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Is your favourite subject music? Is your favourite instrument the piano? Is your favourite activity to sing or play a song?

I know you will definitely say no, because our favourite thing to do will be to sleep.

But, surely we human beings are not just animals right?

Actually, there was a time my favourite activities were dancing, spa, facials and massages. I was lazy. But a grandmother sat in my student's class, I played the simplest song "What are Words" in the most pathetic key, F major, and the grandmother exclaimed, "So nice! Wow music makes me so happy!"

Then, I changed my perspective. Of course all grandmothers sugarcoat everything, but soon I realised - There should be nothing more interesting than singing a tune, or playing a new song! There should be no happier job in the world than teaching, because learning is so fun!

My favourite genre of music will probably be movies because I am able to link the tunes to the characters and storylines, which makes the music more meaningful. But the problem is movie music, translated to the piano, isn't so fun anymore because movie music needs a full orchestra to convey the entire sound. Which means classical music is still the most suitable genre for pianists because they are specifically written for the piano.

What about you? Maybe music will never be your favourite subject because all the songs sound the same anyway, music is noisy and singing is stupid? In this case, do not attempt to appreciate orchestral/symphony pieces because they are "noisy" and not so suitable for casual listening, instead try something relaxing like "classical music for sleeping" etc..

Perhaps you cannot bear with your neighbour practising the piano because he/she is only a beginner? Then you will need to put your imagination to the test! Could you roughly hear the tune of that "still-in-the-process piece"? Now imagine it without the errors and pauses, ta-da that is what music sounds like!

I guess my favourite students are my fellow Singaporeans! Because it is so fun to play National Day Parade songs! Everyone can play something, be it Home, Count On Me, The Road Ahead or Majulah Singapura. I tried teaching Home to kids from international schools, instead of "For this is home", because of my poor English pronunciation, they sang "For this is hot!"