"GREAT" teacher

Seminar, seminar, seminar. Boring seminar. I understand seminars are where we get to learn, to know people and to refresh. But I really dread seminars because, I fall asleep VERY EASILY. Luckily, they provide coffee.^^ There was this 2-day seminar on the new Trinity Guildhall syllabus. The first day was on the lower grades. So while someone speaks, the other plays on the piano for a bit of demonstration. (By the way, the pianist was a very handsome Canadian.) The morning seminar was so far so good.

Then after our mid-day meal, we went back for the master class. Two boys performed a grade 1 and another grade 2. The grade 1 boy played first, and one of his pieces, a swing, was actually interpreted the wrong way. Then when we had moved on to the next topic, one teacher asked to speak to that grade 1 boy.

“I think you should change your piece, otherwise you will surely fail.”

And can you imagine she said that in public, in front of his parents, in front of all the teachers when the exam is only a month away?

Another teacher brought up the question about one exam piece that had a big, almost impossible stretch for the fingers. The only suggestion she could think of was to even out the notes among both hands. That is, using the other hand to help press the unreachable key. The same woman, who made a public statement before, said there is no escape but to force it. Perhaps she thinks ALL kids are BORN to have large hands or could force their hands to achieve the impossible. MY stretch took months to develop.

The next day more people turned up for the seminar. Today the target was on the higher grades, grades 6 and above. The very same lady who shocked everyone walked in late. Not that I blame her, the venue was indeed a secluded spot. This time she brought up the question of students not being able to understand English. What the hell. This is TRINITY GUILDHALL exam. Of course it will be carried out in English. If English is a problem, then take other boards of examination. There’s one in China, and another one in Japan. What’s the whole point of bringing up this matter? The spokesman said if required, the board will acquire an interpreter. But if the student were drilled on the procedures of the exam, I don’t see the difficulty in it.

Oh, and did I mention the spokesman, by then, seemed rather pissed off. Because, given her seat that was at the very front row, he didn’t seem to notice her raised hand until she said a few times, “Sir.”