Aureus Academy of Music: Two Years Music Journey
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It has been two years since Ewan started learning the piano at Aureus Academy of Music. He was four years old. From pleading me to let him try out Violin to Drums, he ended up choosing the Piano as his preferred instrument.
Read: I Am A Trialist Mom
At the academy, they allow free trials on different instruments for a potential student to explore the various options in music. Thereafter, they can decide which route to go into.
Just after two months of piano lessons, I saw him marching one really well! As with all classes, the learning curve is always steeper at the start. It will start to plateau for a bit when the going gets tough.
We didn't practice on an upright back then. He only had a Schoenhut 25-Key Toy Piano he would practice daily on. Well at that time, 25 keys were more than sufficient to learn the basics of the instrument. I was still observing him to see if he was ready to take on more lessons from Aureus Academy and he did.
The beauty of the school is its primary belief that the passion for music should be nurtured and thus, they do not tie their students down on a per term basis but by the month instead. Children, being children, may find playing an instrument from a one-day trial pretty exciting but doing it for months, they may find that it actually isn't true. So tying down a child to do something they realise they do not want to is not going help in their development. Examinations are optional! Julius Holmefjord-Sarabi, Managing Director, said, "We're seeing a new generation of parents who hated music lessons coming to us and saying, "We don't care about exams. We want our kids to enjoy music, and we want them to have fun". What we're created is a sort of a response to that." - extracted from a Business Times interview on the school published on 21st February 2017. [click article to read]
In June 2017, we moved on to Home Piano Lessons. We had been learning from the school but shifted our weekly classes at home after six months with them.
Read: Home Lessons
Shuttling from home to Aureus once a week isn't too much to handle. Everything can be made a routine and we were getting used to it after two lessons at the school. Yet, the convenience of having lessons at home is unbeatable. We have a piano at home so how about give this new feature of Aureus Academy a try?
Before we know it, he had been invited to perform in a Recital at school after 10 months of lessons with them. He didn't look nervous but rather confident I must say. Instead of playing one song, he offered to perform two! To make it even more exciting, he pointed mommy as his second player to play accompaniment at the recital. Oh my goodness! What a good idea! That would go down memory lane for sure.
Read: Ewan's First Piano Recital
But on the actual day, he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was too daunting to perform in front of so many pairs of parents and grandparents. Oh you've got to read this post! I enjoyed documenting it. What can I expect from a five year old except to give him an applause and treat at the end for his bravery!
We had been having his home lessons at my dad's place actually. My very first upright from 30 years ago was still alive and pretty much in good shape. Aureus Academy then came up with a instrumental rental programme which I though it'd be great to explore. I decided to rent Ewan a Korg LP380 to put at home so that we don't even need to shuttle from home to grandpa's house for lessons. It is a good option for those who aren't sure if they would like to own a piano in the long run or not.
There were several misunderstandings with this programme though which left me confused with the terms and conditions. Here to clarify, students can rent instruments for four months before deciding if they would like to purchase or to continue renting. They allow to offset the four months rental towards the payment of the instrument once students have decided.
I was waiting for their call to check in with me of my decision after four months and they were waiting for mine. Eventually, I had my rental fees deducted month after month thereafter without my permission. I was unhappy of course and brought it up with them. Then I realised that the agreement I signed had a clause, "Rental will be payable... at the rate of S$58.85 per month, beginning on the date referred to... and continuing on the same date in every month thereafter."
So there. Read what you sign and always keep count of your own four months.
Read: We Rented a Korg LP380
I have decided to rent the Korg LP380 instead of owning it because I won't be able to offset the 12 months of monthly payment to the purchase of the instrument.
Now, two years later, Ewan has progressed nicely through four piano books and learning his first C Major Scale. Unfortunately, he has reached that plateau which he found difficult to trudge on. With all lessons he requests to be enrolled in, I give him a minimum of one year to decide if he wants to carry on or quit.
I do not want to raise a quitter. One year is long enough a time for the child to enjoy, suffer and come out of it knowing better if this is something he would like to do full time.
Ewan's been on the Piano for two years now and it hadn't been easy the last few months for all of us. I am done bribing him to practice or pushing him into class when he doesn't really want to.
I have to give full credit to his piano teacher, Yih Shyue, for being as patient as she is when he throws his tantrums in class. He would sometimes cry or get very mad before a lesson even though I had prepared him well for it. Yih Shyue would incorporate pockets of play in between songs with him in their 45 minute class.
It is a pity to quit I have to admit because Ewan's got a good sense of rhythm and hearing. His sight-reading is impressive for a pre-schooler and he doesn't always have to practice a piece to do it well in class with Yih Shyue. There were a few times his teacher gave him many stars on a piece of music he never even practiced the week before lesson. At the same time, I do not want to take away the joy of learning as I've mentioned in the very beginning of this collaboration. It is clear now he has discovered what he truly enjoys and piano isn't one of them.
I was determined to continue teaching him on my own all for the love of fun and bondage. But because I will no longer own the Korg LP380 and I donated my upright to a hospice [I thought I would be owning the Korg], we do not have any pianos at home to continue his musical journey. That's all right. We may go back to music again some day but for now, I made the decision to not kill it any further because he does have his fair share of complains. However, I know he enjoys music a lot still as he does go to the piano to play some tunes on his own at his free time. Always singing, always dancing to the beats and always requesting to listen to new songs.
From then to now, I must say this musical exposure had been nothing short of educational and explorative. I could even say he went through his rite of discovery though this journey.
Here's sharing his very last lesson with Yih Shyue on the Korg which allows for different musical tones that makes classes a lot more fun!
In June 2017, we moved on to Home Piano Lessons. We had been learning from the school but shifted our weekly classes at home after six months with them.
Read: Home Lessons
Shuttling from home to Aureus once a week isn't too much to handle. Everything can be made a routine and we were getting used to it after two lessons at the school. Yet, the convenience of having lessons at home is unbeatable. We have a piano at home so how about give this new feature of Aureus Academy a try?
Before we know it, he had been invited to perform in a Recital at school after 10 months of lessons with them. He didn't look nervous but rather confident I must say. Instead of playing one song, he offered to perform two! To make it even more exciting, he pointed mommy as his second player to play accompaniment at the recital. Oh my goodness! What a good idea! That would go down memory lane for sure.
Read: Ewan's First Piano Recital
But on the actual day, he couldn't bring himself to do it. It was too daunting to perform in front of so many pairs of parents and grandparents. Oh you've got to read this post! I enjoyed documenting it. What can I expect from a five year old except to give him an applause and treat at the end for his bravery!
We had been having his home lessons at my dad's place actually. My very first upright from 30 years ago was still alive and pretty much in good shape. Aureus Academy then came up with a instrumental rental programme which I though it'd be great to explore. I decided to rent Ewan a Korg LP380 to put at home so that we don't even need to shuttle from home to grandpa's house for lessons. It is a good option for those who aren't sure if they would like to own a piano in the long run or not.
There were several misunderstandings with this programme though which left me confused with the terms and conditions. Here to clarify, students can rent instruments for four months before deciding if they would like to purchase or to continue renting. They allow to offset the four months rental towards the payment of the instrument once students have decided.
I was waiting for their call to check in with me of my decision after four months and they were waiting for mine. Eventually, I had my rental fees deducted month after month thereafter without my permission. I was unhappy of course and brought it up with them. Then I realised that the agreement I signed had a clause, "Rental will be payable... at the rate of S$58.85 per month, beginning on the date referred to... and continuing on the same date in every month thereafter."
So there. Read what you sign and always keep count of your own four months.
Read: We Rented a Korg LP380
I have decided to rent the Korg LP380 instead of owning it because I won't be able to offset the 12 months of monthly payment to the purchase of the instrument.
Now, two years later, Ewan has progressed nicely through four piano books and learning his first C Major Scale. Unfortunately, he has reached that plateau which he found difficult to trudge on. With all lessons he requests to be enrolled in, I give him a minimum of one year to decide if he wants to carry on or quit.
I do not want to raise a quitter. One year is long enough a time for the child to enjoy, suffer and come out of it knowing better if this is something he would like to do full time.
Ewan's been on the Piano for two years now and it hadn't been easy the last few months for all of us. I am done bribing him to practice or pushing him into class when he doesn't really want to.
I have to give full credit to his piano teacher, Yih Shyue, for being as patient as she is when he throws his tantrums in class. He would sometimes cry or get very mad before a lesson even though I had prepared him well for it. Yih Shyue would incorporate pockets of play in between songs with him in their 45 minute class.
It is a pity to quit I have to admit because Ewan's got a good sense of rhythm and hearing. His sight-reading is impressive for a pre-schooler and he doesn't always have to practice a piece to do it well in class with Yih Shyue. There were a few times his teacher gave him many stars on a piece of music he never even practiced the week before lesson. At the same time, I do not want to take away the joy of learning as I've mentioned in the very beginning of this collaboration. It is clear now he has discovered what he truly enjoys and piano isn't one of them.
I was determined to continue teaching him on my own all for the love of fun and bondage. But because I will no longer own the Korg LP380 and I donated my upright to a hospice [I thought I would be owning the Korg], we do not have any pianos at home to continue his musical journey. That's all right. We may go back to music again some day but for now, I made the decision to not kill it any further because he does have his fair share of complains. However, I know he enjoys music a lot still as he does go to the piano to play some tunes on his own at his free time. Always singing, always dancing to the beats and always requesting to listen to new songs.
From then to now, I must say this musical exposure had been nothing short of educational and explorative. I could even say he went through his rite of discovery though this journey.
Here's sharing his very last lesson with Yih Shyue on the Korg which allows for different musical tones that makes classes a lot more fun!
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