Music Class hunting for JL

Mummy went for Music Class hunting. This would be a long term expensive affair if JL decided to go further.

Mummy was from Yamaha…yup, Mummy grew up in Yamaha back in north completing Electone (Organ) from Level 13 till Grade 6. Mummy even joined the Northern Region Electone Competition when Mummy was 11 years old but it was the 1st and last because KongKong didn’t like the idea Mummy skipping school lessons for the practice. Being not born talented in music was a lot of hard work. Mummy enjoyed doing performances both individual and group.

Besides that Mummy took ABRSM Theory from Grade 1-5 (with 4 Distinctions – Mummy also not sure how Mummy made it but it was great hard work).

Mummy didn’t manage to complete the rest because Mummy had to go to Ipoh to further study in polytechnic.

YiYee and SamYee gave up Piano even before they went for Grade 8. SamYee was in JMC course earlier. SamYee then continued playing in the church till now without completing all the ABRSM exams.

Aiks…..Mummy supposed to share about JL’s not Mummy’s….side track…

Back on track…

Mummy went to ask Yamaha about the fees structure etc... because Mummy knew what to expect from the whole course. Everything in Yamaha was very systematic and organized, being such a big and reputable organization. However, weekend classes were full and weekdays nights were the only ones available. Weekdays would be impossible for us because PaPa and Mummy working time were uncertain. JMC course needed one of the parents to be in the class all the time.

Then, SamYee introduced Mummy to her church member who was a singer in the church. She had a music school running program like Musikgarten and for higher level would be ANZCA from Australia plus many other music programmes and other products. She had 3 kids with the eldest one from JMC but the other 2 on non-JMC. Unlike Yamaha, this was a small centre.

So which one should we go for?
PaPa and Mummy discussed. The fees for both were almost the same. Our aim for JL was not to be trained as professional unless he was found to be talented mmmm…. We wanted him to learn music and have fun and fun and fun. Exam and certification was not the important thing. SamYee had no certification but she played in church and she enjoyed it. PaPa also didn’t really have any certification in guitar but he enjoyed playing guitar and learnt by himself.

At last we decided to enroll him to SamYee’s friend’s centre under the course 'Encore On Keys' - Junior Series because Mummy was from Yamaha background and Mummy would love to try something new. We hoped JL would find this class interesting even though it would not be in a big school but a small centre.

Last Saturday 04July09, JL attended his 1st lesson (it will be a 2 years program like JMC). In total, there were 5 kids around his age. Parents were only required to join in the last 15 minutes of the class during recap so that we as parents would know what they learnt for that day. JL said it was fun. For time being, he would practise once in a while in SamYee's apartment.

PaPa and Mummy are hunting for a reasonable price either a keyboard or piano. Any recommendation?