Welcome to the tonebase Piano Community!

A) Hi, my name is Edmund Heng and I'm from Singapore. 

My friends call me a garbage bin because I love to eat everything and I'm eating almost all the time lol!! My favourite food would be a medium rare steak, lamb and barbecue chicken wings! I love grilled fish, squid, prawns, scallops as well. And CHEESE!!! Mmmmm. As you can see I really love eating lol!! It's 430am here and I'm having ice cream! =D

 

B) Pieces I'm working on are 

1) Ballet from Orpheus and Eurydice (also known as melodie de Gluck) - Gluck/Sgambati 

2) Liebeslied - Kreisler/Rachmaninoff 

3) Standchen - Schubert/Liszt 

4) Intermezzo In A Major - Brahms 

5) Chance Encounter - Kevin Kern 

6) Blind Film - Yiruma 

 

As you can tell, I'm a sucker for expressive and romantic music. 

I am a massive fan of new age music and I used to transcribe them and share it on my YouTube channel for free. Because of that, I got to know many pianists from around the world and I still keep in touch with some of them via Facebook. It's amazing how music brings people from all around the world together. 

 

3) As for why I'm here on tonebase, I did not get a proper education in music. I got my associate diploma in performance but my teachers weren't very good. 

 

One was busy cooking for her dog during my lesson (my ATCL teacher) and my teacher for abrsm grade 1-8 didn't do anything except point at the sheet music while I played. Never have I once heard both my teachers demonstrate anything on the piano for me. It was only about playing the right notes. Thinking back, I wonder if both of them even know how to play the piano. 

 

Little wonder my results for my piano exams were mediocre. And I got forced to learn pieces I didn't like. 

 

I was a former stockbroker and decided to change my job to be a piano teacher 7 years ago and I've never looked back. I promised myself to not be the teacher my teachers were to me. 

 

I'm extremely patient, I always perform to inspire my students. I tell them the importance of playing from the heart with feelings and expression. I tell them the importance of singing in your head when you play so that you can play and express yourself in the most natural manner. It's impossible to play something without first hearing it in your head.

 

That performing a piece is like communicating with the audience and telling them your version of the story. I also tell them to use their imagination as much as possible to enhance their story. Also, sometimes having an image in your head when you perform can help you to focus.

 

I am envious of my friends who have good teachers. They go to famous conservatories to learn, they get to attend masterclasses with world class musicians. Whereas my teachers were random housewives who never played a single piece for me. 

 

And that's the reason why I'm on Tonebase. To learn from the best. To attend classes that I would have attended had I studied in a music conservatory instead of going to a business school and getting a degree in Economics. And I'm going to keep on learning. For the rest of my life! 

 

Some of my students parents ask me 

"Is my child still a beginner? When will they be advanced?" 

 

And I'll reply 

"Yes. They are still beginners. And I am a beginner too. Do not worry about the end goal of being advanced but rather to enjoy the journey of learning. In fact, the more I learn, the more I think I don't know about the piano. 

 

Isn't it wonderful that you can learn the piano for a lifetime, yet discover so many things that you still can learn? That's the beauty of performance arts isn't it? There really isn't a point to learn something that you can master in a short time. There is no satisfaction in it."

 

I'm here not only to study. But to learn how to be a wonderful teacher as well! 

 

I'm so happy to be here on Tonebase. You guys have assembled a great team of musicians here! It's like The Avengers. And Seymour Bernstein is like Master Yoda! Lol!!