. Trinity, however, also mandated technical requirement eg. need to play thirds, sixths, octaves and scale on a single string (means need to shift to 5th position) and a bowing technique eg. scales in ricochet or scales in spiccato. Before grade 6, trinity allows sight reading to be replaced with musical knowledge of the pieces (10 points). But aural requirement seem to be tougher in trinity, though they dun need you to sing. After grade 5, sight reading is mandated.

Trinity exams are good as they emphasizes more on violinistic skills, musical style rather than mandating theory. Very young kids can progress fast on practical but understanding theory takes time as its more abstract... not that theory is not important but it can be worked upon separately not affecting each other.

pink_gerbera,

thanks for the compliment... he is not that good at this particular piece actually but its something he likes ... just practising.. its still considerable way ...



mum_musing,

ya its good for him to get those exams over with before school work gets in the way... as I hope maybe he can do music enrichment in secondary school in future (if he wish). As for his musical ambitions... its not definite now yet. He has many interests eg. being a pilot etc... he has many dreams. Wanting to be an accomplished violinist is one of them... but its a very tough and competitive journey and hard work or talent may not necessarily equate success, so I just take it a step at a time and allow him to reach his own potential.

some form of thoughtful repetition is required for muscle memory to develop... if the goal is to get distinction for graded exams, it would be easy to achieve... going for competition and performances takes a different rigour.

sharon,

my friend's 6 year old just went to take her grade 5 theory. Its possible if you are determined to do it.
 
Hi poohy

Very insightful info about the Trinity exams! It's heartening to know that there are kids like your boy who's serious about music (and the arts). Too many kids these days are hooked on IT gadgets which I feel isn't the most conducive way to encourage patience, discipline and fortitude.
 
mumusings,

my boy also likes it gadgets.. but despite being IT professional, I do not like him to indulge in it. I believe strongly that the cons outweighs the benefits. I rather the kids be bored and find their means to entertain themselves without resorting to the electronic ways. For my oldest boy, he is too busy with his violin practise to have any considerable time to play on gadgets.
 
Hi Poohy,

Most boys and the current generation of kids will like gadgets and it's increasingly difficult for parents to control their exposure. For his sake and our own sanity, we're not using smart phones and iPad. Maybe next time but definitely don't want his fingers crooked from swishing about the screen as yet. He only gets to 'play' when relatives allow their smartphones for him to fiddle about. Like you, I'd rather my 3 year-old son find his own way to play using the resources at home. All the best and do share more videos of violin playing with us
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poohy, sharon

Congrats!
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My dd sat for cello exam & still waiting for result. She started learning in school at p2 & switched to private teacher last year, considered late start in learning instrument but for once, she has shown sustainable interests in a particular instrument so I'm very supportive. Not prodigy kind of standard though, since she only spent 20 minutes practising & sometimes declare herself off day.

I asked her teacher to target her for diploma next year although teacher negotiated for grade 7. Shall see how it goes. Have to fit exam into her heavy school workload, so might as well set final goal for teacher. No time & no patience to keep going for exam
 
sharon

We're putting theory exam on hold. Except for grade 1 theory exam at Nafa, my dd2 hasn't sat for any theory exam since then. She is only half way through her grade 4 theory book which is way behind her teacher's expectation. But looking at her horribly messy handwritting, I don't forsee her going for theory exam soon, although her teacher is pushing for it. As long as can get grade 5 theory before grade 8 practical, I suppose there's no urgency? She's only learning grade 5 practical now, still far far away from grade 8, plenty of time lor


poohy

I guess you made a wise decision to go with current teacher afterall. Your ds progress is ahead of Nafa's schedule!
 
Hi Pink Gerbera,

My maid is away for 1 week now. Very tiring doing the never-ending housework and cooking dinner. My right thumb area have been having aching pain in the past few mths (probably got it from too much typing at work) and now making it worst with the housework kicking in. Luckily, my MIL comes over to help out & hb also helps:p

Perservering for 2 more weeks.

Hi Mumusings/ Poohy,

My kids have contacts with Computer/ Multi-media learning at CC. At home, we keep them away from IT gadgets. They will get lotsa chance to use them when they are older. For now, I want them to use their hands to do things - Playing with playdoh, lego, puzzles, drawing, pratising on the keyboard, outdoor play etc....so many things to do besides sitting infront of the PC/ Galaxy Tab.

Hi Sharon,

Sabrina is progressing well with her piano. My DD1 still at Bk 3 of YJC. The course takes 4 yrs to complete and we will let her decide what she wants to do after that. According to Yamaha, she will be Grade 3 equivalent when she completes this 4-yr course. We are letting her learn at her own pace as she is enjoying the classes now.
 
hi, Mumusing/Poohy

S totally has to away from all TV , computer,iphone, ipad stuffs because of her eyes sight problem..
beside that I need to do eyes massange/ put on eyes pads for her everyday very tiring for me.

Snowball32,
don mind I ask..I heard YJC not teaching sight reading during the lesson is that true ?
But which I think sight reading is very important on piano journey.

yawn yawn
IS ur DD learning Czerny op 599 ? beside exam book which are the books that ur DD has learning now ? can share ?
 
sharon

After grade 1, didn't use czerny anymore. No specific books indicated by current teacher. Entirely up to my dd. Can play any songs that my dd is interested in. Last Nov/Dec, we bought a X'mas song book for her to play. Teacher guided her on those X'mas songs that dd chose. We're now looking for ABBA song book, yet to find

No chemistry with her Nafa teacher & cannot choose teacher. We didn't want to kill interests so decided to switch out & go private, more relaxed too. Didn't enjoy playing Hanon and Czerny although these are supposedly good for fingering practice

Did you go for Nafa audition? There's one in May & Nov each year. How many hours your dd practise daily?
 
Hi Snowball,

Good to hear that your kids are also doing more hands-on stuff at home. I saw a boy with crooked fingers playing iPhone - he was so tensed up and engrossed, only 3 years old!!!!

Hi Yawn,

Scary Czerny........... I can understand the boredom. Good for fingering practice indeed but will kill young children's interest in music if one forces the kid to do 30mins of nothing but Czerny. It was one of the drills I absolutely dreaded and did nothing to inspire me to continue 'cos my teacher was a fan of this method of drilling
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Hi mummies, thanks for warm welcome.

Sharon, heRng ur gal cried coz of siblings, made me worry abt my little gal as she maybe the only child due to my age. With friends in school, she still wld still prefer a sister or brother?

Tamarind, my parents look after my gal when I am at work but will be putting her in cc when she turns 18 months
 
yawn, mumusing,

Is czerny the equivalent of etudes/studies (Wohlfahrt, Kayser, Sevcik etc) played in violin? I listened to some of the czerny op 599 played and found them to be very entertaining and melodious.. Just like the etudes S plays, each sounds like a song of phrases with variation. Some of them are a bit dry but they are generally melodious.

I let S practises scales and such studies more than pieces these days.... cos studies develops him more holistically than a piece, and in a more structured way. They sounded rather melodious too and we just played it as a song. Pieces, to me, are more limited and good for interest (definitely) and musical styles. The effect of playing etudes can be felt when playing pieces. complements each other.
 
Hi Sharon,

In YJC, my DD1 learn Memory Solfege - Sing solfege (notes) from memory listening to the keys the teacher plays, sing songs, Harmony Solfege & also sight reading from playing reportoires. During class, the teacher also adds in sessions to make them sight read the notes she draws on the white board.

Hence, it is not true that YJC do not teach sight reading.
 
all the musically talented kids we have here..
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sharon, what kind of bicycle are u using to cycle S to school? foldable/normal one? does sabrina sit in front or back? I am thinking of getting a bicycle cos K has enrichment around 1 MRT distance, but am wondering if having her in front / back (afraid she will fall off since I am not really a good cyclist).

gan, I only have 1 gal too. That day, she surprised her music teacher when she suddenly said 'Teacher X, I got no brother or sister' (cos the teacher was preggy). Sometimes she does ask for a sibling, but not so bad cos her cousins are all only child or 1 sibling. But I think it will get worse next time when she sees her classmates with siblings in the same primary school who can play together during recess etc.

Will be changing job in April.. not sure if still can login during office hours....
 
Hi Sharon and poohy,

Congrats that your kids are doing so well in music.Just wonder, what is the goal for them in music?

DD has completed grade 8 and am wondering should we moved on since she is kind of busy with her school work now.

Yawn,
Your dd must be in gep , doing all the projects.How is the difference in scope of work between gep and non gep?

Good day all.

Cheers,
Joy
 
Bloom
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This ones..

yawn yawn
I actually planned to let S go Nafa audition but advise from my friend not to do that..bc no point finish G8 age 10 and will kill child interests on piano.so end up didnt even reg
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S is on John W. Schaum and czerny op 599 now.
but funny that S like czerny.. she is at no 15.. long way to go.
S practise daily about 1 hour ..(weekend no piano practising)

Snowball32,
That is very good review
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don know why my friend complaint so much because she actually let her child go outside 1 to 1 but private teacher complain poor sight reading skill.

Joy747,
Currently, S has no goal on her learning journey, but she enjoyed
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Hi Sharon and yawn,

Thank you for sharing.

Sharon, yes, am also hoping that dd can at least finish till diploma.Hopefully she can find time to finish it before her A level.

Cheers,
Joy
 
Mumusings,

Like you, what killed my interest was really the exams. Even though I got distinction for every practical, I found no joy in practicing scales, followed by the same 3 pieces of music ALL the time.
I remember only enjoying it when my friends passed me Richard Clayderman or pop music scores.

Anyway, having been through this before, I think I will be able relate better in future to my kids. If they enjoy music and request to learn an instrument, I would definitely encourage and should they wish to stop, I guess it will not bother me too much either.

Yeah, so many young prodigies here! Impressive.

Snowball,

Gambatte! Must be so tiring to work and then go home and be domestic goddess.
Glad you have some help though.

Oh dear, I am guilty of letting my DS1 indulging in ipad time.
Sometimes the twins really need my attention and he keeps pestering me, so I resorted to distracting him with the ipad. I do limit it to maximum of 30 mins. Perhaps, it really is time to cultivate his interests in some healthier activities.

Have a good weekend, mummies. I will offline for the weekends, devoting my time to my kids (translation: stop them from either hurting each other or themselves!).
 
joy,

no long term goal yet 'cos unless he wants to pursue violin as his career, I will not push for it. I believe it takes more than talent and hard work to excel and become a concert solo violinist and only time will tell whether he has that opportunity... other than that professional path, I rather he only plays music as volunteer in a orchestra like OMM when he is older (more to use his skills for charity work etc)... and not as a profession. The goal for now is to develop the right posture to facilitate playing major works in the near future, else it will become self-limiting.

For each exam that S sat for, he was the one who wanted to go. I guessed he got encouraged by the distinctions he got. He did not play the exam pieces all the time, in fact, he only works on them when he is 1 month away from exam (so he dun get bored by those pieces). Before that is normally playing scales, etudes and pieces that are much more advanced than his own exam grades... he plays the exam pieces occassionally just to ensure the intonation is still sound and ready to be fine-tune when he is around 3-4 weeks from exam. It only takes 1 week for him to learn the exam pieces so it will be too boring to spend 5-6 months just playing those.

pink_gerb

scales are very important for a violinist... as it takes practise to play in tune on the violin. Without good intonation, no matter what you play will be out of tune. That's why we devote some time most days to playing at least 1-2 scales that are most difficult (in violin, normally scales that requires a lot of shifting) in the list.
 
Joy

I don't know what's the difference leh. dd1 is my first child, every thing is 1st experience for us. Indeed a lot of projects, been working on projects non-stop, one after another & even concurrently, on top of homework. So far my dd is enjoying her new school so no complaints from her.


mumusings, Joy

Yeah, I think it's very important child must enjoy it herself. No happiness in forcing. Now my dd2 is the one who is keenly pursuing her goal. After piano, she plans to learn a few more instruments. 周杰伦 can play 5 instruments so she's very inspired by him. She wants to be a musician & write catchy songs like ABBA, her favourite group. She can't sing at all though, all out of tune, so confirm cannot sing her own songs. She composed 2 simple songs when she was 6 years old but stopped doing so because too tied up with piano practise.
 
Hi Yawn,

Its ok.Enjoy the learning journey with your dd1.GEP prog is enriching...Can feel it only this year.

Poohy
Your boy is talented!

Cheers,
Joy
 
sharon

nafa is not just about finishing grade 8 at 10 years old. Private students can finish grade 8 at 10yo too, with private teachers, as long as they are hardworking & diligent

Nafa trained students to be performers and prep them for local competitions & overseas competitions. That's what set nafa apart from other music schools or private teachers. I forgot what's the local competition name but if you look at the winners, top 3 consistently from nafa. But students must be able to ta-han the intensive drilling lor

And of course, depends on what's the goal for learning music. If without iron determination & not aiming for competitions, then of course more relaxed to learn from private teachers
 
Hi Gerbera,

Hi-5! (regarding music exams). Maybe I'm de-sensitised towards music 'cos I grew up surrounded by instruments/classical music so there isn't really anything else I haven't heard enough. An uncle was violin-playing every day and so was aunt, neighbour and neighbour's kids. The aunt can play the accordian and flute -- which requires much skills! One neighbour was some sort of concert pianist so it's like having the classics radio channel switched on every day. Chopin, Handel, Bach... And then there was violin for 3 hours a day (I used to absolutely hate the sound of it) from uncle. Especially when he needs to do drills and tune the violin hahaha... I only like it when auncle + aunt play violin + piano duet together and Chinese classics like the Butterfly Lovers (Liang San Bo and Zhu Ying Tai).

I'm glad I quit piano 'cos I really enjoyed playing the recorder better. They didn't allow me to learn organ 'cos they said it will result in lazy fingers so it's either piano or nothing. No Yamaha either 'cos keys are softer than European pianos. Anyway it's so much more freedom and time to do other things so long as I know I can play up to Grade 8. Thanks to neighbours and relatives, I pick up tunes and beat easy so whenever I wanted to 'learn' a nice big score, I will search my aunt's library for the composer and locate the manuscript. Czerny still gives me the shivers. It's melodious but not when I'm the one who has to practise it for 30 minutes
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poohy

Not sure whether czerny is the equivalent of etudes/studies. I've no interests in music, can't understand & don't bother to find out. Very bad hor

I only tell them, 'hey, go practise now!' then they go on to do their required scope of practice as indicated by their respective teachers.

I noticed dd2 spending more time on scales now
 
Hi Yawn,

I think I used to have ABBA scores hehehe and also Barry Manilow, the Andrew Lloyd Webber collection and then later my sis bought Chinese pop and movie scores (Faye Wong etc). Let your daughter enjoy music while she still has the interest. Good way to build up language skills 'cos song writing = music composition + lyrics. Using words for exactness isn't an easy thing to do!
 
mumusings

she only wrote 曲, no idea if she gonna venture into writing 词.

I like Andrew Lloyd Webber's musicals. Been to quite a few. He's super super super talented!!!
 
Yawn,

This year is the first year that dd got a feel of the class.

But, ge is generally more to creativity, out of the school curriculum prog.
 
Yawn,
Glad to hear that your dd is enjoying the prog.Is your dd 2 in the same school?

We are trying to cope with the curriculum that is within the MOE syllubus instead.

Cheers,
Joy
 
Joy

oh, do you mean most of your dd's sec 1 classmates are from ge? or your dd used to be from ge?

By the way, how is she adapting to her new school? you drove her to school? sec sch quite far from your place


Yeah, I heard ge students' psle results not so great leh, due to insufficient prep for psle. Focus & syllabus are different. They only start psle prep a few month before psle. I don't know what to think leh, should I be worried? I will have to ponder over this 'problem' end of this year
 
Hi Yawn,

Yes, dd classmates are either top psle scorers or from ge, mostly from rgps.

She is adapting quite well to her school.No, I do not drive her to school cos there is a one way school bus but coming home, I will drive her home.How about you?Is your dd pri school far away?

Beauty about ge is that they have piority for dsa.So, not to worry, just focus on the ge prog, things will be fine.
 
aa,

ya I personally supervise his practise. Though he is willing to practise on his own, I felt its not time yet. You will know that its vvvv easy to develop bad habits and bad posture in violin. From the way you stand, how the violin is placed, direction, how your violin fingers is touching the strings (amount of pressure), bow hold, straight bow, bow distributions, sounding point versus close to bridge etc. So easy to just play on without knowing that bad habit has already formed. Once it formed, very difficult to get rid of it. Even very advanced students have their parents sitting in classes and taking notes (some even take videos)... too many things to remember... not just posture. The effect of practise is multipled when we supervise them and help them to focus on key objectives.

yawn,

yah... national piano violin competition. Likely S will be participating next year for the experience. It should be quite fun and good motivation.
 
poohy

just curious what are the competition requirements? child must be at least above a certain grade? choose any song?

your ds has lots of public performance so should be easy for him

the problem with learning from private teacher is insufficient exposure. There isn't any recital or public performance opportunity. My dd sure can't go competition without all these exposure, stage fright yo
 
yawn,

this competition has a few category. The junior category is for those below 12 years old. No other requirement but must choose 3 contrasting pieces. People plays pieces of varying difficulties... generally a concerto, sonata etc. Actually not really much requirement but definitely people will play things that display their mastery
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I dun have to play really really advanced repertoire for junior category... probably intermediate. Oh, in most competitions I know, there should be no requirement for paper/grade qualifications... even if audition for juliard, also prob no such requirement I think lah.... its always about your mastery.

Competition is different public performances. It is a very very tensed up environment under lots of scrutiny. And its very tight competition where all the very young primary school kids play very very well. I went to the competition last year... tensed up... some kids cry when they didn;t get into the finals.. etc. Many the who's who in the industry will be there to see. They all work so hard and play so well... I can understand the disappointment. And its once in 2 years, so by the time you can compete again, you may already be in intermediate category with greater expectations.

I understand a lot of kids competing comes from private studio (private teacher). Like the competition in 2009 was won by a 9 year old boy under a famous private teacher. For the last few competitions, her students got into top 3 or got 1st.
 
tam,

I like the kitchen. Though pink is not my fav color too. The kitchen wall is overlay with homogenous tiles? Very nice!

Your girl has the exact same bed as S.
 
Hi Tamarind,

Who uses the kitchen more - you or hubby? If its you , then it shouldn't bother him too much.

You should tell from my nick, I am a fan of pink!

Although I must say, this is the first pink kitchen I have seen. I applaud your bold decison.
 


Hi Tam,

What a sweet kitchen! Your hb didn't object to the colour when u chose it? My mom spent a hefty 40k renovating just kitchen, toilets and some cabling last year! I don't know how it came to so much she refused to let me help and then was upset with the total bill. Told her to get stuff from the same shop/area to prevent running about when need to exercise warranty but she went to many different shops to get all sorts of things + many receipts and various T&Cs.

Is the SeaHorse bedframe sturdy? Haven't tried their beds, only mattresses (great quality for the price). Saw ads on this thing called PD door (swing/slide/open)... anyone tried before? My balcony sliding doors are heavy + giving way soon -- anyone can recommend something durable?
 
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