Teaching Policy

Good afternoon parents and students, this is Dean and I am happy to share my first broadcast message
to all my current students who have been supporting me thus far! As my private studio has been steadily
growing since I started work in Singapore after my university studies in New York, I feel that it is
appropriate now to lay down some housekeeping rules regarding my teaching policy:

Arranging Regular Lessons and Changes in Lesson Timeslots

Lessons will be conducted either at the student’s home or my home studio at Kaki Bukit. For students
who opt to come to my studio for lessons – I appreciate the time saved on travelling and I will
incentivize it with discounted tuition fees. If travelling to the student’s home, I will require some buffer
time while travelling between students. Since public transportation might be unreliable at times and
sometimes I might give a little extra time to a student to work out certain things before the end of class,
I seek understanding that I may be ± 10 mins early/late from our agreed lesson time. If late, I will ensure
that I will complete the full lesson time before finishing the class.

I am grateful for students who have stuck with our agreed lesson time and have consistent lessons on a
weekly basis. As a freelance and active performer in Singapore, occasionally I will have to take time to
attend rehearsals, performances, and exams that are on an ad-hoc basis – these events might clash with
regular lesson times. I am also aware of examination periods and going on holiday – students are
welcome to inform me in advance so that I can arrange make-up lessons accordingly. For sudden
cancellations due to illness or time conflicts with other personal events, please inform me via Whatsapp
at least 6 hours to one day in advance of our arranged lesson time. Likewise, I will inform you in
advance if need for rescheduling. Make-up lessons within the same week or the next are encouraged in
the event of single missed lessons – for long-term absences (2 weeks or more) from regular classes, I
might temporarily use the arranged lesson time for make-up lessons with other students.

Make-up lessons can be done on any day of the week as I am a full-time piano tutor who works every
day (including weekends). I am also a part-time piano teacher at a music school in Marine Parade; I will
be required to teach at the studio on Monday and Tuesday afternoons as well as Saturday mornings –
these timeslots are less flexible for me to arrange make-up classes for private students since the studio
schedule is not determined by myself but instead the music school. Weekday afternoons from 3-6 pm
are in-demand timeslots for many of my students after they return home from school, so in the event of
any cancellation within these timeslots, I am very likely to schedule make-up lessons for other students
if deemed necessary.

Payment Procedures

I would like to revamp the payment of fees for lessons – (1) full payment for 4/5 weeks of lessons in
advance at beginning of each month or (2) week-by-week payment at the end of each lesson. Going
forward, I would like to stop accepting payment at the end of each month after lessons have been
completed beforehand. This creates a lot of hassle on my part to have to remind parents to keep up
with late payments and to prevent misunderstandings with regard to the completion of payment. I will
accept either cash or PayNow electronic transfer to my mobile number (8847 2500). For option 1, I will
keep track of the lessons completed each week; if there is any missed lesson within the month, I will
take note and likely carry over the fees to the first and/or second week of the following month. For
option 2, please make payment either immediately before the agreed lesson time or after the lesson is
completed, with a grace period of 2-3 days to complete the weekly payment after the lesson is
concluded. I will remind you once if payment is not completed after the third day.

Opportunities

The benefits of learning piano are manifold; to be able to appreciate classical music for one’s own self-
fulfillment and to create piano music to be shared with audiences on an emotional level, to instill
discipline and efficient time management in practicing, to work towards specific objectives such as
competitions, performances, and exams, etc. Pieces will require time and effort to be learned and
polished to the highest level, and I encourage my students to tap on any opportunity to perform their
music and gain exposure by playing live in front of audiences. For students whom I believe are
progressing well in our regular lessons, I would like to recommend them to participate in such external
events outside of our usual lesson time.

Examinations – A majority of students will be following this route in order to progress and ‘level-up’
through their lessons. I am familiar with the ABRSM Syllabus for Grades 1-8 as well as the Trinity
Syllabus as an alternative for students who are interested in doing more pop and jazz genres of piano
music. Due to Covid, two formats for these exams are available: digital and in-person examinations.
Personally, I am a strong proponent for in-person examinations as I have been doing this format of
exams purely during my own musical journey, however, these exams are normally more difficult due to
additional components of sight-reading, scales, and aural. Even so, they can showcase the skills of a
well-rounded musician more effectively. The in-person exams also have a specific window to register
whereas digital exams have more flexibility as students can register at any moment and submit the
recordings within 28 days from the registration date. While students will normally progress grade by
grade after completing each examination, I am also open to skipping grades in order to progress faster
(as I have done myself during my own musical journey). Ideally, the students will take about 6-9 months
to prepare the repertoire for each exam, or at an accelerated pace depending on the individual
student’s commitment and investment into practicing and preparing. Bear in mind that constantly
missed lessons might impede progress toward preparing for a certain exam within a proposed
timeframe.

Masterclasses – These are performance classes at my studio in Kaki Bukit where I will invite a select
number of students to perform for one another, thereafter I will give comments for each performance.
Parents and other family members are invited to attend these classes however, due to limited seating
capacity at my home, I might need to keep the audience size small enough. I will try to ensure equal
opportunity for my students to participate in these classes at least once every half a year.
Competitions & Music Festivals – For students who are progressing exceptionally well and would like to
challenge themselves further, they might like to participate in these events which are held either locally
or regionally overseas. These events require a stricter vetting process on my part as the standard of
piano playing at these events is at the highest level and the repertoire required to be prepared will be
much more than for conventional examinations. If keen, please discuss with me individually to see how I
can prepare the student adequately for these events. We might need to have more intensive classes
(beyond weekly 1-hour classes) in order to polish and refine the repertoire, and I am open to offering
complimentary classes at my studio to aid in the preparation.

For beginner-level students – Students who are currently working with me on pieces from Piano
Adventures, Alfred, Poco Piano, and other method books are considered beginner-level students. It is
my intention for all my current beginner-level students to advance as quickly as possible toward Grade
1, from this point onwards where they may opt to start working toward graded examinations. Since
many of my beginner-level students are younger in age, I would like to seek cooperation with parents to
supervise their practice sessions and ensure that they are continuously working on their new pieces
outside of lesson time. At this level, I might also focus a little more on music theory – please ensure that
homework for the week is completed in time. If there is any need for any assistance with monitoring
practice and guidance for theory homework, please feel free to contact me anytime to ask questions.