not piano teachers, but most chinese teachers are stupid

come on...doesn't everything have to start with the fundamentals, esp. piano?

I have no idea, I can't play sh*t

on the other hand, every sport I've played, everything I've learned has started with basics. Most people benefit from at least a foundation of general knowledge.

Perhaps it's because not everyone can be a natural, that teachers focus on the basics. Otherwise just do it your f-ing self.

what would you have your girlfriend focus on in the beginning?

somewhat related-people who deride the study of basic latin in school are unimaginative shitheels

Perhaps its the approach, Twinkle Twinkle little star doesn't have much of a background, Bach "The Well-Tempered Clavier", Handel or Mozart would be a great place to start.

I had a Chinese drum teacher a while ago. We pretty much got stuck straight in but then I guess with drums it's basically pick up the sticks and start hitting the skins.

I have heard that if you have lessons for something like guzheng you have to study sitting position, the correct angle your head should be at, how to flourish your hands the correct way, etc.

The most important is knowing "why u have to do that", but not knowing "how to do that".

Because Chinese people don't know how to teach. Same thing with language, you go to a big school like BLCU and it's one chapter a day, 50 words per chapter. Meanwhile all of those words are related to acrobatics or Chairman Mao commemorative plates. Not one phrase to help you bargain for pair of apples.

It would be better if your girlfriend found a student from one of the music universities. Students seem to be better at teaching because they see the fault in their own teachers.

There must be some "how to suck and frustrate your students" class at the graduate level for the quality of teachers here to be so bad.

f-ing schlang schlang...
that guy has all the musicality of a dead germ floating in piss...
chinese music teachers?
those 3 words can not be taken seriously when they are all in one sentence
and in that order...
im not gonna go into the whole 'why get into formal learning' b.s.
those who do, know why,
those who dont are exposed to a miniscule part of music...
if its the only thing they want out of music, fine,
but not starting from the basics, not going deeper into what it all means, why its done as it is,
is like reading cliff notes on great literary works....

and one thing id like to point out, think of it what you will.
1 billion chinese.
1 lang lang.
(yo-yo ma is an american, schooled in paris...)
and its not for lack of trying...
plenty of chinese music students for BA or MA degrees around the world.
hundreds of thousands of music students in the country
(also doing summer programs abroad...)
where do they end up?
last stands strings in an orchestra anywhere or back home teaching...
some things are just not meant to be
and this whole thing is starting to look a little bit like sisyphus pushing that rock.
i know im generalizing enormously
but in my entire music career, of close to 20 years now,
around the world i have never been impressed by a chinese classical musician...
i am highly critical but believe me even with my standards of 'good western art music'
i am amazed at a huge number of artists from around the world...
chinese...? never heard one that id like to hear again or buy their albums...
when it comes to chinese music,
ive been blown away by some artists' musicality but classical...
for now...they've only proven they have no idea what it means...

i realize the level of douchebaginess i just presented myself at
but as i have shown many a time on many occasions,
i expect the highest level of quality in music
before i could call it good
and only top level artists can produce it and re-produce it constantly

most definitely, i am not talking about lang lang there...

What I can't stand most about all of that mediocre Chinese pop music constantly on TV here is the fact that no one ever, EVER plays a musical instrument. It's always just someone singing to a recorded track. Lipsynching, probably, as often as not.

Watching and listening to it would be so much less loathsome if someone occasionally showed the slightest bit of musical talent.

YYZ,
dictation is pretty important.
this exercise develops your hearing which is very important if you get serious about music.
it helps you play in tune for one!
if you decide to learn without books,
it takes less time listening to a piece you like
before you can play it on your own.
actually, listening to a tune you like and trying to play it is exactly what dictation is...
except when a lame piano teacher does it for a whole class,
and not telling anyone why they're doing this...well, its just lame...

and what you said about you quitting...
pretty much 99% of people in the world...
awful teachers kill the interest and enjoyment in music and thats it.

So I was right!
But if I finally resume the learning, probably the book is still needed, coz not many people have the gift to just dictate a complicated composition. But I suppose as long as we're not trying to become a professional musician, either way could be enjoyable.

Probably the interest isn't killed, but the desire of learning more seriously is rebated, and enjoyment becomes torturing, sadly, like me. But in my case, it maybe mainly because I'm just the lazybones! Haha!

And another fact is that I doubt how many children nowadays learn the instruments simply because of interest, I guess there are a lot who are arranged to learn it because their parents think that would make them become more competitive in the society.

Wow,lovely remmy becomes zhenlai,so a chinese girl,is she?
Or a kiwi girl? Beautiful?

sign me up for that japanese crash course
ko-knee-chi-wa

The fundamental thing about learning anything in music is listening to as much as possible, that's the best start a student can get, intervals and dynamics are embedded naturally.

Betcha make a mean coffee table though.