How to order Electone Books from Japan?

Wanna to play more interesting songs? Try to import the books yourself.
I have some simple instructions to help you, Please click on the following link:
http://www.box.net/shared/j3rg9ua515

Related Post: Buying Stagea Books from YESASIA

How to Practice? Tip no. 9

Tip no. 9:
Finally, practice is not completed without attending concerts; nothing beats the ‘LIVE’ atmosphere. It is different when you watch the soccer match at home or at the stadium.

Free Music Learning Games

Are you feelings BURNED OUT today? Want to play some games? Please click the follow link:

http://www.musiclearningcommunity.com/FreePreview.htm

STAGEA ELS-01C Demonstration Video

• Interesting video from Yamaha Japan.
• This young lady really performs very well, not only her hands, please look at both of her legs too.
• Wish that the price tag can come down soon.

The International Bestseller, 4 million copies sold.

"John Grogan bring the tale of Marley vividly to life, and readers won't be disappointed. With a light & humorous touch, John Grogan has crafted a loving tribute. A book for dog lovers definitely, but well worth a read if you have never owned one of our canine friends."
Andrew Martin, Birmingbam Post.

Yes! I'm talking about the book "Marley and Me". Actually, this is my daughter's book which she has been reading faithfully the past few days. Out of curiosity, I picked it up one day while she was doing some other things, in just one chapter and I was hooked. You have to read it and experience yourself.
http://www.hodder.co.uk/book_details.asp?book=68576

Oh yes, the movie of "Marley and Me", starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, will be released in the UK in 2009 by 20th Century Fox Film. My daughter and me can't wait to catch it when it reaches Singapore next year.

STAGEA Mini ELB-01 Demonstration Video

• Interesting demonstration from Yamaha Japan.
• Lot of functions with a small $.

CM3 on Yamaha Stagea

This group of 3 teenage musicians from Japan are simply marvellous, all under 19 years old.

Claire Chiam "The Winner Takes It All"

This video was recorded on 18th of Dec 2008. A beautiful song sang by ABBA. We took this Piano score from the book "Mamma Mia"(ISBN 0-7579-9278-1), by Warner Brothers. We sequenced the Drum and Registration Data so that it will automatically change the Tone Registration & Drum Seqnence while you're performing.

Here comes the QUESTIONS:

1. Can you hear the Finger Snapping? Where? 1st verse, 1st chorus or etc?
2. Which grade do you think this arrangement is? Listen carefully to the Intro, Verse, Chorus, Ending, Double notes, Block chord, Pedal work, Accompaniment, Expression & etc.

Please leave your answer in the comment and thank you for your participation.

My Darling Doggy "Joy-Joy" - Part 1

Next month is my Joy-Joy's second death anniversary, although everything seem back to normal now but I'm still miss her very much.
I brought her home in Dec 1990 when she was 3 months old, she had given me and my family many joys and unconditional love. I treat her like a family member or rather like my daughter, and we had shared many happy movements together during her seventeen years with me.
Joy-Joy will always live in a special corner in my heart and I would like to delicate a special corner of my blog to her.

How to Practice? Tip no. 8

Tip no. 8:
To practise the instrument you like is something to enjoy. Try to record or video your performance at different stages as it is very satisfying to be able to hear or see yourself improving gradually.

Ringtone "1st Love"

Here's come another Ringtone, this Japanese song "First Love" was very popular many years back. Please consider to leave a comment to let me know if you like this tune.

You may click on the tilte above to listen or download.

For demonstration purposes only, not for resale.

The Staircase

Are you ready? Or you may want to cover your eye. He he he....

This was another Soundtrack Project done by my students in July this year.

• Music & Sound Effect: Students from from MacPherson Sec
• Video: Students from St. Anothony's Canossian Sec

Grace "Samba D'Orphee"

This video was recorded on 9th of Dec 2008. She has arranged this beautiful Latin song and intend to use it for her Gr. 6 exam next year. Would you like to give her some more idea? Thanks :-)

• Student Name: Grace Lau
• Title of Sing: Samba D'Orphee
• Level of Difficulty: Own arrangement for Yamaha Gr. 6 exam

Abdul Rahman "Farruca"

This video was recorded on 7th of Dec 2008 at Yamaha PS Branch. My friend 'Rahman' has been teaching at Yamaha since the 70's, other than playing the guitar, he is a guitar maker too. Do you like his performance? Please consider to leave him a comment. Thanks :-)

• Performer: Abdul Rahman
• Title of Song: Farruca

Farruca is a form of Flamanco music, it is commonly played in 4/4 time.

Flamanco: a spanish musical dance with strong & rhythmic movement, it is often accompanied with hand clapping & foot stamping.

Sea View & Nanyang Aquarium "final post"

To increase the Carbonate Hardness, idea for healthy plant growth.

S$4.00

This food by JBL is for my Pleco "L201".

S$6.40

Carbon Dioxide Table, idea for healthy plant grown.

S$2.65 (Do let me know if you can get a better offer)

Another CO2 tablet, better quality then that one above.

S$4.70

Ocean Free Super Zero Colour.

S$4.25 (Do let me know if you can get a better offer)

Okay okay, here's the details:

• Address: 2, Seletar West Farmway 2, Singapore 798098.


• Tel: 64841365


• Operating Hours: 1100-1900 hrs (Weekday) 1000-1900 (Weekend & P holiday)

Sea View & Nanyang Aquarium "Part 2"

A beautiful Gold Arrowana, I estimated this fish is at least 4 years old.

Figure 8 Puffer, very cheap at S$1.80 per fish.

A section of the display area.

Planted Tank, aquatic plant going as low as S$1.00.

To be continued...

Sea View & Nanyang Aquarium "Part 1"

Hi, I am wandering how many of my students & friends love to keep tropical fish as a hobby. As we know that Singapore is one of the larger importer & exporter of ornamental fish in the world, 'Qian Hu', 'Mainland Tropical' and 'Rainbow' are a few big name in this field. But, today I am going to introduce these two less well known player 'Sea View & Nanyang'. Why? Because they offer value for money shopping experience for us the hobbyist.



You will love this information if you travel by bus.








Look out for this block of HDB along Jalan Kayu, you have to alight here.







If you are a driver who travel from Yio Chu Kang, please keep left when you see this 'SINFLORIA' plant nursery.

Turn left to enter this road 'Seletar West Farmway 1'.

A section of Seletar West Farmway 1.

You can not miss this sign board.

Bravo! give yourself a pat on the back. This is where you can get your aquarium accessories at 15% discount, fresh water ornamental fish up to 30% discount.

He he he... To be continued....

Once Upon A Dream

Let's watch this video carefully & learn to give some comments on the following areas: Accuracy, Timing, Phrasing, Expression, Fluency & etc.

Imagine that you're the examiner to grade this candidate who is sitting for the Yamaha Gr.6 exam, will you pass or fail this candidate & why?

Please feel free to share your opinion & idea, we all learn from mistakes.

African Symphony

They are the students of my friend 'Michelle Chow'. Didn't they perform very well? Come to see them play LIVE at Yamaha Plaza Singapura Branch this Sunday on 30/11/2008 at 12pm. Free admission & hope to see many of you.

Wash-demo by dennis ng

Do you like the music & the sound effect? Feel free to give your comment, Please SHOOT as you wish, I'll not get angry. Anyway, this is one of my teaching material, I used it to showcase to students at MOE school.

• Music: Dennis Ng
• Sound Effect: Dennis Ng
• Video: MusicTEC

Grace Lau "Bad Boy"

This video was recorded on 24th of Nov 2008 at Yamaha SK Branch. "Bad Boy" is a Chinese song, sung by "A Mei" from Taiwan. Hope you likes her performance & please consider to leave a positive comment to encourage her. thanks :-)

• Student Name: Grace Lau
• Title of Song: Bad Boy
• Arranger: Ng Tzee Weng (My friend from Thomson Branch). Some parts were rearrange for this performance by Grace herself.

Special thanks must be given to Tzee Weng for this beautiful arrangement.

How to Practice? Tip no. 7

Tip no. 7:
A piece is considered well played when there are no hesitations, no stumbling or slips, good curved fingers and fingering, correct notes, good phrasing and articulation, good expression and feel.

How to Practice? Tip no. 6

Tip no. 6:
Speed is not important initially, go slowly first. Only when all details like note reading, fingering, articulation, expression & etc are well learnt then you can play at a faster pace.

Dunman High "Lively by Google"-01

This was another project done by Dunman's students, Vivian & Belinda from one of the sec.1 classes, very sorry that I really can't recall which particular class they're from. Their project sounded very professional, right?

Dunman High "Lively by Google"-02

This project was done by 2 of the students from Class 1K, Dunman High. How do you like it?

Lively by Google

With the advancement of IT, sound & music for a movie/animation can now be realized in a home PC. I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to conduct this course at Dunman High a few months back, through this course, each student learns how to apply music & sound to a given animated clip, for this project we had used this video from Google.

Please do not adjust your volume control, because this is a silent clip. I'll upload my students completed project on my next post & you will be very surprised to see/hear yourself how music & sound can brighten this silent clip.

My objective of starting this Vblog:

1) To encourage students to practice regularly.
2) To give a platform for students to showcase their work & performance.
3) To give students more exposure, we can learn from each other 24hrs a day, 7 days a week.
4) To update information on various concerts. Electone is a very versatile musical instrument that we have a whole orchestra at our hand. Ideally, Electone player should be a good arranger as well and therefore to attend different genres of concert is important.

I sincerely hope that my Vblog can give you the needed motivation & inspiration to excel. Let us work together to achieve this GOAL. Many thanks...

My Planted Tank

This is my planted tank which I've maintained since Dec 2002.

How To Practice? Tip no.5

Tip no. 5:
Its a good idea to practice one hand at a time at first & begin two hands playing when each hand’s part is fluent.

Wall-e Ringtone

This is another ringtone I've created.

You may click on the tilte above to listen or download.

For demonstration purposes only, not for resale.

My Ringtone "MasterManPlan"

This is one of my ringtone which I've created.
You may click on the tilte above to listen or download.

How To Practice? Tip no.4

Tip no. 4:
Divide the piece into small sections & work on it until you can play fluently.

How To Practice? Tip no.3

Tip no. 3:
Do not practice when tired & upset because you won’t be able to concentrate fully. But beware that this can be a good excuse for not practicing too.

How To Practice? Tip no.2

Golden Tip no.2:
Practice in a pleasant surrounding, like in your own room, away from TV, radio, telephone & family members. Be ALERT & CONCENTRATE.

How To Practice? Tip no.1

Hi, As a teacher for many years, it is very sad to see students drop out due to many reasons & excuses. I tried to analyse and found that students who'd quited generally fail to practise correctly.
Today, I would like to share with you on this topic "How To Practise Effectively?". Do not hope for a miracle, you have to do it consistently for many weeks and months before you can see any result.

Golden Tip no.1:
Have a definite practice schedule every week. Ideally, practice daily if possible. Short and frequent practice is MORE effective then long and infrequent practice. For example, it is better to practise half an hour every day, 7 days a week then to practise many hours on weekend only.