This is the piece that C is learning now. Apparently, C had requested Teacher Sophia to teach her this piece and Teacher Sophia found a rendition that was easy enough for C to manage. I like this piece too and we can't wait for her to be able to play it. :)

It took quite a bit of convincing before C finally agreed to playing for the concert. She had said no all the time and Teacher Sophia had to persuade her week after week before she finally said yes.

Piano recital at CSC from Natalie Lian on Vimeo.

 

She picked her own dress for the recital and here she was after receiving a little gift and certificate.

C with Teacher Sophia. She has been with Teacher Sophia for almost 4 years now and C has always had nice things to say about her teacher. Well, we want to say, "Thank you, Teacher Sophia." 

When we were walking out, C asked her Daddy how did she do for the recital. Her Daddy smiled and replied, "You did well."

We are on the look out for this little thing, a metronome.

We are thankful that C's music school organises such mini concerts. These mini recitals expose the budding musicians to public performances and help build confidence.



C has been practising these two pieces.

More than  a month ago, C started practising for her piano recital. It was a small scale one but definitely a good platform for young aspiring pianists like Cheryl to show her skills. :)

:) She got to play on a grand piano! How cool is that? :) 

Cheryl has another piece of music to practise for her recital.

And this time, she had her Hello Kitty and Bunny to listen to her.

Come December, C has a piano concert and she has been practising for it.

This evening, she insisted on having her princesses friends listen to her so she lined them up.

C is still not very good with her piece yet but she tries. :) Hopefully by then, she will play the piece beautifully.

Our Precious with all her royal friends.

C is usually reluctant to show us how she has progressed with her piano playing. We may coax but she hardly gives in to our requests. Lately, I have been reminding her to practise and since we started on our list of "dones", she has been more forthcoming with her playing.

This evening, we asked that she play a little something for us and she did.


See that shrug at the end? Ha ha!

Teacher Sophia, C's piano teacher, commented that she has improved tremendously and is ready now for a longer session with her. :) Excellent news actually!

I caught C on the piano and she was practising her scale so intently.

Uncle Kasey dropped by to tune our piano this afternoon.

When he removed the casing, C was amazed at the interior and hit on the keys to see how the sound was produced. Uncle Kasey thought me how to listen out for the sounds and yes, when the piano was in tune, both of us were nodding our heads.

It may seem like an easy job but you must really have a good ear to do this.

Some time last week, we were recommended this piano and Daddy and I, together with C went down to take a look.

We got a professional down to help us test out the piano as we weren't confident ourselves. Although the piano was very reasonably priced, still it was a huge committment and I didn't want to get a second-rated piano even though it was second-hand.

Thankfully, Uncle Kasey nodded his head and commented that it was a great buy and that the piano has been exceptionally well maintained. C even played on the piano while she was there and she couldn't hide her delight when we asked her if she wanted it.

This afternoon, we eagerly waited for the arrival of our piano. C couldn't wait and the past few days, she had been helping me out with the clearing and packing of the stuff around the house. She kept asking if the piano had come and it was also her first question after she awoken from her nap.

Finally at 5 in the evening, it arrived!

After the movers left, C sat on the bench and started playing on the keyboard. The previous owners had left C some of their son's music books behind and C started working on the activity book almost immediately.

Updates:

It's been 3 days since and every morning, even before C brushes her teeth or takes her shower, she heads for the piano immediately and will play on it for a few minutes. Daddy and I are glad that the investment is worthed it and even more happy that she goes to play on it willingly.

We need to get C a real piano now. She has a keyboard which she plays on but a keyboard is still only just that. The density and pressure she needs to punch on are so different and she really needs to work those muscles on her tiny hands.

So we are on a piano-hunt now.

We don't need to get her a brand new one because it's really too steep so a well maintained second hand one will do. And if we get a good 2nd hand one, it will still last us a good 20 years. I have been doing some research over the Internet and now I have such a headache. I didn't know there is so much to getting a piano.

Firstly, there are so many brands and models to choose from and then there are things like age of the piano especially if they are imported from other countries like Japan, China, and Europe. Then we need to consider the weather and humidity as well because the wood and soundboard, strings amongst other react differently to our climate.

Some pianos like good, old wine, age very well and sound brilliant yet at the same time, we have to be mindful if these pianos have been gently or heavily used by the previous owners. And I also just found out there are at least 36 piano shops on our little island.

Now, I am trying to finish reading this and digest the information before we go test out some pianos this Friday.