Two students of mine—Adriana and Vincent, recently participated in the Steinway & Sons Malaysian Youth Piano Competition 2011-2012. I received some good news today that they have made it through the audition stage. Now it’s onward to the semi-finals where these 10 shortlisted contestants will battle it out for the finals in Kuala Lumpur on March 22, 2012. Five will be chosen from this stage and then the first prize winner will go to Singapore to compete in the Regional Finals. If they make it through that they will then go to Hamburg, Germany to compete in the Grand Finals.

Congratulations, Adriana and Vincent. Now I’m going to roll up my shirt sleeves and work you two—stay focused and on course!

Following on the mini interview with Annabelle, here’s Bao Xiu’s version of it. I first met Bao Xiu when she was auditioning for the first Piano Idol. Since then I have seen this reticent young lady mature in her piano playing; she’s yet another very obedient student. It’s really students like her that make my piano teaching life less stressful (and believe me, as far as I’m concerned piano teaching can be stressful) So on with the interview.

When did you start learning piano with Mr. Yeoh? How old were you then?
Ummmm…I don’t really remember so clearly…. It was sometime in early 2010 I think, when I was…14?

What certifications have you achieved in your piano so far?
Eh, if you count the Yamaha piano exams that’d be quite a lot of certs….but for ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) exams I’ve done theory till grade 6, and I just took the practical grade 8….but since I haven’t gotten the results for that yet, I guess it doesn’t count? (Ed note: Bao Xiu scored a Merit for her Grade 8 piano exam taken in July 2011)

How do you find Mr. Yeoh’s teaching?
Hmmm. Honestly, (and I really am being honest here), he’s quite an awesome teacher. He’s got lots of stories to tell, about basically anything. But—he can be very strict sometimes…. I wouldn’t actually use the word mean though, cause even though he gives me intimidating tasks (like lots of sight reading), it actually does help me quite a bit.

Have you enjoyed your piano lessons so far?
Well yes, except for times when he starts playing some piece on the piano straight from memory like it’s the easiest thing in the world….then I feel pretty disgusted by his amazing piano playing skills (ESPECIALLY when he’s sight reading something!)

What would you have liked Mr. Yeoh to focus more on? Less on?
I don’t really know…. I guess he keeps a good balance of everything. And he knows exactly what a student’s strengths and weaknesses are….so….yeah.

Has Mr. Yeoh made you more interested and motivated to learn piano, or less?
Uh, honestly, I’ve never really liked playing piano that much, it’s like, a natural thing….but after learning with him I’ve definitely built more confidence in my playing

Any other comments, complaints, etc. will be welcome here.
Hmmm. I don’t know what else to say Oh yeah, he’s a technology geek too. So I would conclude by saying he’s a high-tech piano teacher/storyteller!

Bao Xiu’s interests and hobbies include dancing, drawing, reading novels, and photoshopping.

Thank you for your time in doing this interview, Bao Xiu. I’m sure you’ll do very well in your recent Grade 8 piano exam.

Annabelle started learning Grade 6 Theory with me barely four months ago. I’ve found her to be a very affable and hardworking person—she takes whatever advice I give to her. She’s also a piano teacher here, and I like the way she laughs whenever I give her a mock admonishment. Just like Regina, I asked her whether she’d mind doing a mini interview with me. Here are her responses.

When did you start learning theory with Mr. Yeoh? How old were you then? I started lessons with Mr. Yeoh on 5th April 2011. I’m 29 years old.

What certifications have you achieved in your theory so far? Grade 6 ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music)

How do you find Mr. Yeoh’s teaching? I am IMPRESSED by the way he taught me during the very first lesson (and until now). He has everything in his mind, he doesn’t need to look at any book to teach me. I’ve never had a music theory lesson like this before. He asked me to jot down my own notes which I find to be very useful and it really helps me to understand things. He has been very patient with me as I’m not a smart student, and I thank him for that.

Have you enjoyed your theory lessons so far? I’ve enjoyed my lessons very much!! In fact, I enjoy every lesson!

What would you have liked Mr. Yeoh to focus more on? Less on? For now, I would say everything that I need to answer in the exam. Probably questions 4 and 5.

Has Mr. Yeoh made you more interested and motivated to learn theory, or less? The answer is MORE!!! I never get bored during his lessons.

Annabelle likes to read novels during her spare time. Thanks again for doing this mini interview, Annabelle.

All my 20+ years of teaching I’ve encountered students whom I fondly regard as “classics,” and then there’s Regina See. She’s one of my students in Digital Music here in Penang, and started learning with me about two years ago. I decided to conduct a mini-interview with her, emailing some questions to her and then asking her to append her replies. Here it is, heaven help me.

When did you start learning piano with Mr. Yeoh? How old were you then? I started learning piano with Mr Yeoh when I was in form 1, that was in 2009. I was 13.

What certifications have you achieved in your piano so far? Um. Passes? Distinctions and Merits; this proves how AWESOME I am!

How do you find Mr. Yeoh’s teaching? Hmm… *thinks hard* Boring. Boring, boring. Nah, just kidding. It’s quite fun actually. He’s like a friend. I can tease him oh and I always win whenever we argue. So yeah. I feel big and awesome whenever I’m with him.

Have you enjoyed your piano lessons so far? Yeah, I always look forward to the piano classes.

What would you have liked Mr. Yeoh to focus more on? Less on? FOCUS MORE ON PIECES. Oh my god. Less on scales, muahaha!

Has Mr. Yeoh made you more interested and motivated to play the piano, or less? Um. He doesn’t really affect me that much? I play whenever I feel like it. Not when Mr Yeoh starts smacking me and putting the metronome up close to my ear.

Any other comments, complaints, etc. will be welcome here. He drags and threatens me all the time. I should call Child Services one day and then we’ll see who’ll be the last one standing. Just kidding, Mr Yeoh is an AWESOME piano teacher. As the saying goes: awesome student, awesome teacher. Trust me, it’s not the other way around.

What other activities do you enjoy besides piano playing? I like horse riding and Mathematics.

I could regard Regina as a classic but I won’t because she’s always moaning about how tough school life is and what a drag it is for her to practice all those countless scales and arpeggios. Well young lady, you’d better roll up your sleeves and get movin’, otherwise I’ll sm… oopsie. Don’t want her to call Child Services, do we?

Notwithstanding that fact above, I’ll say that Regina is the only student who wants to do a high five with me, to tell me that my skin color is so fair, to complain about how mean I can be to her (you know this is totally untrue, young lady), to promise me (umpteen times) that she’ll do her scales next week, etc. etc. You get my point.

It’s been a challenging but great experience to teach this cooperative student (a little praise there) and she does work hard, I grant her that. And oh yes, before I sign off…her favorite word (as if you can’t tell from the interview) is “awesome.” I think it’s an excellent attitude for her to have. And Regina, you will keep practicing, won’t you, wink wink?

Here’s a vid of my student Vincent Ong playing his own composition, Flight of the Gargoyles at the recent Yamaha Junior Original Concert earlier this year. Vincent was the junior winner in the first Piano Idol competition held here in Penang way back in October 2008. Thanks for the vid, Sue!

Ed Note: Due to copyright restrictions I’m afraid that the above video has been marked as private by the owner. My apologies.

Here’s my student Bao Xiu again, playing Dave Brubeck’s King for a Day. A treat for all you jazz fans.

Adriana won the second Piano Idol competition held in 2009. Since then I have seen her progressing very well in her piano playing. Of course it helps to have a strict teacher like me, yes? Here she is, playing Chopin’s Mazurka in F Op. 68 No. 3. She’s one student that will go very far (and that’s a promise)

Bao Xiu has been learning with me for about two years now. She’s a soft-spoken student, but very obedient and follows instructions to the latter. Here she’s playing one of her Grade 8 ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, UK) examination pieces—Clara Schumann’s Fugue. I recorded this video using my Canon EOS Rebel T2i/550D in high definition mode. Well done, Bao Xiu!

I decided to embark on a project to photograph each and every one of my students recently. And this is one of the questions that never fails to annoy me—“How many students do you have?” I usually post a response like “Just enough to maintain my sanity and live a decent lifestyle.” Teaching is one of the most taxing professions that one can take up, especially when it’s on a one-to-one basis like what I’m doing. So here’s a photo collage of my current crop of students (at least the ones who were not camera-shy) All the pictures were shot with a Canon EOS Rebel T2i/550D with either a Canon 50mm standard lens or a Canon 18-55mm IS zoom lens. Lighting used was bounced flash with a Canon 270EX Speedlite.

To all my students—thank you for letting me be your teacher, and for putting up with me as we embark on our musical journeys together.

Top row (L-R): Adriana, Anthea, Bao Xiu, Cassandra, Henry. Second row (L-R): Jason, Joshua, Kelvin, Poh Lin, Regina. Third row (L-R): Robin, Sabrina, Shih Yu, Shirlynn, Terence. Bottom row (L-R): Wei Yang, Wynn, Ying Xuan, Yu Xuan.

Another issue potential piano teachers face is whether they intend to teach in a music school, privately, or both. I’ll try to present my thoughts in this post.

Teaching in a music school certainly has its merits. The biggest plus point is that you don’t have to source for students yourself, the school does it for you. And if you’re into group teaching, you can quickly see an increase in your student intake. All you have to do is turn up and teach.

What about the disadvantages of teaching in a music school? The biggest shortcoming is that you don’t receive 100% of the students’ fees. This is understandable because the school needs a proportion for administration costs, utilities, etc. So let’s say you charge $100 for a beginning student for private teaching; you might find that you are paid only half of that at the school (meaning that you have to teach two students instead of one to get the same fee) That means you have to work harder if you intend to teach full-time in a music school.

You are also obliged to abide and follow the regulations of the music school you’re teaching in. Fair enough, but depending on how it goes, you might find yourself teaching students that don’t get along with you, students who don’t show up and don’t inform you, etc. The school might insist that you teach them anyway because they can’t find another teacher who has time to do so.

Teaching privately on the other hand, is a challenge when you’re first starting out. At this stage you can’t pick and choose students yet. When I first started out decades ago, I made a slight error in always trying to get advanced students because of higher fees—don’t do this. Get students of any level you can find. Beginning students are actually good, because if you teach them well, chances are they will stick with you as they progress. That will build up your student intake gradually.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of teaching privately is that you get to keep 100% of the fees. You’re also your own boss, so you make your own decisions about lesson schedules, replacement lessons, holidays, etc. And need I say that it’s much more comfortable teaching at home, as opposed to being in a tiny room in a music school?

Or you could opt to do both, like what I’ve been doing. I’ve gotten to the point where I know the school administrator very well, so any problems I have can be discussed and ironed out in the open. And because I’m involved with the school I get to participate in such interesting activities such as the Piano Idol competition, which I’ve been judging for the past two years.

So there you have it. You have to make up your own mind, but it’s always possible to test the waters first in the field of piano teaching. Good luck!