At present, Practice is a luxury Practice is a need for the soul Practice is the dream to phrase musically Practice is the annoyance with dead strings or rattling that interrupt As a young child, Practice is mindless. Practice is a chore. Practice is an obligation. Practice, or face the consequences. Practice is a must. As a teenager, Practice is the means to an end. Practice leads to finishing exams. Practice is the bargaining chip to this end. Practice is a should. As an En

There's so much hope in Singapore's music education. This post may seem extremely naive and idealistic and invite some eye-rolling from non-believers or jaded music educators but it shall have to be such, for now. STAR Singapore has been doing some great music stuff for music education in MOE schools. In the arena of music beyond MOE schools though, it's standardized instrumental exams galore with Trinity, ABRSM and the likes. Are our kids not taking enough exams in school,

I love kids! I constantly work with kids but I admit that parents and their love for their kids is definitely on another incomparable level. Many of my peers now have kids and I witness how their lives revolve around their kids' schedules, moods, eating habits among other "restrictions". Of course, the joy and innocence each kid brings to the world, their parents and people around them is tremendous. Aside from when I'm teaching, I'm merely reaping all the enjoyment of being

Dedications - Students One of the hardest part of moving back to Singapore is leaving my students. My students have taught me so much, how to be a better teacher, musician, how to have empathy, how to communicate well amongst other life-skills. I treasure the special relationships I've had with each and every one of my students and their families. I've become so comfortable and open with them and know that parents trust me to tell them what's best for their child and to guide

My Journey at ASU; Dedications - Teachers (Part 1) Teachers are such amazing people, under-rated and under-appreciated but essentially the most crucial beings in the world. Music teachers are always seen as those who "cannot be performers" but are they really? Who are the people who taught performers then? All these insane amount of research about how music makes one smarter, yada yada yada, were musical skills not imparted by music teachers or did the child become smarter ju