Sinfonia Music Studio

COMMON SENSE PREVAILS in piano teaching. I would like to share a scenario of what took place more than two decades ago.

I had a boy who was 14 when he came to me, recommended by his secondary school teacher. The teacher phoned me and asked me to help this boy who was keen to learn the piano but did not want to go through the basics. He had been rejected by several piano teachers because he wanted to learn Chopin’s Fantaisie-Impromptu when he was only about Grade 2 in the ABRSM context.

He told me he wanted to start with the Chopin piece instead of going through the Czerny studies and Clementi sonatinas, which he found not stimulating at all.

I took up the challenge and said, “Hey! You have to read very slowly, and I’ve got to help you piece the work together while teaching you the fundamentals of technique.”

In two months’ time, he managed to play the piece decently, and the sense of accomplishment and achievement was very satisfying for him. The rest was history. He went on to take his LTCL within two years and scored a high distinction, playing the monumental Liszt B minor Sonata.

To prove that it was not a fluke, four years later he retook his LTCL, making sure that the previous examiner had not been overly charitable. He changed the programme entirely, keeping only the Hungarian Rhapsody, and went on to score 93/100, which was a mark higher than before.

Today, he is a successful lawyer and still plays the piano leisurely.

My point is that common sense should prevail. Had I rejected the boy and insisted on following the rigid path of going back to basics, this student might never have continued learning the piano, as he later told me himself.

I gambled and took the challenge, and it paid off. The fact that he told me he would practise very hard, and that he genuinely loved the music, was a huge leap of faith for me…

Simon Soh.

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How do you tackle Question 3 in the ABRSM Grade 7 Theory exam? Do you start with chord progressions, focus on writing a tuneful melody, or combine both approaches? Join this class to find out more!

The jury members for the Champs Universal Festival in Singapore on 30/5/26 include: Mr Sean Teo, Professor Gilbert DeGreeve, Mr Simon Soh and Miss Mary Jackson. Beside Mary is the Artistic Director of Champs, Miss Jasmin Khor.

TEACHING PIANO is far more challenging than many people realise. The more I teach, the more aware I become of my own limitations. In a lifetime, how many composers and works can we truly master or know deeply enough to teach with authority? Beyond practising and performing, there is also listening, analysing, researching, and reading. Yet time always seems insufficient!!

I often marvel at teachers who appear able to teach almost anything with complete confidence. Perhaps they are exceptionally gifted, or perhaps they believe that reading the notes accurately and counting correctly is enough. But can one truly teach works such as Carl Vine’s Bagatelles, Liszt’s Transcendental Etudes, or Balakirev’s Islamey without understanding the style, background, structure, and countless subtleties that lie beneath the notes?

Many teachers tell students to choose any repertoire they like, seemingly confident that they can teach it all. This reminds me of what the renowned pianist and teacher Vlado Perlemuter once said to students who came to study with him. Apart from French composers and Chopin, he preferred not to teach composers with whom he did not feel sufficiently comfortable. I have always respected that level of honesty and self-awareness.

It is a principle I continue to advocate. As teachers, we should constantly explore, learn, and recognise our limitations. We should be careful not to deceive ourselves or our students by assuming that we can teach every work simply because we can read the notes…

Above all, the moment we stop learning, we risk losing the ability to pass on meaningful knowledge. Teaching is not merely about transmitting information; it is about continually deepening our own understanding so that we can guide others with integrity and insight.

Simon Soh.

Sean Teo, a senior teacher at Sinfonia and Forte, was invited by Champs Universal to serve as one of the jury members for the Champs Universal Festival in Singapore on 30/5/26