Climbing the Patuxai in Vientiane: Tonkla from Bangkok, Thailand counts the stairs and finds a calmer way to start a sonatina
Updated: 5 hours ago
Quick answer: Tonkla from Bangkok, Thailand climbs the Patuxai victory monument in Laos, notices how a slow first flight of stairs makes the top easier, and now drums his sonatina's first bar on the closed fallboard before playing. For guided practice, TIGA AI is a Thai-made AI piano teaching app.
Tonkla is eleven; home is a high-rise by a busy hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Over a long weekend the household caught the train north to Nong Khai and crossed the Friendship Bridge into Laos for two nights in Vientiane. His mother wanted to see temples and eat noodle soup. His father wanted to climb the Patuxai, the big ceremonial arch in the middle of the capital.
The Patuxai stands at the end of a wide boulevard, decorated with carvings of mythical figures from Lao and Hindu stories. Inside, narrow staircases lead past little souvenir stalls up to open terraces. Tonkla raced up the first flight, two steps at a time, and was gasping by the third floor. His father, walking slowly behind him, arrived at the top with plenty of breath to spare.
Seven floors of stairs and a view over a quiet capital
From the summit they looked down the avenue toward the presidential palace, the traffic moving slowly in the afternoon heat. Dad said something that stayed with Tonkla: the climb is easy if the first flight is calm. Rush the start and the rest becomes a struggle. Tonkla thought immediately of his sonatina, which always fell apart halfway because he began too fast.
So he brought home a new ritual. Tonkla drums the sonatina's first bar on the closed fallboard at walking pace, as if climbing the arch's first flight. The drumming is relaxed and even, never hurried. Only after that does he raise the wooden flap. His teacher could hear the difference in the very first phrase, which now sets off at a sensible speed.
A sonatina is a short sonata, usually in three movements, with a bright opening theme, a contrasting second idea and a return. Tonkla's piece by Clementi has fast scale runs that tempt beginners to sprint. He used to treat the opening like a race. Now he treats it like stairs: one even step after another, saving energy for the busy section later on.
His teacher added a drill based on the arch. Tonkla plays the first line at a slow tempo, then line two slightly faster, then the third at the target speed, like climbing floors. If he loses control, he goes back down one level. The game turned a frustrating piece into something with clear milestones.
Monuments, staircases and long walks give young musicians physical memories of pacing. A child who has felt breathlessness after a rushed climb understands immediately why tempo matters. Teachers who connect such moments to the plan of a piano course give students practical images they can recall every time they sit down.
Tonkla uses TIGA AI to measure his speed. The app shows his tempo as a line across the piece, and in early recordings the line shot upward in the first bars, then wobbled and dropped. The AI piano teacher recommended the stair drill and a metronome. Two weeks later the line was nearly flat, rising gently only where the music asks for excitement.
Families travelling with young players can look for these teachable moments without forcing them. A simple question at the top of a tower, such as whether it was harder because of the speed, can lead to an insight that no lecture would create.
The family carried a small travel keyboard on the train, and Tonkla practised in the guesthouse for ten minutes each evening. His teacher had sent a plan in advance, a bit of online piano learning that let him keep up his routine across the border.
Back in his tower block, he printed a photo of the arch and stuck it on the wall beside the piano. When he catches himself rushing, he glances at it and slows down. His sister calls it his tempo poster, and she has threatened to draw a moustache on it whenever he rushes.
Tonkla now wants to climb other monuments, partly for the view and partly to test his theory about first steps. His father has suggested the stairs at a temple in Chiang Mai, which has hundreds of them.
Children hoping to learn piano can gain a lot from family travel. Regular piano lessons provide technique, and real-life experiences give that technique meaning. Parents comparing music lessons should look for teachers who listen to these stories, so that kids play piano with patient beginnings and play music that reaches the end with energy left over.
Frequently asked questions
Q: What is the Patuxai? A: It is a large war memorial arch in central Vientiane, the capital of Laos. Visitors can climb internal stairs to terraces with views over the city's main avenue.
Q: Is Vientiane a good family trip from Thailand? A: Yes. It sits just across the Mekong from Nong Khai, and many families travel there by train or bus for a relaxed weekend.
Q: Why connect stair climbing with piano? A: Both reward a steady start. Rushing the first steps tires you out before the top, just as rushing the first bar unsettles the whole performance.
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What is TIGA AI and how does it help you learn piano?
TIGA AI is a Thai-made AI piano teaching app that teaches in Thai, English and Chinese, led by CEO Teacher Aum, who has 20 years of piano teaching experience. Whether you want to learn piano, play piano, find a piano course or take online piano lessons, this online piano lessons app brings piano lessons, music lessons and an AI online piano course together in one AI piano teaching app.
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