ThePiano.SG, founded by Sng Yong Meng (Director of SGMusic Pte Ltd), held its first gathering for its family of Singapore piano teachers on 1 May 2016 at Kiseki Japanese Buffet Restaurant in Orchard Central. Coming only two months after the teachers listing was created and hosted by Yong Meng, it was an evening of fun and sharing and attended by piano teachers Chng Jia Hui, Charlotte Ong and Pauline Tan.
The dinner gathering marked a special milestone for ThePiano.SG, in celebrating its upcoming 2nd anniversary and its vision of bringing people in the piano community together to grow socially and professionally. ThePiano.SG delights in bringing Singapore piano teachers, students, performers, accompanists, tuners, technicians and others together onto a single platform to share their love for music and exchange valuable tips and methodologies pertaining to the piano, through both online and offline interactions.
Two of the objectives that teachers in ThePiano.SG work relentlessly towards are motivating their students to cultivate a passion for piano and inspiring them to appreciate every unique musical piece. This is in contrast to the encouragement of exam-oriented learning, in which piano teachers prepare students for their piano exams through sheer practice and memorisation, resulting in students with a thin repertoire and a lack of passion for the instrument.
The teachers in this group actively know and interact regularly with one another through meal gatherings, a private sharing forum and networking meetings to exchange teaching tips and sharing their challenges in the course of their teaching. At the recent dinner gathering, the topic of teaching special needs students came up for discussion and was an area of interest that ThePiano.SG family of teachers looks forward to addressing in time to come.
For a new teacher to be accepted into ThePiano.SG family, she will need to meet up with Yong Meng to allow him to get an understanding of her passion for music and teaching, as well as her teaching style - which generally must not promote exam-oriented learning. Her music certifications are also authenticated on the spot, and photographs will be taken of them. This allows potential students and parents to feel assured in hiring piano teachers from ThePiano.SG family, as they can be certain that the teachers have been adequately screened, interviewed and verified.
There is no commission charged for teacher-student matching on ThePiano.SG. Teachers will be given access to the private teachers forum to share their thoughts and experiences, as well as being included in a mailing list which updates them on the latest happenings on the piano frontier. A certain level of commitment will be required, however, in the attendance of the regular outings, to allow teachers to stay in touch with the right approach and values that ThePiano.SG represents.
ThePiano.SG family will continue to grow and to reach out to more people. If you are passionate about piano and teaching, you are welcome to approach Yong Meng to find out more about the piano teacher membership and join in the next gathering.
