Here’s my student Bao Xiu again, playing Dave Brubeck’s King for a Day. A treat for all you jazz fans.
Author: Philip
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My wish list for the Korg KDM-3 Digital Metronome
Having used Korg’s excellent KDM-2 for a few years now, I’m hoping that the KDM-3 (at least I assume that’s what the next version will be called) will be coming out soon. Here’s my wish list for it:
- Backlit LCD display
- A push-button number pad AND a rotary dial for inputting speeds
- A real metronome and bell sound
- A female and/or male voice to count out the beats (Note: some people might see this as a gimmick but I think it’s a nice touch. Moreover it has been featured in Yamaha’s latest Clavinovas)
- A choice of colors—black is always in fashion, but how about red, gold, brown, etc? A digital metronome could be the next fashion statement!
- A more powerful speaker system compared to the KDM-2. Don’t get me wrong, the KDM-2 is pretty loud, but…oh well.
- The ability to use rechargeable batteries would be nice
- A soft carrying pouch or case
If you have any other suggestions, feel free to drop me a comment.
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Student spotlight: Adriana Chiew
Another of my advanced students, Adriana Chiew performing on the Yamaha Clavinova.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)
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Student spotlight: Tan Bao Xiu
One of my advanced students, Tan Bao Xiu playing on the Yamaha Clavinova.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!
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A tribute to my students
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.
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Anthea plays Malaguena
Yes, it’s Anthea—one of my favorite students (she played Happy Birthday for me here) and now she’s doing a piece called Malaguena. She found this piece a little challenging at first but she stuck to it and now she can play both hands quite well. I seized the opportunity to record her on my Canon PowerShot SX130 IS and here’s the result. After experiencing the HD quality on this camera I’m not going back to normal 640 resolution again.
Well done, Anthea. I’m proud of you and would like to thank her mom Josephine for permission to publish the video here.
