Yamaha U1

This is our latest investment in the girls' music education! :)

It cost us a bomb and we thought really long and hard for more than a month before we finally purchased it. We decided to get it first-hand from Yamaha because we are not very comfortable in buying a second-hand one (which is usually more than 30 years old) even though it cost about 50% lesser than a brand new one. We figured out there is no harm in getting a new one if we can afford it since it would fetch a higher price in the event we decide to let it go in future.

Though the Yamaha salesperson told me there would be a year-end sale held in November, I didn't want to wait because I may be too busy then taking care of #3. Anyway, with Angie's student discount (I have signed her up for Music Wonderland which will commence in October) and hubby's Maybank credit card rebate (he specially applied for the card for this reason!), it worked out to be about the same as the sales price.

Meanwhile, Faith has stopped her Kumon lessons wef September (after about one and a half years of attendance). Her monthly $240 Kumon fee is now used to pay for her private piano lessons instead, which cost $198/mth. Angie is also attending but she is being taught using Suzuki method because the teacher said she is too young to learn traditional note-reading. So far, they have attended 6 lessons + 1 trial. I am quite pleased with their progress. Faith in particular, has improved leaps and bounds after I made her practise at home at least 6x/week, about 45mins to an hour for each session.

Now she can play the following songs by heart:

1) Mary Had A Little Lamb

2) Westminster Chimes

3) Jala Jala Ikan

4) London Bridge

5) Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

6) Ode to Joy

7) Ker Ren Lai

8) Good Morning

Isn't that amazing? She has an incredible memory - I don't think I can play any of the songs without looking at the scores. I am so proud of her! ^_^ Hubby is happy too because the girls' rapid progress justified the amount of $ he had spent on the piano. Lol! I hope the girls will continue to play and enjoy piano for a long, long time (preferably forever :p) - I don't want it to be a white elephant a few years down the road!!!