Teacher Ping School of Music

Chun Yan started her music adventures with us when she was 2 years old with Teacher Winnie. Her adventure began at the most challenging of times - COVID pandemic lockdown.

Lessons were done via zoom... remember those days?!

Winnie was wondering and thinking so hard how was she going to convey the music concepts to a 'baby' and still make it a fun experience. So many experiments! Chun Yan's family is amazing in that they supported and trusted us to create the best possible solution for the kids.

Here is Chun Yan at her first solo piano recital. She is a model of what is possible!

Bernice joined our music school 2+ years ago. I recalled how she sat waiting for her lesson to start. She was timid in her body language and her demeanour was along the lines of "I'm so bad in music, no one can help me"

Teacher Amelia was tasked to work with her.

Bernice said she had been learning music since she was 5 years old. "I've had 7 teachers before you. How long will you last with me?

Sounds like a challenge which Amelia quietly took on.

Bernice worked hard with Teacher Amelia, and attended her mastery classes - diligently practising performing in front of her peers. Working hard at home also meant doing stuff that Bernice found boring - Hanon technical exercises and using the metronome. She still dislikes the metronome, but she does it anyway.

That's what Commitment looks like.

Last year before the Mastery Concert, Bernice had stage fright and was very reluctant to perform live on Concert day. Amelia came up with all ways to prepare her for the concert - there were visualisation exercises, prep talks and she eventually managed to get Bernice to perform...

"You'll get an ice cream if you get up on stage to perform!"

This year, Bernice stepped up on stage with no visible stage fright, no ice cream bribes needed and she gave her best shot on stage.

In her junior school, Bernice is now part of a band playing the saxophone, and isenjoying making music with her friends immensely. Not bad, for a teen who didn't believe in herself just two years ago.

13 year old Bernice said to Amelia recently, and it was really the nicest thing she could ever say...

"This is the most progress I have ever made here"

Thank you Bernice for inspiring us with your determination, and for being willing to learn!

Joshua is 7 years old, and started his music journey at the violin with Teacher Hui Xin 2 years back. A naturally active boy who learns his music very quickly, Joshua is currently learning to slow down the tape in his mind, so that more finesse details could be developed into his music playing.

A challenging task for any kid, but we love that he is willing to broaden his horizon and learn another skill to complement his in-built strengths.

Kids that are in secondary school find it a challenge to manage activities that they have committed to, their school studies, and new-found activities that ignite their curiosity.

When Zhiyu completed his grade 8 exams and wanted to continue learning new skills and music, he broached the subject of having his classes once every 2 weeks. It was a great idea on how to manage his time, and we were happy to support his request. His love for music invigorates as he continues to practice his piano works in spite of the limited time he has.

Truly admire his commitment and passion for music!

This grown-up is an accomplished lawyer, having been successful in her career over the past 20+ years.

One day, she asked me, "Can I learn the piano?"

"Sure... but not with me."

We both agreed heartily that there should be no student-teacher relationship between very good friends. So Teacher Renee worked with Chin instead.

Within 6 months, Chin was able to play tunes at the piano, and Renee continued pushing gently the goal posts for Chin to achieve. Chin went for the Mastery classes, even though all her classmates were FAR younger than her. But she enjoyed the experience of learning and having fun with the young kids.

I am very proud to see Chin walk up on stage and gave her very best at the Mastery Concert - her first ever solo piano recital at the age of SSHHHHH....

After the concert, Chin said "I was so nervous!"

"That's why you will do this again."

Highlights from the Mastery Concert 2024. Apologies that the video shared is about 3mins+, but I couldn't bear to delete any part of these precious moments.

Our little babies who started their music journey when they were 2 years old have grown so beautifully!

We love that they walked confidently up on-stage, and gave their first ever SOLO piano performance live in front of their fans.

Big THANK YOU to the village of supporters who came to cheer the kids. That itself, is an inspiring huge show of encouragement to the little performers!

Grace was 2 years old when she started her music journey with us. She was an extremely shy girl, hardly a squeak came out from her voice.

But she loved coming for her music classes. Interestingly, her music journey involved having her practise being bold.

The next video is Grace performing with confidence and boldness at the Mastery Concert 2024. What a privilege to witness her growth from the shy girl that she was to the version that she is now.

She is still shy and has grown to have a voice of her own.

We recently concluded our Mastery Concert, showcasing our performers in the limelight.

As with previous concerts, we had always given this valuable space for the children to grow to their better versions.

They learn how to overcome their fears, and also learn to accept and be ok that Fear cannot go away overnight even with a hundred hours of practice.

This time round, we teachers wanted to experience that limelight. We have been itching to perform but always gave excuses...

"We don't have time to practise"

"We don't have enough time for a teachers' item"

For me personally, it was also this excuse "What if I mess up my team’s performance"

This time round, we decided to put aside our reasons and make a stand to perform so that that we could lead our kids by example.

And what we discover was this.

We have become so used to performing in the limelight that we found ourselves naturally creating fun in our rehearsals.

So here is the Teachers Piano Trio by Ping, Amelia and Ching, showcasing the authenticity of what goes on when 3 people work together - it is never a bed of roses, but by jolly, it is super rewarding and fun!

Elliot started his music journey with Teacher Renee when he was 4 years old.

This boy faced many challenges in his music journey over the past few years.
1. He had an attention span of 2 minutes when he first began to learn music
2. He could not control his fingers and could not tell which finger to play which piano key
3. He was having a hard time learning to read the music notes in a sequential way

What we love about our job as a music teacher is that we get to work with kids like Elliot, challenging our creativity and communication skills on how to convey the teaching concepts to kids who take a different route (and also a longer time) in their learning than most of their peers.

We encouraged and got Elliot to go up on stage to perform every year, rewarding him with a medal of achievement, but more importantly, allowing him to experience a sense of self-achievement and build up his self-worth.

Behind the scenes, Teacher Renee was constantly thinking how she could get Elliot to do this and that at the piano – it was stressful at times, as she had to contend with her inner-talk. Having a team of people at TPS that love to have everyone grow to a better version helps a lot!

Today, as Teacher Renee grows to be a formidable teacher, Elliot has grown to become a formidable teacher himself!

And it’s a wrap!

Ice Cream School has officially ended. Over 1000+ ice cream have been collected by the kids - enough to last their tummies till Christmas.

Now the kids will have to wait another 364 days before the Ice Cream School reappears!

Good way to teach them patience. Hahahahaha!!!

Here's Alexandra's performance at the Mastery Concert 2023.

Alexandra's parents both know how to play the piano. So, for the fun of it (while the teacher focuses on b-o-r-i-n-g technical skills building), the parents taught Alexandra to play this tune from ear and from memory.

And because the song title is I Got The Joy, the music is improvised with some special effects of clashing notes and fist pumps!

Some parents have all the fun!

It was Yun En's turn to go up on stage to perform at the Mastery Concert.

She refused. At the back stage, she was terrified at the thought of performing her solo piece in front of many people. Teacher Ching quietly encouraged her, while coordinating with Teacher Amelia to have the next kid perform in Yun En's place. Teacher Ching did suggest a goal to her - will you be the next performer?

Yun En nodded. But she was unable to walk out to the stage.

There were 2 more other students left in the sequence. Teacher Ching asked - will you be the last performer?

Yun En nodded. This time, she sat long enough to witness all the other kids before her, go up on stage and performed their best. She stood up and walked out to the stage, and gave a confident performance, in spite of the fear she was experiencing.

Truly, an inspiring moment to watch how other kids' courage can inspire another kid to face their fear and do it anyway!

What a great time for the kids at Teacher Ping School on May 27! We had the kids go up on stage to give their solo piano or violin recital.

Andrew has been learning music with us, starting from the Baby Music program when he was 2+ years old. Over the years, he has accomplished much with a tenacious attitude - he is also an accomplished violinist.

His tenacity however, can become a hindrance. He was getting frustrated faster with himself, and the frustration causes him to lose focus and doubt himself. Just before the concert day, his music piece was 'leaking' with holes of errors. Both the Teacher and Andrew were frustrated.

But that breakdown created space for a breakthrough. The teacher was able to calm down quicker and teach Andrew how to put aside his frustration.

On Concert Day, Andrew gave a scintillating display of self-belief. Definitely a medal well-deserved!

Always lovely to hear Lisa and her mom play a duet together! A most fulfilling reward for any teacher to witness how a kid grows in their music journey. Here's a peek of a Samba duet, in preparation for the upcoming 27 May Mastery Concert.

Backstory - the kid has been learning music since she was 3 years old. Mom has been involved in her kid's music journey for 10 years. Lots of hard work, patience and hugs from both Mom and Kiddo, and now, they get to make beautiful music together!

Knock knock! Who’s there?

We have a police boy who came to spotcheck.

Salute ! 👮‍♀️