Learning Piano....

When it comes to learning piano, the first thing that came to people’s mind is those big, big, shiny black piano, with intimidating long white and black ivory keys that your arms can’t even stretch from end to end, and a hefty price just to buy the cheapest model in your home!

And, playing all those melodies came a little daunting to you that you even mumble to yourself – “how on earth can you ever manage to play like those people, when you even feel like cracking your fingers every now and then, when your fingers are not even ‘working’?”

Learning piano always comes to your mind that you have to be buried in tonnes of books full of ‘tau geh’s…Starting to learn songs that probably you have never heard of (e.g. The Blue Danebe), just to, eventually being able to play your FAVOURITE SONG…(Ahhh…)
Oh ya, probably you have heard of learning pop piano nowadays…. But the teaching method in most places are just like learning classical piano, the only difference is you learn pop songs with scores!!!

The learning process is the same..
- You learn scales, boring scales every sessions..
- You start to learn simple kindergarden songs for few months..
- You try to write the note name in the score given by your teacher…cause you cannot recognize the ‘tau geh’ fast enough…(you even want to write the note’s name on your piano keys!!)


Aiya…this way of learning is sooo boring… and many always gave up halfway…Mind you, I mean halfway as in 1 or 2 years of learning, ok...not just 3, 4 months....
'Cause, you do not feel like you've achieved much enough to give you satisfaction to carry on your learning anymore after striving for so long....(right?? most of us, urbanists just don't have the patience...)

Don’t get me wrong that this happens to everyone. It is just that most people that I know felt this way. We all know learning to read the 5-line score is great, especially it's a great music foundation for children. However, to learn in this method for working adults and busy tertiary students is hard, especially in a fast-pace Singapore environment.

But you always wonder why some pianists can play without reading the scores? That’s because we learn by ear and concepts! We do not need to know what to play; we just play as what we wish to hear!
That’s this concept that keeps us going stronger, and stronger.

We have our own pop piano syllabus, which has been fine-tuned through 7 years of experience. They focus on delivering concepts, identifying chords, understanding some basic playing rhythmic patterns for accompaniment, and there you are, being able to play a simple pop song in just 3 months! Learning the notes in solfege (do, re, mi…) is much easier and achievable for adults to pick up this instrument.

Through your learning experience here, you are constantly motivated to play your favourite songs with the concepts taught. That’s probably why most students have a sense of satisfaction as they learn. Together with our structured and fine-tuned syllabus and committed instructors, we are so glad that many students have enjoyed their learning experience here.

Oh well, I am not trying to do sales here anyway. Haha... Just had this thought to share this piano learning process with you guys. :) That is because, with umpteen discussions with my various friends around, many are always puzzled by the concept that I’ve mentioned. Majority of the people always thought that there’s just one way of learning piano. (Hmm......)

So, just like to share a little on this new modern way of learning, to everyone!

Ok, to end on a light note, take a look at this video (Mind you, it’s a 10mins long video!)! It will definitely amaze you, and I’m sure it will bring you back some interesting memories! J Probably will make you smile a little too. Check out the last song!!! That's amazing speed!



Oh well, of course, playing like what the guys did was simply “not achievable” by normal people like us!!! Haha…This takes definitely more than 10 years of trainings!

Meanwhile, Happy Teacher’s Day everyone!!
Especially to all Hark Music’s Instructors!!!!

Upcoming Live Shows!

Artistes-In-Progress Concert


Make a date with us, and enjoy performances by our 5 Artistes-In-Progress!
They will be performing together with our in-house musicians/instructors, Shawn Tan and Jane Wu!

  • Date: 7 Sept 2007 (FRIDAY)
  • Time: 8pm
  • Admission: $5 inclusive of a drink.

Early birds special! 10 complimentary tickets up for grab!!!
Email us at liveshows@harkmusic.com to let us know:

1. Which AIP/s do you like most and why?

Remember to leave us with your Full Name and Contact Number! We'll be giving away a pair of tickets to each lucky winner!


OpenStage Concert for Hark Students

Organised specially for Hark Students in mind. For their interaction, for their improvement!
A monthly event that is beneficial for everyone!

  • Date: 24 September 2007 (Every last month of the month)
  • Time: 7pm
  • Admission: FREE!!!


We have another event!
The Grand Finalists Concert!!!
The confirmed dates are on 21 Sept and 28 Sept.
We will release the details these few days...Stay tuned!

HSSC Finals...

First, we have to say we really had a successful night of the Grand Finals of our 1st Hark Music Student Singing Competition.

It was a fruitful experience for everyone.

The 9 finalists are all winners!

They have shown us their determination & their perseverance to excel. We appreciate their dedication and hard work towards this competition! APPLAUSE! APPLAUSE! Winning the top 3 placing is just a final icing to this rewarding journey!

This competition was organized with the objective as a small internal event which we hope to provide more interaction among the students and create a competitive platform for more music development. We are glad to know we have met our main objectives. From Qualifying Rounds to the Finals, we can see the improvement from all the contestants. This has proved to be a very healthy event, which we hope to organize more in future!

Now, we shall reveal a little ‘secret planning’ that we're having next!

The Grand Finalist Mini-Concert!
Right, we're inviting all the 9 finalists back with our Hark's Live Band!

And the best part is they will be performing more than 1 song! Exciting, right??? Should be interesting for the contestants as they are no longer contestants; they become the special performers and don't have to worry about what the judges would say...Haha! This concert will be arranged to be sometime in September. Stay tuned again for the latest release!

Here, also taking the chance to apologise for the inconvenience that some of you may have experienced during last night's event. We were completely caught unaware of the overwhelming response of the crowd. With only a capacity of only 76 in our performing studio, more than hundreds came to Hark yesterday and created a long queue, and large crowd outside Hark.
We regret that we had to disappoint many. Actually we've informed everyone that the ticketing opens at 7.30pm, with first-come-first-serve basis and we did not limit the number of friends each contestant could bring. We regret to create some unhappiness due to the capacity limit, when the tickets are all snapped up very quickly.

To avoid the same situation happens again, we have implemented a new ticketing system for similar events in future.


New Ticketing System for “Big” events

  1. All performers/contestants will be allocated an equal number of tickets;
  2. These tickets will be sold and reserved for their collection till the closing date (1 week before the event date);
  3. Thereafter, the uncollected tickets (if any) will be released to anyone who can buy them on first-come-first-serve basis.
  4. All patrons are advised to possess a ticket before coming for the show.

    With this system, we hope it will create the best outcome for everyone.
Alright, let's move on, and we shall look forward to the GRAND FINALISTS CONCERT in September!

Update

A short update today...

Our 5 Artistes-In-Progress will having their live mini-concert on 7 September (FRI)!

Performing with them will be our in-house musicians/instructors - Shawn Tan on Guitars, Jane Wu on Keyboards!

Hark's SuperBand!!!

What are these people watching?......



Oh, it's our Hark "SUPERBAND"!


Alan on DRUMS!



Jenix on GUITAR!



Patrick on KEYBOARD!

Right! They are the ones who made our Semifinals ALIVE!
C'mon down this Friday to watch them play in action again for our GRAND FINALS!
This is going to be one of the most happening event to look forward!

And we will see the birth of our first winner for this annual event - Hark Music Student Singing Competition!


Here are some photos from our Semifinal 1 & 2 held on 10, 12 August 2007.


Aaron sang 流泪手心. Yes, he's in the finals!




Fanny. She sang 超快感.
Her sporting friends even brought light-sticks, and waving like fans!
Great atmosphere! Though she did not get into the finals, we know she must have gained plenty of experiences through this journey!


Sophia sang 回家.
Though her t-shirt says nothing related to the song, she brought us a nice performance!
She gamely sang a challenging part of the song in acapella, in request by our judges and I say she did well! We will look forward to her performance in this coming friday's final. From the poll, she is the high high favourite to win the contest. Haha, I hope she do not put too much pressure on herself for that and bring us her best!


Daisy sang 白色婚礼.
Yep, her dressing relates nothing to the song too. And yes...a little 'too retro'..:P But yes, of course, she sang well. She's in the final this friday. I don't know what song she's going to sing but hopes she gives us some surprises.

Cedric sang 新不了情.
His song selection gave our band the chance to 发挥! It was such a nice grooving number to be enjoyed with live band accompaninent. He requested Halem's version of this classic hit. His groove was pretty good, however his vocal techniques wasn't good enough to nail the song. However, definitely, we can see his earnest, sincere performance. He did not successfully progressed to the finals, but sure, it's his improvement through these rounds of competition that we and he can see. GAMBATEH!


Xuewei sang 还是会寂寞.
With her soothing vocal tone, it was no doubt that everyone enjoyed her performance. No major errors she made that night. I guess it was just that the song did not managed to earn her a strong impression compared to the rest of the contestants that night. It was a pity, but don't worry, Xuewei, you sang well and have a good voice. Selecting the right song is always a tough decision, and not an easy thing to do. That comes with experience as well. Keep it up!


Jeslene sang 一个像夏天 一个像秋天.
She heeded the judges' comments in the quarterfinals to hide away her glasses, so there she is, looking better! :) A pleasing vocal tone, and with her high ranks among the audiences' favourites, she walked her way into this friday's final!


Su Kit sang 逃亡.
A interesting song choice! This kind of song is really a song for the live band to bring out the thumping mood. And yes, the liveband definitely was able to do the job, Su Kit was also able to belt it out too but what was lacking is his voice control. So, take note on this the next time you are on stage, Su Kit. You have a big voice so, learn to control and polish your delivery a little more. It will be PERFECT. :)



Carissa sang 征服.
I think she made her song into her own. With her less powerful voice compared to the original singer, she managed to break away from the original song's style. Her feel was good, with little of her signature's slurs. She's in the finals, let's see what she'll bring to us this friday!

GUEST PERFORMERS - LEONARD & YINGZHI



Yep. Leonard and Yingzhi was the guest performers for our SemiFinal 1.

Alright, let's continue to the rest of the contestants.....


Junxuan sang 雨天.
A fine delivery though I personally feel he made no impression in this performance. And this is a song I kinda feel is now made popular by 杨宗伟. He's in this friday's final as well. Is he going to bring us another song made popular by 杨宗伟 too?



Michelle sang 爱我.
She continued to face the battle despite of a running fever that day. Good spirit, I say. Her delivery lacks colour, as she mainly uses her head voice to sing that song which sounded a little too operatic for a pop number. She did not managed to proceed to the next round successfully, however, we salute her for her good sporting spirit in continuing her battle whilst sick and bringing us her contemporary ballet piece during her quarterfinal despite a small, small stage. :)



Amy sang 白天不懂夜的黑.
A classic number. She sang the song decently, though was still far if compared to the original version which was made popular by 那英. Basically, still lacked in dynamics for an emotional song. Nevertheless, she managed to earn herself a place in the final. Let's see how she will perform, she might surprise us!



Leonard sang 江南.
His interpretation of the song was a little...erm...不搭...
I mean, this song is supposedly emotional, sad...yet his stage presence and body language showed confidence, which was little confusing. Yes, I do feel technically, it was properly sang. What was lacking is the 诠释方式 of the song which was a little 'out of scope'. Don't worry, Leonard, we all know you can sing. Next time, understand the song that you are singing. In that way, you can do it!

Joh sang 我也很想他.
Simple delivery and her high notes wasn't managed well. Through the competition, she has improved a little, a little, with her stage presence and stability. Of course, more stage exposure for her would help alot in her improvement. Work hard, girl! Remember, you have a good voice to start with!


Shi Ming sang 记得.
She remember holding her mic closer, which is good! This isn't a easy song to sing. An emotional piece with big range and control to hold on to. She was placed in the 'Pending List' competing with Aaron. Sadly, Aaron managed to earn a place in the final instead of her. She sang pretty well, I say. Well, there's still other chance, right? Sometimes, luck still play a part. :)

Tat Sin sang 落叶归根.
What a new song! He did not sing exceptionally well that night. However with his unique, alluring, soothing vocal tone, he already won 'half of the battle'. How lucky! Right, he's one of the finalist. Let's see what he has to show us this friday.



Xiaorong sang 想念你的歌.
Sadly she did not managed to deliver the song well this time compared to her quarterfinal when she sang 我恨我爱你. I don't know what's wrong this time, it just doesn't sound right. Maybe she's not so familiar with the song? Or the song is not suitable for her....Or...... haha, I can't just make any guess...Anyway, this must have also been an enriching experience for her. Next time, when there's a performance, choose the right song for your vocal type. That will probably do it!



Eugene sang 我还能爱谁.
Finally, he managed to deliver a performance without any breaks! He was the only one who delivered a 'complete' performance that night (SemiFinal 2). No doubt with that, he successfully proceed to this friday's final. Let's cross fingers and hope he can perform his chosen song 顺顺利利 this friday!
GUEST PERFORMERS - ELYSE & KENNETH



Their performances showed us what is a PROPER PERFORMANCE.
Their powerful, emotional delivery captured the entire house's attention. Some even said they almost cried! Remember, that's hard work and they comes from umpteen number of performances and trainings! Imagine these artistes-in-progress performed every week, since May 2007! Of course, they can sing well... :)
So those contestants who did not managed to get into the final round of the competition, don't be discouraged!
New Event!
Coming up, Hark will be organising a monthly event called the Open Stage where we invite all students to take part, and gain as many performing experience as possible. This is an entirely FREE event where we want to involve and benefit as much students as possible to heighten your learning experience, and to help you improve more through performing lessons....
This is just a early teaser, the official release of information should be in a few weeks time. Stay tuned!
Meanwhile, we are all looking forward to this Friday's Final!
See You!!!

AIPs Updates...Student Showcase Concert!!!

Oh right, some of you are missing our Artistes-In-Progress performances!

Some of you may have experience the ‘power’ of their vocals during our Semi-finals 1 and 2 of the competition. Actually, I think they have shown much improvement through the weeks and weeks of performances since May 07. Good job, guys!

In September, all the 5 Artistes-In-Progress will be staging their first mini-concert together. Preparations are on the way. I will update you if there is any release of the actual date!


HIGH GOSSIP!!!
*Shhh..* This'll probably create some curiosity-aroused emo among you guys..... we have officially signed 3 of the Artistes!!! *Yeah!!! *Oops...*Shhh.....shh...*

More intensive, grueling trainings will dawn upon them... Heheee.. (They sweat! I no sweat! Hahaa..) Well, I can’t reveal the names…no one can reveal their names…Except you hearing their voices on national media by year-end! (probably! no confirmed release date yet!)

Many preparations have to be done for their release of singles by year-end. 让我们期待吧!


STUDENT SHOWCASE CONCERT



Next Monday - 20 August, we will be holding our Student Showcase Concert.
This will be an event held once every 6-8 weeks.

Here, we present our outstanding students who performed well in their class evaluations.
We applause and motivate them for further improvement!

So, if you are free on coming Monday, make a trip down and encourage our students!
Who knows, you might get inspired by them!

Details as follow:

Date: 20 August (MON)
Time: 7pm
Admission: FREE!

See ya...

p/s: And now, all the Singing Competition's finalists have submitted their songs for the Grand Final held on 24 August. Here, wishing all the best in their preparation too, I'm sure they have a fruitful musical journey through these rounds of competition! Enjoy!

Semifinal, Quarterfinal 3 photos, Grand-Finalists Namelist!

Last weekend's semifinals was great!
It has been some time since we enjoyed the atmosphere, the thumping drum beats of live band!

Some contestants commented that it was fun, and 'enriching' to perform with a live band!
Yea, that's right, man! That's why our music cafe was sooo popular, with our live band karaoke concept! :)

Some of the contestants may feel that they are not used to coordinating with live band, as the acoustic sound comes right from their 'back of the ears' (the musicians were arranged around the singers)..
Well, this is how you can be 'part of the sound', and not 'out of the sound'. Haha...understand?

Anyway, it was an eye-opening experience for all!

APpLaUse! ApplaUsE! For the singers, for the BAND!

Coming Finals on 24 August (FRI), we present the same group of HARK's superband!

Will edit and post the photos of the Semifinals 1 and 2 very soonz....!

Meanwhile now, enjoy the photos from Quarterfinal 3.


Some contestants from QF3 taking photos together...
(From left: Toon Jong, Joh, Anthea, Leonard, Juwind)



First singer for the night: Joh Teo.
She sang 路.



She did a MV dance for her 加分题. She danced along with Jolin's Mr. Q. Quite impressive, given her shy personality on stage. It was a 'stunt' unexpected from her.
Judges' comments was good for her 加分题, though her stage outfit didn't quite fit the song. (Probably, she should've chosen something brighter...)
Her vocal projection can be improved though she managed to deliver her chosen song relatively well.




Next up: Juwind sang 很好.



She performed a self-written piece for the 加分题.

Her chosen song was properly delivered though it did not show much on her vocals. Had a strong 孙燕资的影子 in the song. Her previous round rendition of 你要的爱 was better. Her 加分题没有加到分... :( Cause, she could not deliver her song in complete. It was properly due to her maiden performance in guitar playing. She met with quite a number of hiccups while performing... Nevertheless, it was a good experience on stage for her guitar playing.. Keep it up, Juwind. You can do it next time! Practice more on your guitar skills and try it out on stage again next time!



Leonard: He sang 其实还爱你



Creatively, he prepared a music skritch, which comprises of impersonation in singing, imitating MRT Announcement Message, 胃仙you's (sorry, I don't know which 'you' is that..:P) advertisement voice-overs... (Haha...wait till the video is out, you will know what I'm saying)


Here, he performed a song - 千里之外, impersonating 沸玉清 and Jay Chou.
Though it wasn't really 很像...but it drew many laughters. You will feel impressed by his ability to imitate people's voices, be it talking or singing.. Still havn't got a clue to what I'm driving at?? Ok, wait for his VIDEO!


Anthea sang 心动.


加分题:She performed 心动 with our familiar instrument during our primary days..The Recorder!
Due to the lack of stage experience, her performance was not very polished. Her voice was shaky through out the song. We know she can do better, as she has been a very hard working student who came at least once weekly to book our practice room, to practice on this chosen song, specially for this competition. We heard her singing in the practice room which was much better than what she delivered that night. Anyway, this is all part of learning. Just don't give up, work harder, and try to find as many opportunities to perform, to hone your skills! 加油!



Toon Jong sang 我爱夏天. Very entertaining rendition!
He danced, he jumped, he showed many body language to bring out the song's 'High'!
Well, he didn't really showed any of the vocal skills but he sure showed us his passion in performing! He was The One during the evening that 'woke' everyone up with his natural ability in entertaining, exuding some kind of child-like innocence...
One interested part was, he pointed at our host - Vynson and said to him: "你很好笑喔!"
Those 不在现场 will not be able to understand this. This can't be captured on video.
This was one of the magical moments during the night. ;)


Jolene sang 可爱.
Before she revealed her song, she claimed the song 很像她. :) Judges felt her previous round was better. Well, I know she was a little unwell that day. But again, this is not an excuse, right? It is always the singer's responsibility to take care of his/her body & voice well, when you know you have a performance. Right, 可爱的Jolene? :)


Kai Wen sang 淘汰.
We can see his improvement through the months. The song probably proved too big for him too. Repeatly, he could not hit the high notes in the chorus, which I guess, costed him too much in the scoring.


Shi Ming sang 柠檬草的味道.
She got a strong voice, rather nice clear tone.
However, her voice was commented to be very Jolin-like, some felt Sun Yanzi-like too.
Well, I don't know if it's good or bad. I'm not the judge! Hahaa..
And, she committed her mistake again. Her mic was pulled too far from her mouth, too far from the direction of voice. Thus, the volume of the voice was constantly, inconsistent.
Hmm...she said she's always scared of hearing her own voice, thus she have this habit.
It's time to change, Shiming!



Tat Sin sang 爱爱爱. (wOw!)



He sang and performed a piano piece for 加分题.
His special, soothing, unique tone attrated many votes for him that night. It was one of the better performance during that evening.


Siew Yong (Xiaorong) sang 我恨我爱你.
She had a major mishap that day, when she forgot to take her disc with her when she left for work that morning. However, many of her friends and Hark's Yvonne helped her in many ways just to ensure she have a smooth performance that evening. That touched her, and during her 30sec introduction, she took the opportunity to thank everyone.
According to our judges, her delivery though wasn't technically perfect, however her song feel touched them.
For her 加分题, she impersonated Kit Chan, singing 不要. And yes, she nailed certain parts.

Eugene sang 戒不掉.
Big voice, he had. However, there were some problems hitting the falsettos.
Judges advised him not to choose 'too big songs' for competition. He had the similiar problem in the previous round, where his voice broke at the high notes.

====================END!==========================


Now, annoucing our GRAND FINALISTS after last weekends' Semifinals....

GRAND-FINALISTS

1. Lim Mei Jun Sophia
2. Zhang Feng Shan Daisy
3. Tay Tat Sin
4. Lee Rui Wen Jeslene
5. Sng Eugene
6. Boo Xin Rong Carissa
7. Yap Beng Yong Aaron
8. Tan Lay Ling Amy
9. Jiang Junxuan


APPLAUSE!!!!


See ya all on 24 Aug (Fri) 8pm - Grand Finals!

Quarterfinal 2 - Pictures & Videos!

Quarter Final 2 Pictures and Videos!


Priscilla & Carissa rehearsing their 加分题 backstage.



Irene's friends eagerly helped to prepare her for her performance!!!



The first 6 contestants of the night! Giving their best shot!



*******SHOW STARTS!!!*******

Junxuan performed 很想说.



He sang and played the piano for his 加分题. Not bad...



Junxuan Video:




Cedric sang Forever Love.
The hosts kept teasing him as Edison Chan's lookalike...hmmm...what you think?



He sang and played Kiss Goodbye too...I guess he's Lee Hom's fan.



Cedric's Video:



Irene sang 热带雨林.
This song is quite a light-hearted song but sadly, can't really show much off her vocals skills..



The interesting part was she performed a self-written song, composed specially for her friends for her 加分题!



Irene's Video:


Hendro sang 我爱的人.
Some notes was a little straining...however, we could see that he is one very sincere guy.
He did an impersonation of 阿信 from 五月天 for the 加分题. Well, all I could say was it wasn't really impressive...ehh...不像啦...Sorry!



Hendro Video:


Michelle sang A*mei's 知道.
Probably due to lack of stage experiences and feeling very nervous, her vocal was shaking throughout the entire song delivery. Voice was lacking in chest tones. With such a power rendition by A*mei, Michelle's rendition was a little tad too weak. However, she had a very good attitude and focused expression, which proved that she's sincere in her performance delivery.



For her 加分题,she did a contemporary ballet, which left a deep impression in many. Great job for this!



Michelle Video:


Gabriel sang 背叛.
As what happened in our Quarterfinal 1, he did not able to handle such a high difficulty song. Through the last part of the song, Gabriel did not managed to nail the song 'nicely'....




For his 加分题, he did some impersonations of various singers..like probably about 10 singers...sadly, we could only identify about 1 or 2...



Gabriel Video:


Amy performed an acapella version of 白色婚礼 when her disc could not play!
Must be rather nerve-wrecking for her...but I think she managed to deliver despite the mishap...



She did a 爱心寿司 for her 加分题.



Here's the end result!



Amy Video:


Su Kit sang Love Story. With his naturally bubbly character, his immediate appearance to the stage drew many laughters!



He did impersonations of Ado and Jacky Cheung which drew many laughters too...Check out his video.

Su Kit Video:


Carissa sang 小手拉大手. Very sweet delivery!



Carissa Video:


Priscilla sang 别在伤口洒盐. Being only 17 yrs old, she chose a mature song which wasn't really suitable for her voice type.



For 加分题,she and Carissa did an acapella song, harmonising together...Ehh..but they didn't really managed to deliver what they have practiced. When at backstage, they sounded good together. Girls, it's ok, take it as an experience!



Priscilla Video:



p/s: hey guys, sorry for the backload...haha...this is a repeat telecast!! Wanna watch them live? Catch our Semifinal 2 live this Sunday at 6pm!! Grand Final is on 24 Aug (FRI) 8pm!