Yamaha JMC Book 3

Can you believe it? She finally reached this stage. For the first time, the Book Completion Concert was held outside the classroom and in the open hall for all to enjoy.

Girl did not play perfectly but you know what? She did not cry. She fumbled but she played on. She did not criticise her friends. She clapped for all her friends sportingly.

She participated on the stage with her friends and saw how many spectators there were. She just smiled and carried on.

She did not go crazy during the after-concert snack/party. She shared her snacks without hogging all her favourites.  

For all those EQ development, she got me teary with happiness. You are a star to me, Girl. I am so proud of you. 

Caveat: You need more practice! Don't refuse when I ask you to. I am still your mother.  

Piano - Extra Classes

We are at this stage where intervention is required because Girl just won't listen to me or practice when it is time to do so, at home.

Still, we must not quit!

Let the music play on. She did, with her teacher, and in fact, played so beautifully it ached my heart. Why didn't I do this earlier? Lightbulb moment there. 

Exams

Yamaha JMC Book 3.

School exams.

Same time!

I need a holiday *feign faint* 

Girl has been having bouts of tantrums and we suspect the recent weekend getaway has thrown her schedule off. She thrives on routine (diet, daily programme, regular sleeping time) so we will put aside all "adventures" until March is over.

She will be 6 this month and raising her has been a personal challenge to me, emotionally. I am looking up new behaviourial courses so that I can learn to cope with her milestones. 

Wish me luck!

Snippets: Single Ingle

Girl has been trying to rhyme, increasingly more frequent now.

Sometimes, she rearranges music scores of tunes she has already learnt at Yamaha JMC and tries to fit in her own lyrics/prose. Quite often, she changes the pace (every adagio becomes staccato) or worse, the loudness (piano becomes forte with a grand crescendo).

As her mum, I can only encourage her growth (confidence!) and secretly tell myself not to dream of her becoming the next Taylor Swift just yet. Join the performing arts company at The Bog School, maybe. Baby steps.

Coming back to rhymes, "Easy peasy lemon squeezey" is the most common mantra I get from her, whenever she is asked if she can manage some simple tasks on her own, like cleaning up her toys after playtime. She had learnt the phrase from one of the cleverest girls in her reception class, C.

Well, sometimes she says something original. "Single ingle" - I admit this took me by surprise because it does not make grammatical sense, just phonetically pleasant (to us).

I would give her 5/5 for being creative and original, and hope she keeps the spirit of learning up!

Concert, Encore

It has been some time since I recorded Girl's musical journey at Yamaha. JMC Level 2 is coming to an end by celebrating a class concert with after-concert party this month end. Yay!!

The hardest part of this level for us has been the consistent absence of 2 sets of parents of 2 of her classmates since commencement. Both mothers have delegated supervision to one of the elder daughters and sometimes a maid who could not have been more disinterested in music (I do not fault the maid, I just feel the two mothers should be more accountable). Sometimes, young toddlers were brought into class and the helpless maid had to care for all 5-6 children.

What do these missing mums do?

They have been seen countless times  sipping coffee, shopping, having a manicure or pedicure etc.!

When I did politely suggest they come to class during a casual social exchange, they plainly said they were busy. 

Wow.

Luckily for us, our music teacher is very passionate and understanding; which helped see the rest of us through this hardship and let the music live on. There are at least 4 other sets of parent-child who enjoy lessons as much as we do, fortunately! The support is wonderful, SubhanAllah!

The teacher had also conveyed several messages requesting the presence of these two repeat absentee mums. She tried her level best to contain her unsupervised students from too much monkey-ing around. The students seem to just continue ignoring her instructions, talking when the teacher was explaining the lessons etc. it has been quite a zoo of late especially when they tinker non-stop at the keyboard despite repeated warnings. 

I feel sorry for the teacher because all the other parents can see she is trying her best to deliver lessons without too much disruption. It must be tough to be in her shoes.

Mostly, I feel sorry for the students with absentee mums as they need all the loving guidance, care and attention; at least during lessons. 

Caution: Do not sign up for Yamaha JMC unless you have an adult who can commit to sit in the class and help your child both during class and at home. It is plain nuisance and unnecessary distraction to other classmates if you lack commitment and start slacking even with basic courtesy. Be a good fellow-classmate and neighbour. 

Think twice, be nice.

Another Busy Week

How is your week going, my lovelies?

Bean is down with fever. He eats and maintains his jolly self so we are going to monitor his progress. The Other Half and I are zombies from keeping watch, sponging and occasionally carrying him to ease his discomfort. Alhamdulillah, he recovered overnight!

If he is not at Playschool, I will have more on my plate than usual.

The Little Girl is getting her exam results back this week and we are excited for her. There always is excitement with our firstborn. 

No, she did not play and sing at the mini concert last Saturday. I saw it coming, remember?

She did, however, perform the whole repertoire perfectly for me to record then Whatsapp to her teacher. Privately. Shy violet. We will have to work on her stage fright. Those videos saved her and she is progressing to JMC Primary 2, alhamdulillah.

We need to work on her stage fright/nervousness pronto since we need her to overcome it by this Saturday. Sports carnival and family day is coming up this weekend and already she is planning on not participating, despite faring well and even winning at the telematch rehearsals.

We have been cheering her on, boosting her morale, explain teamwork spirit and try to gauge her understanding on being a positive contributor towards the coveted championship trophy for Red House. 

Fell on deaf ears, I suspect. 

So here I am, fatigued from the beatings of this week but not quite giving up on extending my best to motivate her. If you know of any good strategies, please do share!

Busy Week

Please pardon my excitement- it is The Little Girl's first exam week at The Big School!

She started on Tuesday with English and Spelling; followed by Mathematics and Science yesterday; with Malay as Foreign Language and Ejaan (Malay Spelling) as ending today. 

Honestly, she did not "study" but played a lot throughout the preparation period. I do not think I will be saying this in 10 years' time, so let me enjoy this prep-free exam period *grin* 

When the Examinable Areas were first disclosed, I made a mental note to check with her if she had understood those lessons as taught in class. When we did go through the books during "revision", I asked if she wanted to clarify any confusion/forgotten lessons. She sounded alright and I left it at that, not wanting to create any self-doubt in her. 

She then watched Cars from Disney and The Wolf Children (highly recommended work by Mamoru Hosoda) and played with her toys. Story time at night was Sukukata for only once (because I panicked, she was fine!).

Bean turned 21 months today. Still 16 teeth with no signs of the final 4. Still breastfeeding at noon, bedtime, 2 am and 5 am as his Happylatch Meals. 9 more months to go, in sha Allah. Precious moments every time I cuddle him for a feed as he is now an active toddler. Alhamdulillah.

More updates on The Little Girl: we have reached the end of JMC Primary 1 so Teacher has lined up a "mini concert" this Saturday. 

Songs to sing: Come And Play With Me and Whales' Sneeze. Solfege. Play 2 songs. The Little Girl chose See You Tomorrow and A Cuckoo Clock on the piano. I am not bringing any extra audience to avoid her getting stage fright, but I am sure The Other Half and Bean will get the best seats in the room. 

The last time she was to act in The Bear Hunt at The Playschool, she clammed up and refused to act upon seeing the many new adult faces. I really hope she will be brave enough this time, as the piano faces the wall and not the audience. 

I still have work pending and really should get going to clear the trays before the weekend starts. I have a very dear friend returning to Tokyo with her children this Sunday *sobs* - how fast 24 months flew us by! See my post on this friendship here.

How is your week going so far, my lovelies? Happy holidays to those enjoying the school break. Safe travels, journey mercies and please do share those beautiful memories!

How To Choose A Music School

We got ourselves a piano last year just as The Little Girl turned 4 because we wanted her to develop both her right and left brains, in a nutshell. 

In the bigger scheme of things, we hope she develops listening, pitching, movement (dancing) and tempo accurately. The Other Half and I both were deprived of proper/formal/private  music lessons when we were growing up so we were really keen not to have our children lack this wonderful lifetime skill. We were only offered a recorder and Government issue text book for music. While I can still read notes, he has no inkling whatsoever! 

I confess that the piano is the biggest gift I have bought for us all. This was the easy part. Due to space and budget constraint, I chose a brand new Yamaha upright.

As I could only play a few songs on the G clef and needed lessons so that I could help The Little Girl work her magic fingers to bring out lovely tunes of her favourite nursery rhymes. Obviously, we needed lessons!

At first, we signed her up for Yamaha 1-1 piano lessons at Yamaha BVII, but she didn't share any chemistry with her assigned teacher and that very nearly killed The Little Girl's interest. Every Saturday afternoon became a painful chore for everyone. 

Being the helicopter mum that I am, I meddled. I terminated the Yamaha 1-1 lessons. It just had to stop because the joy and excitement stopped. The period that we were away for summer 2014 helped The Little Girl "forget".

Luckily, we had paid for an online piano course offered by a kind teacher living in Melbourne to correct whatever "damage" and started to heal her musical relationship with the piano in her room once we were back from our summer break. It was great, special and personal but we knew we wanted more for long term.

A permanent solution had to be found.

Coincidentally, the Yamaha Music School from Ampang moved into Great Eastern Mall so we put our names in for a Saturday afternoon class. We agreed to joining the JMC with 11 other children/parents per class on this 2 year journey after one trial class.

The twinkle in her eyes returned. So far so good, alhamdulillah. 

The Little Girl loves every single class. She listens, sings solfege and lyrics, reads and draws notes, excited to place magnetic notes on the board, completes her theory worksheets without fuss, dances happily at class, interacts well with teacher and classmates, watches the DVD at home, sings along to the CD in the car, tries to guess notes of whatever songs that comes on the radio and I am just thankful she is loving music as a whole.

Bean loves the CD and DVD too! He tries to tinker on the piano keys at every chance he gets since the day the piano arrived a year ago. His current favourite piece is The Chicks' Ballet. 

Here is my share of experience in selecting the right music school. In sharing this journey, I hope you will find a programme and school that suits you and your little one best. Most importantly, enjoy the bonding and let the music heal your soul. 

1. Programme

Yamaha or ABRSM?

My daughter was 4 when she started so ABRSM really was out of the question for us. Yamaha 1-1 was boring for her. Yamaha JMC is the best fit for her. We even tried music online homeschooling and that was fun! Yamaha JMC requires 1 parent to accompany the child (which is great because I learn whatever The Little Girl learns, and we can complete the theory worksheets together). 

2. Location

We live in the city centre so going to BVII then was not a problem but going to Great Eastern Mall which is much closer to home has saved us a lot of commute time and cost. 

3. Size of Class

Our Yamaha JMC class can host 12 sets of parent/child and comes with an electronic organ for every set of parent/child. The teacher has an electronic organ, piano, CD player, white board and space for children to dance. 

4. Programme

Our Yamaha JMC Primary 1 is almost completed. We hope to complete up to Primary 4 for JMC then move forward to the next key stage, in sha Allah. 

5. Fees

We paid a deposit, terms fees (each term is 3 months, that means we pay 4 times a year) and will have to buy materials for each level (music book, theory book, DVD, CD). The magnetic board is once off. We were also given a cute bag for weekly use. The good news is the syllabus is not likely to change soon, and Bean will inherit those materials (except the theory book). 

6. Duration

Every class is 1 hour. We find that time flies because obviously, we are having fun learning together.

7. Teacher's Passion

Makes or breaks the deal. We find that the best type of music teacher is one who can pique and engage the interest and attention span of her young learners. Gone are the days of strict teachers who scold and knock knuckles with wooden rulers *sigh of relief*!

8. Atmosphere 

Bright, well ventilated/air-conditioned, happy, clean and safe environment are some key consideration. Please do not sign up at depressing outlets/showrooms where they do not permit playing with the musical instruments on display or worse, locked away - it is a real put-off being able to see but not allowed to touch and refrained from producing music at a music centre!

Syukur alhamdulillah this arrangement works for us at the moment so in sha Allah, will continue to work in our favour. We always pray The Little Girl and Bean will learn to make merry music to sing beautiful praises of Allah, to Allah, our One and Only. Amin!

Serendipity Saturday

The Little Girl and I were on our way to music lessons when by chance, lo and behold, we bumped into my "pupil master".

I say it in inverted commas because on record, his partner was my then pupil master. However, professional chemistry and work interest steered us together to work as a team. He was not a morning person and I was an early bird so that gave me plenty of chance to complete my mornings at the then Jalan Raja High Court for hearing in chambers, file searches and such. 

On a non-court morning, I used to have working breakfast with another lawyer who was already a partner but not hesitant to share her precious time with a newbie to guide, encourage, motivate and sometimes "reprimand". Often, breakfast was as simple as a small packet of nasi lemak with a cup of pulled tea, or as fancy as a big breakfast with latté. What mattered more was team spirit. That carried us through difficult files, tough clients and tight timelines.

I learnt a lot from them during my short stint there. By the time my long call came, we were all friends! I got offered back into oil and gas so I hung up my robe because it seemed far more lucrative as I especially loved the international exposure.

Coming back to serendipity. 

It is amazing how friends can part and nothing changes. We all went through passage of life along our own path but the ties and warmth remain. Alhamdulillah!

To MES and ZBM, thank you. 

Yasmin Mogahed

"Learning is a gift. Even when pain is your teacher."

"You become what you love. So, choose wisely what you love."

The above phrases pierced my heart and soul this week and has been keeping me motivated to trudge on, to untangle some corporate knots and most importantly to remain calm when baseless accusations fly. A quick lunch with a soul sister has revealed so much for us both to learn and take invaluable lessons from the experience. 

Similarly, The Little Girl recently discovered that she is at a tough spot of her piano lessons. Chords are getting tougher, the pace has rapidly developed from minim to semi-quiver. She is only 4.5 years old so quitting is not an option. I can attest the fine line between discipline and passion now as the discipline it takes to master some pieces must not kill her passion for making music! The gameplan has changed from traditional class method to immersion. Little Einstein, the animated series, in DVD form, is coming to rescue us. Hopefully she will recall all the tunes and tinker again at ebony and ivory. 

As such, we are keeping those wise words from Yasmin Mogahed to plant our feet firmly to the ground without ever losing our dreams in the clouds. We have at our own space and time shed some tears over our own struggles, and that is all part and parcel of personal accountability. As the song goes, "superheroes have the right to bleed" too. 

I am sure we will both survive this tough period. In sha Allah!

Let It Go

The Little Girl played the first bar of this current Disney hit today.

I am so proud of her! 

So proud that we immediately put her piano teacher based in Melbourne on FaceTime to catch this momentous milestone! 

So proud that the 19 seconds video was emailed to The Grandparents. 

Here's a simple supplication that her journey of using both her right and left brains will be fruitful in years to come (and that my hard earned money is not wasted - almost every parents' fear when deciding whether or not to commence music lessons for their children). 

Stay tuned!

Negaraku

Selamat Hari Malaysia next Tuesday, 16 September 2014! We are celebrating by learning to play our national anthem on the piano.

How do you celebrate such a blessed day? What are your plans? Please do share!

Yamaha U1

Let me let you in to one of our biggest secret (nah, the title gave it away):

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We have a new member arriving at The Flat in time for The Little Girl's 4th grand birthday!

Yes, one that has a voice. An examination worthy voice. A voice that will hopefully complete an otherwise half-trodden musical journey of the parents in this household. The Other Half was not offered formal music lessons (so he played by ear by tinkering at the old piano they had when growing up) and neither was I. Poor us. Such deprived childhood. Such unfinished agenda.

So.

We want to learn, for our own good. Maybe, we will never be musical prodigies at this ripe old age but really, that is not the bottomline of inviting music into our lives.

We want to enrich of souls, even if it is just by a little.

Some (readers of this blog can already guess who the usual naysayers are, right?) predict quite a bit of battle of the wills can and will occur in the near future as The Little Girl may refuse to practice, or have anything to do with the big black box with some keys. Maybe she will have two left hands and not be able to differentiate bass from treble.

Ahhh. Que sera sera.

We will still proceed with full confidence and gusto (our "success" as permitted by Allah Almighty in the breastfeeding journey has really changed our perception of negativity and doom into one of possibilities and unimaginable satisfaction from persevering whilst submitting to His will).

Therefore, let's pray that this too, will be a success story milestone in our seemingly insignificant lives. May the world be filled with more peace and love just because we have some music. Amin!

**invoking TigerMum mode, nonetheless**