The Daly's Christmas Stars

We Three Kings by Tallula

Deck The Hall by Tallula

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas by Tallula

We Wish You A Merry Christmas by Amelia

The Christmas Stars from The Barsky

Matthew composed his own tune and words. The title of his song is Christmas Time.

The words are:

Everyone it's Christmas time,

Get your presents from the tree.

Lovely song Matthew, well done!

Here's Noah's tune from the composition exercise "Christmas is Coming".

Lovely accompaniment Noah!

Here's Andrew and his Jingle Bell Rock. It's not an easy piece....good effort Andrew!

Christmas Star - Amelia

Here's Amelia's favourtite Christmas song "Away in a Manger". Enjoy the footage and also some of her other songs, "Allegro" and "Hoedown".

Allegro

Hoedown

Noah's improvisation on Jingle Bell

Here's our first Christmas Star. He learnt the Jingle Bell tune and he also added his own variation to it. Well done Noah, I like your improvised version!

Bravo Bea !

Bea started with learning the piano in late September. She 's very diligent and you could see it for yourself how she has advanced within 2 months! Bravo Bea, keep it up!

Andrew, you are a Star this week!

Matthew, you are a STAR!

Matthew, you are great this week! I could hear distinctively the f (loud) and p (soft) parts. Well done!

This is a wonderful clip you shouldn't miss. Matthew tried so hard to control his sneezing till the end of the piece.

The Halloween Star - Daisy!

Daisy loves Halloween...I left my folder in her house and she started learning the songs in the folder. Well done Daisy, though some of them need a little more practice, but I need to put this up before Halloween.

Hope your family would enjoy your spooky tunes!

1. Spooky Spider

2. Daisy's Halloween Composition

3. Hey Mr. Mummy

4. Halloween is Almost Here

Results of the Halloween Contest !

Hi children,

Thankyou for your participation. It is most enjoyable for me to listen to your compositions over and again as I play them for your voters.

I did not cast a vote because I felt that ALL of YOU are WINNERS ! So all of you will get a prize. I will just announce the 3 highest votes:

Andrew comes in first with 24 votes! Congratulations!

Well done Andrew, you did the whole song, both the melody and harmony by yourself without any help from me!

Jesse comes in second with 20 votes! Well done Jesse, your tune was really spooky!

Noah comes in third with 18 votes! Good job!

And thankyou to our best singer, Tallula, the funny "boo" video by Ysobel, our youngest composer Matthew and the two lovely ladies Amelia and Daisy. Hope you'll enjoy your little prize : )

Enjoy the winners' footage:

Andrew's composition

Jesse's Composition - an updated version with power guitar!

Noah's composition

Halloween Composition Contest

We are glad to receive 8 entries for the Halloween Composition Contest.

If you want to view the entries, log on to our composition blog, http://joyannesse.blogspot.com (just click on the link My Composition at the side bar under My Blog List) and listen to all the 8 entries.

The results will be out this coming week...so have in mind who you want to vote for! Remember the theme is Halloween, so look out for the spookiest tune!

I will post the result here for all to enjoy!

Star of the Week - Ysobel !

Ysobel has been working very hard the past 2 weeks. She has 2 lessons a week and has been practising twice a day. I would like to give her this award for her hardwork.

This piece that's she's working on should be perfect in another week, but I can't wait to award her for the work she has put in these 2 weeks. Well done Ysobel, I am proud of you!

Star of the Week goes to Tallula !

Tallula, I can see the amount of practice you put in this Firefly Song! Well done !

Here's Tallula playing the C and G major scales with her lovely red nails!

Family Concert @ Avondale

Thankfully I was able to make it for the Family Concert last night. I'm proud of you girls, Daisy and Ysobel!

Family Concert

These videos are taken a few days before the Family Concert in Avondale. I'm sorry I won't be able to make it this time, so please enjoy the "rehearsals". I'm sure they will do an even better job on the actual day. All the best to you Ysobel and Daisy!

You Are A Star, Noah !

Some of my students are resistant when I ask them to play with accompaniment. But it is very necessary for them to do so. Playing with accompaniment helps to keep the pianist in time, that means he/she cannot slow down or speed up as and when it likes. Music has a pulse, a tempo and it's disruptive when the beat is irregular.

Another good thing about playing with accompaniment is that you need to play not only with your eyes, your hands, you need to play with your ears!

Here's Noah, you are a star Noah for trying and working hard playing with the accompaniment, even when you don't really like it. I am proud of you!

Star of the Week - 14th August 2010

Congratulations to Jadyn, you have made very good progress the past few months. Well done !

In some of the video, you will see her confidently playing with her eyes closed, that comes with lots of practices!

Enjoy this mini recital of Jadyn Yeo.

Recital @ Hacienda (28th May 2010) Part 3

For the finale, we have Natalie bringing us Theme from "UP" and The Heart Asks For Pleasure from "The Piano", followed by a piano duet by Ysobel and Daisy.

Recital @ Hacienda (28th May 2010) Part 2 (Girls)

Congratulations to all the girls as well. Here's part 2 of the recital. Enjoy the footage !

1. Jadyn

2. Tallula

3. Daisy

Sorry Daisy, I stopped the recording to try to catch your flying music sheets that day : P

Guess we just have to enjoy the clips I took during the practice.

4. Amelia

5. Ysobel

Look out for Part three, presenting Natalie Michael and the duet by Ysobel and Daisy.

Recital @ Hacienda (28th May 2010) Part 1 (Boys)

Congratulations to all the performers who shared their music with us on the 28th May 2010. It was a wonderful afternoon and we all enjoyed the music. Thankyou !

For those of you who have missed the concert, enjoy the footage attached.

First, presenting the boys - Andrew, Noah, Matthew & Jesse.

Star of the Week 24 May 2010

Congratulations to Jadyn Yeo for being the Star of the Week !

Jadyn has been practising very consistently and has made good progress. Congratulations too for graduating from Piano Adventure Book A. Well done Jadyn, keep it up !

Star of the Week 14 May 2010

Noah has been working very hard these past few weeks for the Piano Recital (28th May, 2.30 p.m., in case you haven't got it on your dairy).

The first piece, the famous Fur Elise by Beethoven, though a simpler version, has been played so beautifully that mom thought it was Ms Lim playing. The 2nd piece would probably getting your feet rocking, so enjoy the footage!!

The Importance of playing with accompaniment

Playing with accompaniment is important as it helps the student to listen to the accompanists, be it a real person or a CD track. It also keeps the pianist on time and help the pianist to feel the music they are playing.

Listen to the following video, first Jesse plays the theme from Spider Man alone. Notice how he alters his tempo without noticing.

Then look and compare with the 2nd video, doesn't it sound better? Be amazed how 4 hands enriched the music !

STAR of the Week 10 April 2010

Presenting Andrew Barsky, a mini online recital !

Andrew has just completed 10 lessons and with alot of practice, here's his mini recital. Enjoy!

1. Theme from Scooby Doo

2. The Snake Charmer (Andrew's version)

Andrew was imagining the snake rising from the basket when the snake charmer blows his flute. He varied his tempo as he imagined how the snake would swirl and twirl to the charmer's music : )

3. Theme from The Surprise Symphony by Austrain Composer, Franz Joseph Haydn

Boys Love Playing with Rhythm!

Playing with rhythm is a good exercise to train children to play in time. It also adds zest to your music! However, children often struggle at the beginning, especially to keep in time. Sometimes they are slower or sometimes they get ahead. But cool rhythm encourages them to practise hard, as compared to boring metronome. And in the process, they have not only worked their fingers, they have worked their ears!

Enjoy the footage of Noah's When The Saints Go Marching In and Jesse's Old MacDonald Loves To Rock!

Avondale Family Concert, 17 March 2010

I've recorded the girls during the concert for dads and grandparents who missed the performance. Sorry for the shaky hands : P Enjoy !

The Barsky Brothers

This is Andrew, he's also my new student. This was after his 5th lesson with me! Good job Andrew! You just need to work on keeping your beat steady.

This is Matthew, Andrew's youngest brother. He is also one of my youngest student. In Jungle Wedding (the first piece), he's working on keyboard geography, getting familiar with all the keys in the piano. The second piece is one of his favourite, Old Pig Donald Had A Farm!

Ysobel and Amelia

Here's Ysobel, she has been learning to play eighth notes (As demonstrated in Ten Little Indians). Also featured here, one of her favourite number, Boogie Woogie Bedtime.

Here's Amelia, she is working on playing loud and soft in the song I Would Like To Go To Mars. The other song is an introduction to the Jazzy 12 bars blues duet with Ms Lim.

Introducing my New Students

I have two new students this year.

Here's Jadyn, she's my youngest student now, guess how old she is?

She has a good sense of rhythm and well-co-ordinated fingers too !

Here's my other new student Natalie. Actually she is not new! She did her Grade 2 ABRSM exam early last year and took a little break. But she's back again, enthusiastic and fresh! Her mom complains that she practises TOO MUCH!

Here's the theme from "UP" and Supermassive Black Hole from "Twilight".

Welcome 2010 !

Happy New Year !

I had to say goodbye to some of my students who went back to their home country. Jasmine and Mitchell, you will be dearly missed and all the best to your pursuit of excellence and enjoyment in your piano playing !

It is great that this year, I'm teaching most of you at your home. That saves the problem of you forgetting to bring your books or sheet music. It's also great for me to work with you on the instrument that you are working with at home.

To kick start the new year, I would like to present each and everyone of my students.

First, here's Daisy on her "Church Organ" !

And next on the line is Noah, working on his keyboard and learning to add in a rhythm accompaniment. Here's Noah with his Yankee Doodle !