Club Shutterfly Account

Hellos people!

It's me again. I have created a club shutterfly account for us to upload our photos, and yeah download them! We can all use it in future if you've random photos of trainings/people in the club to share hahaha :)

The email used for the acct is hc.guitar.c@gmail.com. Password will be disclosed at a later date, perhaps during chalet or smth.


Tricia

Stuff To Bring For Chalet

Hello people!

As you guys should already know, our chalet's on 5 and 6 January (Monday and Tuesday). Below is the list of food and who's bringing what, just in case you guys forgot what you are supposed to bring!

Food To Bring:
Noodles (Bee Hoon, Spaghetti) - Huanting, Jiayi, Zhiying
Fried Rice - Huanting, Jiayi, Zhiying
Sandwiches - Wei Han
Chips - Tricia
Drinks (Cordial syrup/Packet Drinks) - Huanting, Jiayi, Zhiying, Tricia
Fishballs - Yulei
Cake - Jia Jun
Fruits - Yisan, Tzinwai
Marshmallows - Cheyenne
Ice-cream - Yulin, Yuhan
Cheese Sausages - Nicolette
Cookies - Sheena

Other Logistics:
Disposables (plastic or paper bowls, plates, forks, spoons, serviettes, trash bags) - Lowell

What's Left To Bring (if possible):
Nuggets
Jelly
Volleyball
Speakers + MP3

Please tell me or the rest of the EOY Chalet subcomm(Zhiying/Huanting/Jiayi/Ziyang/Sheena/Melissa) if you've any problems bringing the stuff you're supposed to bring (eg. Lowell, if you need another person to help you bring some of the stuff, tell us).

For those who are going for the chalet and have not been allocated stuff to bring, please take the initiative to bring food that has not already been listed, and notify us (chalet subcomm)! And you're welcome to bring other things you can think of also. That might come to be of use/be fun to play with at the chalet.

Till then! (:

P.S. Please rmb to bring your stuffs kay! And sorry for the late update.

Tricia

Size of each section

In case some of you may be wondering how our conductor wants the players to be distributed, this is how it would be done:

For Salut d'amour, all the parts except for Guitarron must be almost equal in strength because each part takes turns playing the melody. Guitar 1 part can be a bit stronger. It doesn't mean that each group must have equal number of players. A strong player may be better than 3 weak players combined.

For La Chanson, the 1st and 2nd parts should be equal in strength. For the chords, as long as there are 4 or 5 steady chord players it should be enough.

While the number of prime players limit the size of the whole ensemble, it would not be appropriate to omit players who have both attended most practices and practiced the scores conscientiously over the 2-3 weeks of break (refer to Jia Jun's post below for details). Consequently, there would be a standard for audition; instead of limiting to 20 players which was decided previously.

Lastly, in the words of our conductor Ms Wong, "The audition criteria is quite obvious. Must can play the music, can memorize and attend most if not all practices. "

Personally, i do not think its possible to memorize the scores by late January, but dynamics is a must. All the best!


-Jon

Allocated Parts- La Chanson

Guitar 1:
Gloria
Winnie
Zheng Shan
Tricia
Lisa
Yi San
Feng Lin
Kyna
Charlotte
Yu Lin
Kewei
Chan Yi

Guitar 2:
Melissa
Desiree
Cheyenne
Elissa
Jia Yi
Zhi Ying
Su Xiang
Yan Jun
Yu Han
Tzin Wai
Yu Lei
Li Bo
Jeremy
Tuan Anh
Jess
Ziran

Guitar 3:
Jia Jun
Wei Han
Jonathan
Huan Ting
Sheena
Zi Yang

Guitarron/Contrabass:
Lowell
Nikki

Allocated Parts- Salut' d amour

Guitar 1:
Gloria
Winnie
Zheng Shan
Tricia
Lisa
Yi San
Feng Lin
Kyna
Charlotte
Yu Lin
Kewei

Guitar 2:
Chan Yi
Melissa
Desiree
Cheyenne
Elissa
Jia Yi
Zhi Ying
Su Xiang
Yan Jun
Yu Han

Guitar 3:
Jia Jun
Wei Han
Jonathan
Huan Ting
Sheena

Guitar 4:
Zi Yang
Tzin Wai
Yu Lei
Li Bo
Jeremy
Tuan Anh
Jess
Ziran

Guitarron/Contrabass:
Lowell
Nikki

Practice makes perfect: clichéd but true

Hmm... for those that came today, hopefully Ms Wong's sharing of her life story and road to musical success has inspired you guys to work hard. I think the important thing we should all learn from her story (no, it's not that we have to fail our A levels) is that practice is the key to improvement. This may sound duh to you, but it made me recall some articles that I once read, which presented research showing that "outstanding performance is the product of years of deliberate practice and coaching, not of any innate talent or skill".

If you're free, you can check out this article regarding how studies have shown that in various fields (including music, sports, games and other skills), the amount of practice correlates very closely to one's skill level, whereas "innate ability" has little or no bearing upon it at all.

Here is an excerpt from another article on the same subject:

Several researchers have studied populations of high musical achievers (sometimes in comparison with lower achievers), to discover if there are systematic social or individualfactors that high achievers have in common. For instance, in a study of 250 young people learning musical instruments during the 1990s, a research group of which I was part (Sloboda, Davidson, Howe, & Moore, 1996) found striking correlations between achievement level and the amount of daily practice undertaken. By the age of 12, children who would later gain a place at a specialist music school were undertaking, on average, two hours of daily practice. This compared with a norm of 15 to 30 minutes per day for the averagechild learning a musical instrument at this age (that is, a 400-800% difference).

The same study showed that, in general, high achieving musicians started music lessons earlier than the lower achievers. It is hard to find high achievers in classical music who started regular instrumental lessons later than the age of eight. If we know the amount of daily practice done by an individual, and we also know the age at which practice started, we can compute a very useful statistic, which is the total amount of practice accumulated by a particular point in the lifespan. This statistic shows:

- It requires an average of 3,500 hours of practice to achieve Associated Board Grade 8 standard, which is taken as the minimum entry requirement for higher study in classical instrumental music.

- Young adult musicians at the start of their professional performing careers (i.e. after conservatoire level study), tend to have accumulated around 10,000 hours of practice on their chosen instrument (as compared with less than 7,000 by conservatoire graduates ona teaching track).

Given the limitations on how much daily practice is feasible at different ages, it normally takes at least 10 years to acquire the amount of practice needed to perform at a level that would generally be recognised as excellent.

Anyway, what I really want to say is: MAKE SURE YOU PRACTICE THE TWO SYF PIECES AT HOME. A LOT. If you can't get the timing right yet, you should get the notes right first, because sometimes the timing depends on coordination with other parts or is difficult to count due to the use of syncopation in the arrangement.

At the same time, I suggest you download the 2 songs into your MP3s somehow, and listen to them as many times a day as possible without going crazy.

By the time you can easily and confidently play all the notes correctly, you should also have those 2 songs stuck in your head for life, hence allowing you to get the timing of your now-correct notes right. As an added benefit, you will now also know what all the other parts sound like, and will hence be able to tell if you are out of time with the rest, or if somebody plays wrongly.

With this idiot-proof two-step training programme, I'm sure any and all of you can become SYF standard in no time. Oh, and did I mention, you also need to practice at least 2 hours EVERYDAY for this to work. And no, listening to the pieces on your mp3 player does NOT count within these 2 hours.

Good Luck.

Jia Jun

CHALET FINALIZED

HELLO! The chalet is finallyfinallyfinally booked after some problems with the booking. Anyway...here are the details of the guitar chalet:

Venue: Aloha Changi Changi Chalet K
Date: 5 Jan 2009 (overnight to 6 Jan)
Time: 4 pm (for those in chalet subcomm, check-in time is 3 pm, check-out time is latest 10.30 am)

The activities will be sort of a surprise. I hope all of you can go....All are invited, including seniors!

Btw, training resumes on 8 Jan 2009. Yep.

Random Updates

Ok, this post will be composed of like totally random non-musical updates.

First on the agenda would be, of course, the hot topic of SYF attire. Siiigh. There's not much to say...Zheng Shan's gonna be our designer! Yes. The guys' jackets will now be tailored because the designs would be kept for future generations (or supposed to be anyway), hence the prices might be a little higher. Colour combination will be decided after the design for the gowns and jackets are out, k?

As for the girls' gowns, we're looking at a wrap dress design. One of the dresses we're using for reference is the signature wrap dress known as 'butter' by Nadia. It's basically like a skirt with two long wide pieces of cloth attached to, quite obviously, wrap the top. Apparently it can be worn in like 30 different styles and it is also 'one size fits all'. Oh and it is supposed to flatter any figure. To learn more about it, you can visit the official website http://www.butterbynadia.com/ , and I do believe that they have demonstrations for how to wrap it in a few styles.

If there are any queries, comments or suggestions, you can direct it to any exco member or our designer.

Second on the list would be next week's sports session and club lunch. It is our last sports session and last/second club lunch, at least for this year and the holidays. We're still not sure about next year. As a result, we would be doing something a little different from captain's ball. I'm sure everyone's sick of it anyway. Instead, we'll be playing frisbee! Cheers and whatnot. If anyone has a frisbee that we can borrow next friday, sms me (96663823 if you don't know). Wet weather plan...would be table tennis. (I can just hear our pres cheering right now and hoping it rains.) We can take turns playing. Or use many tables. Or learn some cheerleading.

As for the club lunch, there are two options. We can either have it on Thur or Fri. The benefit of having it on Thursday instead of Friday is that we can leave our guitars in the guitar room on Thur. I can't make club lunch mandatory for obvious reasons so I reallyreally hope that everyone can make it for the club lunch. We'll have voting on Monday for the day of the club lunch, and don't forget that training is changed to 1 to 4 on Monday. Also, there will be -cough- special seating plans for club lunch inspired by our dear NY-HC juniors at KAP today...Planned by me. Don't worry, it won't be painful. And I'd like to thank the 11 people who came down for club lunch today, as well as everyone who has participated in the sports sessions and made them a success. Although guitar bonding started late, at least we're getting somewhere, right?

Thirdly, a brief update on the chalet. Actually, no not really. I've been away for awhile so I'm sorry I couldn't get the details out yet and confirm everything. However, it will all be confirmed soon, I hope. I need to meet the chalet subcomm (or whoever can make it) next Monday after practice to discuss activities for Mr. Quek's...approval? Reference? Anyway, he needs to know. So, pass the message on and I'll hopefully see almost everyone next Monday.

Last but not least, with the new year starting and all, the orientation subcomm will have to start getting ready for the J1s. Next year, we're hoping to have an awesome initiation and pull in manymanymany J1s. Weihan's in charge of the orientation subcomm so he will probably start the planning soon...As for the rest of the 2009 J2s that are not in the orientation subcomm, you still have to be involved in orientation in one way or another AND guide/befriend your juniors. We may have some sort of buddy system or angel/mortal next year...And as all of you know, we won't be having a concert next year, hence all those in concert subcomm will have NOTHING TO DO. I suggest that these people can be more active by offering to help out in preparations for chalet, orientation, SYF, etcetc. Most importantly, we've got to make guitar club a more bonded CCA such that people come not only so that they can perform for SYF, but also because they want to. Yes, and I'm sure that everyone who came yesterday (Thur) saw the junior who joined us for practice. He is still considering, but if any other juniors come, do make them feel welcome and not....isolated. If they are seated next to you or around you, make light conversation and stuff. Be a good senior.

Wow that was a loooong post. If you managed to read all the way, congrats. That's all for today, folks.

-Gloria

Sibelius Scores

Hi there,

We gave out a total of 4 scores today, please make sure you have all of them. By late next week, we would know which 2 scores we would be playing. Till then, it would be good to practice Salut d'amour first (both prime and niibori scores).

Also, as there are 15 parts in total for Sibelius, do approach me when i am online to get the softcopy of your part if you need some reference.


-Jon

No training on 4th dec, thursday

Hey!

There'll be no training tmr, 4th dec. Training will be on friday still, 9am to 12 nn with the sports session.

Holiday trainings will be at A block classrooms now unless otherwise stated. Please be punctual! Thanks!

wh

Details for Monday's Training

Hi Guys!

We would start learning a new piece, Black Orpheus on this coming Monday's training (9am to 12nn) :D:D:D. The score is not difficult, but it requires much more practice than Salut d'Amor. Those of you present during earlier practices may have heard Ms Wong run the song once though on her laptop. Audibly, you'll be able to roughly gauge the difficulty level of each part.

While starting on Black Orpheus, Salut d'Amor would also be played during Monday/Tuesday's Training. For those who have yet to practice the second page of Salut d'Amor, do use this weekend to do so.

Please be punctual (if not early) for this coming practice as we'll learn as much of the score as possible in the 1 hour before Ms Wong arrives. As usual, do report at guitar room when you arrive as E block classrooms should be ready by Monday.

Jon :]

SYF attire

I bet you must all be wondering why we took a few ugly shots with no heads and legs and stuff right?

(And who that person is.)

Well...This is the jacket that the guys are tentatively going to get for SYF! There's something wrong with the lighting because the jacket was green...Like dark military green. Not brown.And the shirt's just a normal white shirt which you can ignore for now.

The jacket costs $35.

So, we need the guys to...comment, and tell us if the jackets are ok, etc. As for the girls, we already have something in mind...We'll show you another time ok?

(Btw,that person is Jonathan who should not be reading as I type right now.)

Alright, I'll be back in one and a half weeks' time to ask for comments! Bye!

-Gloria

Updates on Trainings and Attendance

hey ppl!

The new venue for trainings would be at the 3rd level classrooms in the A block, A300, 302, 303. This is because the usual classrooms that we are using (E201, E202) are undergoing repainting. So please take note of the new venues!

Also, as mr quek has mentioned when he was addressing the club on monday, please be informed that your overall attendance for the year has to meet the 85% mark at least, for continued membership. We will be informing the people whose attendance has not made the mark as soon as possible and give further notice, or go through further discussion where necessary.

As all of us know, SYF is coming in a few months' time. Thus, we really hope that all of us can place guitar as top priority now amongst your other commitments (if you do have them), and remember that trainings are compulsory except when you are overseas (school trip or family trip), on attachment, or have other prior compulsory school commitments that take precedence. For voluntary events that work on a sign-up basis, they would, strictly speaking, not be valid reasons for absence from guitar trainings.

I believe many of us are kind of enjoying trainings at least a little more now.. what with the sports thing every Friday and all. So let's keep this enthusiasm going, and we can do it! If we put our minds to it. Let's work towards a common goal!

Cheers,
Tricia :)

Sports for life!

I'm just adding on to Weihan's post below about holiday training. Because...Starting tomorrow, the last hour of Friday holiday trainings will be used for sports. Yes, you heard me right. Sports.

So please remember to bring your PE attire tomorrow and all other Fridays (or at least any shirt and shorts).

Being in guitar, we're stuck in an air-con room for 9 hours a week during holidays, so it'll do us some good to get a little sun. AND it's considered official training time, so Friday attendance has to be accounted for.

In addition, I'll update everyone soon on the chalet plans in Jan, and possibly outing in Dec. See you tomorrow!

-Gloria

Training schedule for the holidays

Hi all,

Here's the training schedule for the holidays. It's a little confusing for mondays because of Ms Wong's schedule but the comm will be reminding you. Much apologies for the confusion this week. So here you go:

Nov Week 3
21/11 (Friday) : 9 am - 12 nn

Nov Week 4
24/11 (Monday) : 1 pm - 4 pm
27/11 (Thursday) : 1 pm - 4 pm
28/11 (Friday) : 9 am - 12 nn

Dec Week 1
1/12 (Monday) : 1 pm - 4 pm
4/12 (Thursday) : 1 pm - 4 pm
5/12 (Friday) : 9 am - 12 nn

Dec Week 2
8/12 (Monday) : Holiday - Hari Raya Haji
11/12 (Thursday) : 9 am - 12 nn
12/12 (Friday) : 9 am - 12 nn

Dec Week 3
15/12 (Monday) : 9 am - 12 nn
18/12 (Thursday) : 1 pm - 4 pm
19/12 (Friday) : 9 am - 12 nn

Please take note of the timings. Thanks!

wh.

Hi ppl! an update in case you didn't come today.

We are now practising a song called La Cumparsita. The allocation of guitar parts are as follows:

Guitar 1s:
Jia Jun, Nicolette, Charlotte, Zheng Shan, Su Xiang, Desiree, Yan Jun, Elissa, Melissa, Jia Yi, Chan Yi, Lisa

Guitar 2s:
Zhao Rui, Libo, Winnie, Huan Ting, Zi Yang, Jess, Zhi Ying, Wei Han, Yu Han, Tricia

Guitar 3s:
Lowell, Tzin Wai, Ziran, Jeremy, Gloria, Melody, Yu Lin, Kyna, Tuan Ahn, Jonathan, Feng Lin

A sample of the song ( the arrangement is different):

not totally just guitar, but with other instruments as well

with tremolo, by RGS i think

Regarding Quien Sera
You guys may have noticed that we have given you another song, Quien Sera. Your guitar parts are the same as La Cumpasita. We will be going through this as soon as we finish up with La Cumpasita(estimate of 1 week). Please try to play this song on your own smoothly before the time comes for us to combine. (P.S. The song sounds like Sway)

Sample of the song played by TPJC

If you do not have either songs due to your commitments/ being overseas, please email/ msn me to get a copy of the songs. Do not expect to come back next year and be able to play the songs perfectly within a short time as we have to prepare alot other songs for both syf and concert. THANKS (:

Nov trainings

Hi all!

November trainings starts next week. 10 Nov. 9am. e201.
Please be punctual and move to e201 after you've collected your guitars from the guitar room.

For the rest of the week, trainings will be on monday, wednesday and fridays. It will be half-days. same time and venue.

Jiayou people! We've got to strive for syf 2009!


wh.

Leave Forms

Hi people,

This is just a reminder. The leave forms sytem will continue to be in place, so please submit your leave forms to me if you'll be absent or late for trainings. You still have to submit your leave forms to me for your attendance to be marked as "absent with valid reason"/"late with valid reason", even after you've already smsed me or told me to inform me that you would not be present.

Sorry if I sound anal and stuff, but I hope you guys understand this is all part of the Standard Operating Procedures and there is definitely a need to maintain it.

Anyhow, thanks for being responsible enough to keep me informed about your attendance via the sms-ing and stuff, but from now on, please remember the leave forms as well, if you havent already been doing so. Thank you! :)

Tricia

Guitar outing!

Hello! It's Gloria here to update everyone on the upcoming guitar outing.

Ok, it's not that soon.

As we announced in the last guitar practice, there will be a chalet on 5 to 7 Jan. 3 Days 2 Nights. It'll be held at Aloha Changi and everyone will be assumed to be going (thus having to chip in cash) unless you tell Tricia beforehand that you're not going for certain reasons. As Zhiying said, it's on an opt-out basis for the J1s.

Just some details, but they're not confirmed yet...The second night will be a barbeque, so you're welcome to bring lots of food but there should be food prepared already by our chalet subcomm. Yup. And all the guitar seniors are invited, no matter how many batches before! It's a good time to get to know your juniors, no?

Also, there is the possibility of another cca outing before the chalet...Haha, I like the Kbox idea Kyna. But isn't it kind of expensive? Anyway, do throw out ideas, opinions and suggestions on cca outings!

Ok, that's all. Everything will be confirmed soon hopefully. Good luck on your promo results everyone! And jiayou to our seniors.

-Gloria

Training schedule for next week

Hi all!

Thanks to all for your efforts in Open House! Though we're still kinda 'unheard' but we've already tried our best so let's give ourselves a pat on our shoulders and continue to work hard.

Some of you may have heard about performing in the high school arts fest, but they've called it off due to poor reception. However, we'll still need to work on our SYF!

So, training will resume next week. To minimise waiting time for guitar practice, we've scheduled the guitar practice earlier in the afternoon so that you guys won't have to stay back too late. The training timings are scheduled as such:

Wednesday: 2.30 pm - 4.30 pm
Thursday: 2.00 pm - 4.00 pm

Well.. we've shifted friday's training to thurs because of Prof Yang's Book Launch and the checking of GP papers that extend till 3.30 late in the afternoon, while we can start at 2pm on thursday.

Jia you for your PWs! Cya

Open House

Hi!

Here are the shifts for OH. Sorry for the late post.

1000 - 1100
Group 6 -
Booth: Desiree, Su Xiang, Yu Han, Yu Lin (performing)
Flyer: Feng Lin, Ziran, Kyna (performing)

1100 - 1200
Group 1 -
Booth: Charlotte, Lowell, Yisan, Tzinwai
Flyer: Melody, Gloria, Nicolette

1200 - 1300
Group 2 -
Booth: Jia Jun, Jonathan, Chan Yi, Sheena
Flyer: Melissa, Jia Yi, Cheyenee

1300 - 1400 --> Group 6 to help while Group 3 is performing
Group 3 -
Booth: Elissa, Yan Jun, Wei Han, Zi Yang
Flyer: Huan Ting, Zhi Ying, Jess

1400 - 1500
Group 4 -
Booth: Desiree, Su Xiang, Libo, Jeremy
Flyer: Yu Lei, Zhao Rui, Kewei

1500 - 1600
Group 5
Booth: Tuan Anh, Zheng Shan, Desiree, Su Xiang
Flyer: Winnie, Tricia, Lisa


Performance
Attire: Guitar Tee and Jeans.
Reporting time: 9 am and 1 pm at guitar room
Seating Plan: TBC (there will be some shifting around)

Please welcome juniors at our booth, and give out flyers. We'll be displaying 2 guitars, and 1 guitar for them to try. Please take care of the guitars. Smile, and leave a good impression on our juniors. Booth duty: I will give you a table to take down the names and contact of those interested. There will also be a laptop showcasing photos/concert. Please do take care of the laptop. There'll also be one amplifier. Please take care of these valuables. Thank you.

Have an early night!

Opening guitar room:)

Hi ppl! I believe that you are aware that we will be having this performance on fri during the open house. As such, I guess many of you will probably like to bring your guitars hm to practise.. :D Therefore, pls be informed that i will be opening the guitar room after school tmr (heh. im not sure wad time.two?three?) So if you will like to collect ur guitar after sku and you r not sure of whether the room is open, you may sms me to doublecheck. If it happens that ur sku will end very late tmr, do lemme noe (sms) if u feel that you need to collect e guitar tmr.. Anw if you wanna collect ur guitar on tues or sth, feel free to sms me too..yuppp. Have fun practising for e open house.. but most imptly, pls rmb to brg hm ur guitars! (:




yisan:)

Open House Rehearsal

Hi!

Open House's on October 10, and everyone will be involved!

There will be 2 rounds of performance in the central plaza, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. We'll be playing Star Wars and 13 days in France, so pick up your guitars now that the dreaded promos are over lol.

We'll be uploading the seating plan soon.

Everyone will also be required to man the booth, which is a class bench in the left wing, near the entrance of the audi. We'll be uploading the shift charts after we get the specific timings of the performances. If you're in a timeslot that you're not available, you can find someone to switch, but please inform us of the changes!

Things to note:
1. There will be a rehearsal, on wednesday after sabbaticals. We'll have to go back to school after our sabbaticals. It's a little rush, but please understand that the council has no other days for the rehearsal. The timing is still not confirmed, but it will be in the late afternoon.
2. We may need to have a practice session on thursday for polishing. This will be confirmed at a later date.

Yup! Congrats promo's over. Check back for updates!

Wei Han

Things to do for Teachers' Day

Hi!

Here are some things to take note for the performance.
1. Exit stage only after curtains close.
2. Exit quickly with your guitar, foot stool and file. Use only one exit.
3. Be quiet when the curtain's close.
4. Smile. :)

We're be updating again to tell everyone whether you are excused from mass dance, and whether you can wear the guitar shirt when you come to school.

Check back again!

Wei Han

Teachers'day rehearsal on WED

Hi all! In case you don't know or forgot, here's a reminder:

training will start at 3pm. Meaning, arrive at the guitar room before 3pm to collect your guitar. We WILL close the room at 3pm. If you are late, you will have to make an extra trip down to the Eblock room to collect the key from us.

We will end the whole thing at 5.30pm because it appears that generally, everyone needs more practice playing as an ensemble.

Another reminder: BRING YOUR CLOTHES!

3 more days to teachers' day performance

Tday Rehearsal + Training Details on Monday

hi all!

hope that by now majority of you have been reminded by the exco people who are 'in charge of' you in the relay system of the rehearsals next week.

on next Monday (25 Aug), there will be training. Training will start at 3pm, followed by the rehearsals which start at 4pm. Venue for trg's the usual e block classrooms.

Please be punctual and see you guys there!

Tricia

Teachers' Day Performance Details

hello people!

sorry there haven't been updates for quite long. anyway, cca has been suspended until after promos (you all should already know).

however, we still have the Teachers' Day Performance coming up on 29 August. 25 August(Mon) and 27 August(Wed) are the rehearsals and we have to be present. The rehearsal on the 27th (wednesday) will probably be a full-dress rehearsal and will go according to the programme on the actual day. The rehearsal on 25th (monday) will just be a session to familiarise your performance on stage. Please mark these dates down in case you forget.

Performance attire is club tee and jeans.

The items we are performing are 13 Days In France and Star Wars.

Jiayou and remember to practise your guitar kay!



Tricia

Once again, a big thanks to all the seniors and juniors who turned up yesterday. I hope that you enjoyed the farewell and don't ever forget HCguitar. As for the food and catering, all credit goes to Mr. Quek for finding the caterer and rather expensive food. But I guess it was all worth it. Good luck for your A levels and everything else in life from here onwards! Haha, hope we'll see you guys soon. (There's still the end-of-year guitar outing/gathering.)

J1s, don't forget to go for practice tomorrow! CCA has not been suspended yet, and it is really important that we learn both songs for the teacher's day performance before CCA's suspended. After CCA's suspended, the people from orientation subcomm has to check this blog regularly because openhouse is only days after the dreaded promos.

Goodbye, and happy mugging!
-Gloria

Subcomms and J2 Farewell

Hello everyone! (This is Gloria.)

The long-awaited J2 farewell ceremony/party will be held next monday, 4 Aug. There are no lessons next monday for the J1s, so it is mandatory to go for the J2 farewell. Although of course you would probably go even if it's not mandatory.

J2 Farewell
Venue: LT4
Date: 4 Aug 2008 (Mon)
Time: 4 pm (to anytime...?)

All J1s and J2s are invited to go. Please pass the message to guitar members that you will probably meet in school.
You don't have to bring anything except yourself. Unless you want to perform something like a farewell song or something.

So that is for the J2 Farewell. After that, the other subcomms probably have to start working. Here are the subcomms and commitee members:

Orientation:
Charlotte
Weihan
Jonathan
Suxiang
Desiree
Elissa
Yanjun
Winnie
Tuan Anh
Jeremy
*Openhouse is on 10th October. That will be the first thing you're planning. =)

EOY retreat/outing/chalet:
Tricia
Kanzy
Sheena
Huanting
Zhiying
Jiayi
Melissa
Ziran
*This will probably be open to all current and past guitar club members...as a gathering of sorts.

Next year's concert:
Cheyenne
Yulin
Yuhan
Fenglin
Yulei
Lisa
Kyna
Chanyi
Mengyuan
Kewei
Zhao Rui
Lowell
Jess
*You guys will be further divided into your duties by whoever's in charge of concert. There will also be J1s joining the preparations for concert next year.

Yup, that should be about it. Did I miss anyone out? I hope not. Have fun in your subcomms, and don't start planning too late! Ahem.

Hey people!
Good effort today even though there are many things that could be improved. Of course, we can do better by the next performance (: which is by the way, teachers' day! Most likely the songs will be the same, but with the power of the whole cca.

Anyway, reminder: this week, there's no guitar training session. ( we are long overdue for a little break) However, lessons resume on next Monday (28/07/08). So remember to bring your guitar then and turn up for lessons.

Rest well (:

Malaguena: a bull and its matador

Geezz..the blog is dead. Its 1am, and i'm almost dead too. HAHA.

Malaguena if played correctly, reflects a bull fight with a matador. The spirit of the fight is played out quite nicely in this video, although if you listen carefully, one of the players pressed the wrong fret. If you can correctly identify the wrong note with the timing of the video, i'll treat you to a drink haha. (YES trust me, there is a note played wrongly, look at your score and follow the notes as they play. hint: accidentals)

If you look closely, you'll notice that there are different sizes of guitars there. The most noticeable is the UBER big guitar, called the Guitarron. The smallest is the alto. I'll share more if we have time. Meanwhile, enjoy the video :D

Sorry, i couldn't embed the video here. THANKS!!

Jonathan

Reminders

hello people, sorry for this late update. hope as many of you see this as possible.

Several things to note:
1) Training starts at 3 tmr.
2) Bring your performance attire tmr for your SLs to check. Performance attire, fyi for those who still don't know, is the same attire for arts fest.
3) Bring your lessons fees (for those who take lessons) tmr and pay Sheena.

that's all, jiayou and see you guys tmr!


Tricia

For tmr (:

Hi everyone!

Here are some announcements that you have to take note for tmr..

1) Training will starts at 3pm tmr and end lastest at 6.30pm.

Latecomers will have to stay back and clear everything. (according to sheena:) hahah. scared nw?) (So dun be late!)

2) Please remember to brg your black file and attire for tues performace. We will be doing spot check.

3) "Full dress" rehearsal aka full run (without changing clothes) will start at 4.30pm.


Yup, that's all. All the best for tues performance! :)





yisan:)

Leave Forms & Training Next Week

Hi all!

TRAININGS NEXT WEEK
Trainings next week are on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. It is not yet confirmed if there will be Saturday training. We will update you guys again.

Monday's training starts at 3.30pm. Lessons will carry on simultaneously. So for those who don't have lessons at 3pm or who take lessons at all, please be punctual and go to second level classrooms in E block as usual.

LEAVE FORMS
Mr Quek has updated all of us on the leave form system and the SOP again yesterday. For those who weren't here and basically for everyone, I would like to reinforce matters regarding the leave form system again:

1) SOP:
-Get forms (2 each time)
-Ask SLs to sign
-Ask Mr Ho/Mr Quek to sign
-Submit one copy to Mr Quek/ Mr Ho and one to me.

2) I realised that I have been receiving many leave forms without Mr Ho/Mr Quek's endorsement. Please not that from now on, all leave forms without proper endorsement by the teachers-in-charge would NOT be accepted.

3) It is also up to you guys to submit your leave forms to me. I would not be going after you for your leave forms or excuse letters because there would be much hassle involved. I would accept them if they are late, but not if they are too late (like 1 month later or beyond). Leave forms submitted later than that time period, I would process them and mark your attendance as valid at my own discretion. However, if you do not submit your leave forms to account for your absence, your attendance would be marked as absent without valid reason.

Thus, it would be best if you can submit your leave forms before your actual leave. For those who've been doing that all this while, thank you very much but for those who haven't hope that you guys can start doing it! That would save quite some trouble on my part.

Jiayou for trainings next week! We only have approximately one week left before our suntec performance!

Tricia

Classes.

Hi everyone!

Reminder: Bring $45 for lesson fees.

Group 1 ( 3 - 4 pm) - Ms Ester Neo
Tzinwai 08S78
Feng Lin 08S75
Yisan 08S78
Yulin 08S63
Yan Jun 08S70
Melody 08A10

Group 2 (4 - 5 pm) - Ms Ester Neo
Jeremy 08S6F
Meng Yuan 08S7B
Su Xiang 08S77
Yu Lei 08S65
Nicolette 08A10
Gloria 08S67

Group 3 (4 - 5 pm) Ms Karen Sin
Lisa 08S7B
Tuan Anh 08S6T
Zhao Rui 08S6H
Libo 08A12
Cheyenne 08S6D
Melissa 08S78

Group 4 (4 – 5 pm) Mr Shi
Jess 08A14
Zi Ran 08A12
Winnie 08S76
Desiree 08S6J
Elissa 08S77

Group 5 (5.10 – 6.10 pm) Ms Karen Sin
Huan Ting 08A14
Yuhan 08S63
Zi Yang 08S6N
Zhi Ying 08A15
Jia Yi 08S6D

Group 6 (5.10 – 6.10 pm) Mr Shi
David 08S72
Lowell 08S74
Kewei 08S77
Tricia 08S71
Zhengshan 08S76

Once again, put in your best effort in lessons! Trainings too. Thanks lots.


Wei Han

Saturday Trainings

hey all,

there won't be saturday trainings until further notice, as with majority's wishes. will update you guys again if there's sat trgs.

sorry for this late update.


Tricia

Sports Elective Programme (SEP)

Hi guys!

By now, most if not all of you should have been contacted by any exco member regarding your choice of sports for the Sports Elective Programme for non-sports CCA groups. In case you're still not sure what this is about, its basically an initiative by the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) which sponsors half of the cost of a sports activitiy (usually an introductory course spanning a few sessions), in an effort to encourage all students to lead an active lifestyle. (I know many of you sedentary beings enjoy exercise about as much as you do studying, haha.) Anyway, the other half is sponsored by HCI, meaning that its FREE for us if more than 80% of you turn up, failing which the penalty for poor attendance is full cost of the activity.

But without further ado, I shall announce the preliminary survey conducted in line with our push for greater democracy and a consultative form of leadership in the club. (Note: votes do not tally since not everybody voted or used up both their votes, but this doesn't really matter since the trend is kind of clear).

Table tennis 6
Volley ball 4
Badminton 10
Inline skating 14
Dancesport 4

As such, we shall be having inline skating for our SEP this year, subject to the approval of the PE department. I will be getting back to the PE teacher in charge of this on Friday, and further details will be made known to you guys in due time.

(=
Jia Jun

Guitar Scores

I am wondering how many people used my exam secrets, maybe quite a number :D

BUT anyways, i'm just here to make a small reminder: Those who have yet to collect the scores for Star Wars and Malaguenas (and the 2 songs for exco), please do so before Friday's training and learn the notes well. Based on the plan,  the subsequent training sessions we are looking at 1-2 sectionals for last minute learning and the rest are all combined practices.

We have decided to keep training to a minimum as much as possible, so on your part please learn the scores well before each combined session.

Jon

*The first round of auditions are over, and we have decided to pass everyone who came down for training sessions during the holidays. There would most likely be no further auditions.

Guitar lessons

Hi peeps!


There will be a guitar lesson on 14th July. The groupings remain the same.

Group 1 ( 3 - 4 pm) - Ms Ester Neo
Tzinwai 08S78
Feng Lin 08S75
Yisan 08S78
Yulin 08S63
Yan Jun 08S70
Melody 08A10

Group 2 (4 - 5 pm) - Ms Ester Neo
Jeremy 08S6F
Meng Yuan 08S7B
Su Xiang 08S77
Yu Lei 08S65
Nicolette 08A10
Gloria 08S67

Group 3 (4 - 5 pm) Ms Karen Sin
Dujing 08S6G
Tuan Anh 08S6T
Zhao Rui 08S6H
Libo 08A12
Cheyenne 08S6D
Melissa 08S78

Group 4 (4 – 5 pm) Mr Shi
Jess 08A14
Zi Ran 08A12
Winnie 08S76
Desiree 08S6J
Elissa 08S77

Group 5 (5.10 – 6.10 pm) Ms Karen Sin
Huan Ting 08A14
Yuhan 08S63
Zi Yang 08S6N
Lisa 08S7B
Zhi Ying 08A15
Jia Yi 08S6D

Group 6 (5.10 – 6.10 pm) Mr Shi
David 08S72
Lowell 08S74
Kewei 08S77
Tricia 08S71
Zhengshan 08S76

14th July will be the 4th lesson for Mr Shi, 3rd lesson for Ms Neo and Ms Sin. Please bring the $45 for payment by this Friday! Thanks.

And rmb to practice! Jia you k? We've got to put up our best performance! And make sure to give your SLs support and cooperation. :)



Wei Han

Training days/dates + Attire for Suntec Perf

hey people!

sorry for this late update. trainings will resume very soon, as sheena has already said in the previous blogpost, training starts again next friday.

the subsequent training days/dates will be as such, unless we update you guys again about any changes. i think it'd be good if you all can mark out the days in your diaries or smth! :)

T3W2 (Term 3 Week 2): Friday, Sat (morn)
T3W3: Wed, Fri, Sat (morn) as Monday is Youth Day holiday
T3W4: Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat (morn) [The week before our actual performance! ._.)

also, dress code for the Suntec Performance will be the same attire as Arts Fest. Remember kay!


Tricia

Hi everyone!

Blocks are finally over! So guitar training will be resuming as of this week (:

Our first training session for this term would be on FRIDAY at 4.30pm . Since there's some activities going on for the Entrepreneurship day thing on Monday and there are sabbaticals on Wednesday.

See you all then (:

Procrastination and more procrastination

So...While all of you are preparing for blocks and probably taking a breather by visitinng this blog, I'm going to try my luck a little.

There's going to be a J2 farewell ceremony in July (J2s please take note too (= ) and I have to form a subcomm to organize the ceremony. But because of the abysmal/dismal attendance during the June holidays practices, I haven't been able to ask the entire J1 batch for volunteers. Ok, I haven't asked anyone at all.

Who wants to join the subcomm! I promise it'll be loads of fun. If you want to join, tell me on msn or sms me (96663823) as soon as possible. If I don't have enough volunteers by the next practice, then I'll probably do a repeat announcement then. But I hope I wouldn't have to do that because we're..er...sort of...running out of time...(It's supposed to be in late July. You get the idea.)

Thank you!
And good luck for blocks everyone!
Andand don't forget to practise your guitar pieces! (Refer to Jonathan's post below. XD )


-Gloria

EXAM SECRETS FOR BLOCK TESTS

These are the best kept secrets to BLOCK tests:

Secret 1: Relax and rejuvenate
The key to relaxing and rejuvenating just before the exams to avoid ERS (exam related stress) is to play Gavotte on the guitar =D. The enriching melody of gavotte would help to alleviate all emotional trauma you have faced from mounds of texts. IF you get bored of playing gavotte, move on to playing Salut de Amor (yea!). I am sure that the slow tempo of the song would be extremely beneficial in decreasing your high metabolic rate after a mugging marathon.

Secret 2: Charge up your spirits
After you are relaxed and before you run your next lap of the mugging marathon, it is important to charge up your spirits. What's better than playing the Theme from Star Wars that contains the grandness of the battlefield yet the burning desire to outlast in the mugging marathon. After playing the Theme from Star Wars, play Malaguena, a flamenco piece known for its liveliness and deep passion in its unmistakable fandango style.

Secret 3: The final secret to topping all the subjects (for exco)
Learn up La Cucuracha and 13 days in France!! Being able to reach this stage means that you have relaxed and rejuvenated, and all fired up. Accompany your last mugging burst with these familiar tunes and feel the chemical equations, newton's laws of motion, kinetochore microtubules, and the PPC graph ease out of your mind. Its a 100% foolproof solution to getting As in blocks!! xDDD.

I am sure those who are reading this post now would benefit from my exam secrets. haha, i am JOKIN'!! its just for laughs :) 

On a more serious "note", do sleep early and drink lots of water. Its the last week of mugging before your blocks, use the time wisely.  See ya guys after blocks (hopefully you would bring a smile along) :)

GOOD LUCK and STUDY HARD!!

Jon =D

Hi ppl! sorry for this ultra-super-duper late post

There has been changes to the malaguena score.

For bar 22,
Guitar 1s: change the entire bar into EF, DE, BD. All notes are in quavers. E- 12th fret, F- 13th fret, D- 10th fret, B- 12th fret on the 2nd string

For bar 23
Guitar 1s: G#, which is to be played on the 9th fret on the second string
Guitar 2s: change the entire bar into EF, DE, BD. All notes are in quavers. The notes are played on the first and second string. E- open 1st string. F- 2nd fret first string. D- 2nd string 3rd fret. B- open 2nd string

This sequence is to be repeated twice, replacing the parts that we cannot play fast enough nor smooth enough.


For bar 29 Adagio,
Guitar 1s: change the first chord to EEEF. ( open 1st string, then the second fret); the second chord is to be changed to FFFC ( first fret of both 1st and 2nd string).

Once again, sorry for this very late post. If anyone don't understand, just call me or something.

Block Tests coming right up.... ZzzZ.

Hi!

We'll all be having our block tests very soon, sad to say, in less than 2 weeks time. (I hate it too... but after that our sufferings will probably be over although there's still promos and a levels...)

To give everyone more time to mug, training this week would be toned down. Wednesday - 9 am to 1 pm (no lunch break), Friday - no training. Make sure to wake up and be on time for wednesday's training! It's the last one for this June holiday.

But don't mug too much, take some time off to relax and practice your guitar pieces. Immediately after blocks, we'll be having intensive training, yup so look out for announcements on this blog.

btw, everyone can post on this blog! Don't make it such an 'announcement board'. Post stuff about trainings or anything else you want your friends in this club to know or just random, but abide by net etiquette. If you don't have permission to write, you can email tricia at tricialeong219@hotmail.com or me at azure.11@hotmail.com and we'll gladly invite you to this blog. And just in case you want to share your personal blogs on this blog you can email us the blog address too. lol.

Jia you ppl for block test and for guitar too! You've worked hard for the past few trainings... our hands are very much aching.... and the star wars, malaguena resounding in our head every now and then... oh well...Good job people! There's still some way to go so let's jia you together.

wh. (= Wei Han... in case anyone don't know)

spring cleaning (:

Hi ppl! (:

This email is with regards to the guitar room spring cleaning that will take place on this coming tues, 10 june 2008.(:

kays, the details are as follow:

Time: 9am-super late
Venue: outside guitar room
Stuff to bring for urself: gloves, masks, rag, raincoat (suggested by seniors, bring one for urself if u want..lol.), a tee/shorts to change in case u walked out a layer or two (of dust) thicker. (:
Other things that anyone can brg if u have it at hm: small pail, black plastic bag (for dumping of some antiques), cleaning solution, newspapers, charcoal (heard to be effective for removing e smell in e room), lemon ( another possible way),etc.

FOR THOSE WHO MUST COME: pls try to be punctual kay coz we will be having a long day ahead n we wanna haf a gd start rite? (:

FOR EVERYONE: big news ppl, coz this year spring cleaning shall be pretty diff as we shall be opening up spring cleaning to everyone frm guitar. (:(:(: *cheers* Therefore, anyone interested and is free on that day, feel free to join us for the spring cleaning. It will be a memorable and eye-opening experience for many of us i believe.. (:

Last 2 June holiday trainings

DEAR GUITARISTS,

We have come down to our last 2 training sessions for the June holiday period. Following the 1 and a quarter week break for block test preparation, the blocks itself and the sabbatical week, we would be down to 2 weeks left before the performance itself. These 2 weeks of trainings would be spent adding in the dynamics for both Star Wars and Malaguena during combined sessions and a full-dress rehearsal before the actual performance on the 22nd July.

As you know, the exco would be playing 2 more pieces "La Cucaracha" and "13 days in France". These 2 pieces are still open for any member to join in and play; the notes are simple and the melody is nice. So do volunteer yourself if you think you can manage playing 4-5 songs in the performance. (You may also choose to join in one of the songs instead of 2)

For the last 2 training sessions of the holiday, we would be doing:

1. Sectionals for Malaguena (esp guitar 1 and 2 who have yet to finish the song)
2. Combined for Star Wars and Mu Chang (emphasis would be on getting the accurate timing)
3. Combined for Malaguena (a number of tempo changes in the song that you may take some time to get used to; the fastest part of the song is 160 beats per min, the fastest for Star Wars was 120 beats per min)
4. Exco would be combining their 2 pieces too (practice 13 days in France if you cannot learn both by Monday)

Lots of stuff to complete!! jiayou!! Use a METRONOME (click on this link) to check your timing =)

Jon

Regarding Leave Forms

hi all!

just thought of emphasizing on this point again because many of you haven't been following it.

1) PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR LEAVE FORMS TO ME BEFORE YOUR ACTUAL APPLIED LEAVE ITSELF.
2) Get your forms properly endorsed by your respective SLs, and Mr Matthew Quek or Mr Chris Ho before submitting them to me.


(edited:)

Point 1) is very important. Otherwise your leave forms will not be deemed valid and your attendance will be marked as absent without valid reason, WITH EFFECT FROM TODAY ONWARDS. ie. for subsequent leave that you want to apply for, you've to submit the leave forms beforehand, properly endorsed, to me.

FOR THOSE WHO STILL OWE ME LEAVE FORMS FOR YOUR ABSENCE FOR SOME TRAININGS, PLEASE GIVE THEM TO ME BY END OF THIS WEEK. ie BY FRIDAY. unless you'll still be overseas or smth, or cos of some valid reason.

OTHERWISE YOU"LL BE MARKED AS ABSENT WITHOUT VALID REASON ON THOSE DAYS.

This is to avoid confusion on my part. It is very confusing to receive and process so many leave forms at once, some before some after, some due long ago. Thanks.


Tricia

Audition Groupings

HAHA...auditions are here. *yay*

As previously mentioned, auditions would not decide whether you would pass or fail, rather its for the SLs to give you comments on which area of your playing to improve on (technical, rhythm, dynamics or sight-reading).

This round of auditions are for both "Mu Chang" and "Star Wars". If you get through this round, you would NOT need to audition again in early July and you'll be playing Mu Chang and Star Wars in the Suntec performance. For those who are overseas and are unable to make it for trainings, you would still be required to pass auditions before joining the rest for the Suntec performance.

Group 1

- Wee Jia Yi  [1]

- Charlotte Lee  [1]

- Lim Yi San  [2]

- Desiree Cheng  [3]

- Elissa Choo  [3]

Group 2

- Gloria Wong  [1]

- Chua Zhi Ying  [2]

- Quah Su Xiang  [2]

- Tan Wei Han  [3]

- Chen Libo  [3]

Group 3

- Tricia Leong  [1]

- Huan Ting  [1]

- Chen Yanjun  [2]

- Jeremy Mak  [2]

- Winnie Foo  [3]

- Nicolette Wong  [3]

Group 4

- Tan Yu Lei  [1]

- Fang Yulin  [2]

- Melissa Yong  [2]

- Phoon Tzin Wai  [3]

- Lowell Lim  [3]

Group 5

- Chong Zheng Shan  [1]

- Cheyenne Lee  [2]

- Sun Meng Yuan  [2]

- Huan Ting [3]

- Charlotte Lee [3]

There are 2 guitar 3s in each group so that both players can hear each other's rhythm when doing triplets for the tambour. There is also at least 1 strong player in each group, they would be able to ensure the rhythm is accurate. IF you do not have a 'rhythm' player for Mu Chang, the SLs would substitute in during the audition.

During the auditions, there would be around 3 SLs present instead of all 6 SLs. After your auditions, would would be given the next piece Malaguena for you to learn. Time would be given for audition groups to practice amongst themselves, auditions would start after lunch. (those who are unable to come on Monday, your auditions would be on Wednesday or Friday)

The following people who have been missing from the past few trainings would be auditioned in July and that audition would decide whether you would be playing Star Wars and Mu Chang for the Suntec performance, there would be no further auditions after that due to time constraints vis a vis Suntec performance.

- Du Jing  [Guitar 1, Group 6]

- Zhao Rui  [Guitar 1, Group 6]

- Ong Yu Han  [Guitar 1, Group 6]

- Yu Kewei  [Guitar 1, Group 7]

- Lisa Chew  [Guitar 1, Group 7]

- Jess Song  [Guitar 2, Group 7]

- Wei Ziran  [Guitar 2, Group 6]

- Chan Yi  [Guitar 3, Group 7]

- Tuan Anh  [Guitar 3, Group 6]

For the above people, you would be grouped together (as shown above), but assessment is more individual.

Hi everyone! THIS IS A REMINDER!

FRIDAY TRAINING ON 30 MAY 2008 IS STARTING AT 8AM!
any latecomers will have to compensate the lost time by staying back even later!


We didn't do too badly on Wednesday training, but there is loads of room for improvement! So everyone 加油!
We have only 2 more training sessions before auditions and to learn another new song!

By the end of this week:
Aim- Finish the whole song and combine!
( The playing must have already stabilised, with less of the buzzing sound and less hesitation about the timing)

Homework by Friday:
Guitar 1s: Start from Section D! Be more confident of yourselves and try to play louder! Timing is not as bad as it may seem to be. Just try your best!
Guitar 2s: Start from Section E! Timing have to be more precise! As long as you get pass Section E, things will get simpler, so fret not!
Guitar 3s: Start from Section E onwards as well ( especially bar 46, have to be loud at that part ><). We need to have your chord changes and the playing transitions a little smoother!

Everyone 加油! We can make this happen!

For those who didn't come:

1. ( This is especially for those overseas) If you don't have the music score for Starwars, please contact me ( sheena) via email or msn to get the soft copy! We don't have enough time to start learning the 2 songs when school reopens and make it in time for the performance.

2. PLEASE give a sign as to whether you will come for training or not. Even if you didn't hand in the leave forms, at least inform someone so that there won't be so much confusion. AND if you are going to be late, please inform us as well.

Guitar training schedule

HEY GUYS!!

I have done up the timetable for the June Holiday training, it has been sent to your emails. Please tell me directly if you do not have a copy or get it from your friends. Page 3 is the audition rubrics which we would be using, so you can use that as a guideline while practicing for both songs.

Cheers, 

Jonathan

Btw, i found a website on sight-reading, yay. Do use some free time to read the website, it'll help alot (http://www.mangore.com/music_notation.html)

Guitar 1:  This is exactly the same as what i covered on friday's training, so you can just read through.

New Song!! ...and training matters

HELLO EVERYONE!! JONATHAN HERE :)

Training during the holidays

There would be no lessons (refering to lessons by external vendors) on Mondays (since it is troublesome to come back for 1 hour of lessons) ^^. As decided by today's voting, holiday training is now fixed on 2 days.

Wednesday: 9am to 5pm

Friday: 8am to 12nn

However, there is a possibility for training to increase/decrease based on the standard of the ensem as a whole. Should more sectionals/combined sessions be needed, Monday would have priority over Saturday.  Lunch on Wednesdays would be at 12.30pm so you probably won't be hungry before that (:

NEW SONG (A Theme from Star Wars)

The theme from Star Wars isnt the cliched Indiana Jones imperial march theme, and its not from the song "chariots of fire", its a different theme that you should recognise (haha). Anyways, we have allocated the guitar parts to your names based on the variety of techniques in each guitar part (this is so that you guys would become adept at a set of techniques). *Drumroll*...

Guitar 1, led by Huan Ting and Charlotte

- Du Jing

- Wee Jia Yi

- Gloria Wong

- Kyna  Ng

- Tricia Leong

- Tan Yu Lei

- Zhao Rui

- Ong Yu Han

- Yu Kewei

- Lisa Chew

Total: 10

Guitar 2, led by Kan Zi Yang

- Chen Yanjun

- Cheyenne Lee

- Chong Zheng Shan

- Chua Zhi Ying

- Fang Yulin

- Feng Lin

- Jeremy Mak

- Jess Song

- Lim Yi San

- Melissa Yong

- Quah Su Xiang

- Sun Meng Yuan

- Wei Ziran

Total: 13

Guitar 3, led by Sheena

- Huan Ting

- Chan Yi

- Charlotte Lee

- Chen Libo

- Desiree Cheng

- Elissa Choo

- Nicolette Wong

- Tan Wei Han

- Duong Tuan Anh

- Winnie Foo

- Phoon Tzin Wai

- Lowell Lim

Total: 12

Guitar 4, led by Jonathan and Jia Jun

- Kan Zi Yang

- Melody Ho

Sheena would be conducting for the 2 combined pieces (means she won't be playing). Each section has its own easy parts and difficulty, the people were allocated based on what technique is most appropriate from them to learn of now. Guitar 4s would not have any sectionals as 1 to 1 training is necessary to ease into the basic flamenco techniques as demanded by the guitar 4 score. Hence, Jia Jun and i would move around during sectionals to provide assistance if required.

For the next piece, Malaguenas, the a few have been selected to take up guitar 3 parts which are technically more demanding albeit SLIGHTLY. Guidance would be provided for these players. The lucky/privileged few are: 

Guitar 3, led by Jia Jun and Jonathan

- Chan Yi

- Chen Libo

- Lowell Lim

- Nicolette Wong

- Winnie Foo

- Phoon Tzin Wai

This year, the exco has come upon a decision to get each member to be able to sightread basic scores *smile*. SO THERE WOULD BE NO MORE INCREDIBLE NUMBERS, AND SIGHT-READING WOULD BE PRACTICED. It may seem difficult initially, but after you get a hang of it, its rather easy. So......there would be sight reading incorporated into your auditions (which should be in week 2 of hols), a very very very basic test. More would be elaborated on Friday (23rd May)'s training.

Lastly, we would need groups 1-2 to put up performances for the Suntec performance (roughly 5 mins), if you are up to the task, please volunteer!! (yay)

Wow, what a long post! Cya guys on Friday ((:

Jon :D

Change in timings

There's an error. Tech run tmr is from 3 to 6 pm. Much apologies!

(I don't think many very see this post lol.)

Hi all! Sorry for this super late post. But here is the seating arrangements for Arts' Fest!

Basically, i would also like to apologise for the screwed-up conducting today. I will improve! so ya! let's all jia you in making our performance successful (:

Message relay system

there have been some changes made to the relay system cos of unequal distribution. will find a way to pass the latest copy to you guys very soon.



tricia

relay system

hey all!

Some important announcements.

1) Message Relay System

We have come up with a message relay system to facilitate better communication in times of emergency. Please take a look at the table/diagram below.

(edited cos i missed out nicolette :XX)

Just in case you guys are still unclear about the diagram, it goes like this. Example: Jia Jun passes the message to Wei Han; Wei Han to Huanting, Charlotte, Gloria, Yisan; Huanting to Chanyi and Libo; Chanyi to Du Jing. Hope it's clear enough.

We (Exco members) will be calling you people up to update you about the attire so as to get the message across asap. So for this time the relay system won't be used yet. Ie. Wei Han calls up Huanting, Charlotte, Gloria, Yisan; Huanting calls Chanyi, Libo, Du Jing and Tuan Anh.

If you have any doubts about how this system works, please feel free to clarify with me.

*If you can't see it, check the guitar gmail.

2) Schedule on Tuesday and Wednesday
Tuesday's full dress rehearsal is supposed to start at 3 and end at 6 or later. Should your lessons end later than 3, please come asap after your lessons. You will not be allowed to leave early from your lessons.

Wednesday's the actual Arts Fest. Tech run will be from 4-6pm (or so), actual performance will be 7-9pm.

3) Attire for Arts Fest
Girls: Black pants/jeans + White long-sleeved clean cut (ie. no frills) shirt + Black court shoes.
Guys: Black pants + Black shirt + Black shoes (same attire as Gavotte for Esperanza)

Sorry for the last-minute information, I think we only knew about the instructions quite late as well. Hope you guys understand! :)

If you don't know where to get what you're supposed to get (esp for girls), please ask around k. And borrow from your friends or something. We'll need to bring the attire for Tuesday's full dress rehearsal.

Tricia

Exco 2008/2009

Guitar Exco 2008/2009

President: Toh Jia Jun
Vice-President: Tan Wei Han
Secretary: Tricia Leong
Treasurer: Nicolette Wong
Quarter-Mistress: Lim Yisan
Welfare Representative: Gloria Wong
Student Conductor: Sheena Ang
Section Leaders:
Kan Zi Yang
Ang Huan Ting
Jonathan Heng
Charlotte Lee
Sheena Ang
Toh Jia Jun

Friday

Hi J1s,

CCA will start at 4.15pm tmr (earlier!). So please try to hurry to the venue asap after CT =)

Thanks!

Exco 2008/2009 elections

Hi,

The results of exco elections will be released on Friday.

Training on Friday will go on as usual and results will be released after that.

Thanks

Voting

Voting will START AT 4.30PM @ LT4 tmr.

Please do NOT be late.

Esp. those running, please be in LT4 by 4.30pm! or earlier XD

Thank you.

(and please note of chensin's post below) :D

Exco Form

Attention all Apollo J1s,

Due to the clash of Wednesday's training with Apollo's faculty outing, the deadline for submission of Exco Application Form for Apollo J1s will be extended to this Friday 8am.

If you still have not submitted your form, the last chance for you to do so will be to meet me under the bridge on FRIDAY 9th May, AFTER ASSEMBLY. Or you can pass to any exco members anytime before the deadline.

Thank you.

Voting for new exco

Hi J2s,

Voting for new J1 Exco is on:
This friday (9th May)
4.30pm
LT4

Attendance is mandatory and will be taken.

Thanks!

Also, reminder to all J1s who are running, deadline for submission of application form is Wednesday (7th May). Each is only allowed 2 mins for the presentation on Friday.

For people running for SC/SLs, you may want to start preparing your guitar piece as it is required for the interview round on 10th May (if you get through voting round).

Handover: 14th May (Wednesday).

Exco 08/09 - Job scopes

Exco 08/09 - Job scopes (Click for file)

Exco Application Form

Hello, you can download the exco application form here if you didn't manage to get it on Friday. The deadline for handing in the form is 7th May, jiayou! :)

Guitar Lesson Groupings (new)

Hi all, lessons will resume on monday, 5th May. Those under yc, you'll have a new teacher, her name is Ms Karen Sin. This means you'll all be split into different groups >< However, she only teaches 4-6pm, so those who have lessons 3-4pm, you'll be shifted to another time slot!

Group 1 ( 3 - 4 pm) - Ms Ester Neo
Tzinwai 08S78
Feng Lin 08S75
Yisan 08S78
Yulin 08S63
Yan Jun 08S70
Melody 08A10

Group 2 (4 - 5 pm) - Ms Ester Neo
Jeremy 08S6F
Meng Yuan 08S7B
Su Xiang 08S77
Yu Lei 08S65
Nicolette 08A10
Gloria 08S67

Group 3 (4 - 5 pm) Ms Karen Sin
Dujing 08S6G
Tuan Anh 08S6T
Zhao Rui 08S6H
Libo 08A12
Cheyenne 08S6D
Melissa 08S78

Group 4 ( 4 – 5 pm) Mr Shi
Jess 08A14
Si Hao 08S6F
Zi Ran 08A12
Winnie 08S76
Desiree 08S6J
Elissa 08S77

Group 5 ( 5.10 – 6.10 pm) Ms Karen Sin
Huan Ting 08A14
Yuhan 08S63
Zi Yang 08S6N
Lisa 08S7B
Zhi Ying 08A15
Jia Yi 08S6D

Group 6 ( 5.10 – 6.10 pm) Mr Shi
David 08S72
Lowell 08S74
Kewei 08S77
Tricia 08S71
Zhengshan 08S76

random ramblings

HI EVERYONE (: LOL. okay sorry. zi highing. anyway. this post is meant to be coming from a friend not a senior (aka. its purely personal)


first. sorry for mia-ing. haven't really been feeling well. so ya will take some time to recover but will try not to disappear too long from you guy's training. hui xiang nian ni men de! (omg this sounds so wrong)


second. thanks for posting on the blog! you dno how excited chensin and i were cos j1s were finally posting! haha. now we know wht u guys were doing backstage while we were on top -.-




OOO! i haven't really like said thank you to you all so ya. thanks. really. the concert will always be a wonderful memory, even more so with each and everyone of you in it. it all makes a difference. Thanks (:



ok anyway anyway, some of you have been asking me whether you all should run for exco and all. I don't have a definite one-size-fit-all answer. The very fact that you're in doubt shows that this decision really matters a lot for you, and thats good. Perhaps just recall times spent preparing for the concert. Savour the times spent with your fellow J1s, all the crazy training sessions and late night practices. If all these are important and close to you, then yes, do run for exco. Of course it isn't that simple. With the exco comes commitment and responsibility. To the ensemble, to yourself, to your peers, seniors and juniors etc. And the road ahead will certainly not be simple. Certain tough decisions have to be made sometimes, and at other times the pressure just seems so unbearable that you wanna give up. And the only that that will continue to drive you then will be the very same thing that i'm asking of you now - passion for the ensemble, passion for the instrument. With that, you should be able to make it through in 1 piece (:



I hope that'll like help to clear up some of your doubts. If you're hesitant to run due to politics, all i can say is that it will always happen. Politics are part and parcel of life. Just because they happen doesn't mean that we shy off from opportunities in life. This is one. Grab it.



Of course so far i haven't seen any ugly politics and thats really awesome. I hope that things can remain this way and everyone will remain friends no matter wht happens (: after all, in hwachong, we're the one and only guitar ensemble. how true! (:



duh -.-



LOL. okay i shall stop being spas. k i've got some serious headache so shall not crap anymore. hmm. last of all, i know some of you are afraid of running for the SL/SC post due the the musicality part imposed. All i can say is that do your part well, practise hard and you should be fine. In fact its not only the SL/SCs that needs the musicality part. While it isn't really stated in black and white that the other exco members need to at least meet the bare minimum for their guitar skills, imagine how fang xin i would to leave the ensemble in someone who doesn't even take time to practise well. Part of your responsibility in the exco means that you have to diligently practise (not that you don't if you're not) and lead by example. So if you're alr doing that have no worries and just run laaa (:



Advice for those running for SC/SL, start brushing up your guitar skills. the test WON'T BE hard. it will just test your fundamentals. minor things like rhythm, key signature, accidentals, fretboard etc all becomes uber major when you're in a position to teach and help others. yupp. hmm. read etudes and all. Carcassi, Sor, tarrega and giuliani are all good composers to go to. I prefer Sor and Tarrega personally. so yupp. jiayou ba and it shdn't be a prob (:




Shall end this super long post here. and go sleeeeeep. NIGHTS! ^^

Hi ppl!

Anyone interested in going for guitar outing? Most likely held on the last week of school, before june holidays. Can be taken as a celebratory outing for the coming june hols, or simply having fun together (:

It is to be the first guitar outing for us as a CCA! So exciting right? But we have no idea where to go or how many people would be interested (though I believe many would like the idea of going out together and having fun (: ) So people, let's hear your response tomorrow!

Tentative places so far:
-Sentosa
-Pulau Ubin
-School ( stargazing at night? hmm...)
-East Coast Park
-Movie? ( though it would be superbly uninteractive)
-Pool
-BBQ

Singapore is sadly quite a small place...so we ran out of ideas. But anyway, just give out your comments (:

-Sheena, Jonathan

HEY EVERYONE! bet you all are suffering from err practice hangover after esperanza. GREAT JOB! think our concert was a success. it's quite ironic isn't it.. so many hours of practise for so few minutes of performance on stage. only the peformers know the hard work spent to perfect what goes on in front of the audience.

Special shotuouts to our MIs - YongChuan, Eileen and Zhuge ( whoo man he can sway like sh!t) for all the guidance towards J1s. even though we didn't really get to see j2s perform, i bet it was great too!

since a picture says a 1000 words, here are some pix! y'all post some up too ok, cos i only got some shots of the j1 girls.




Rest well, everyone!
-Kyna

Concert

Hey guys, concert's approximately 21.5 hours away from now. Just a few reminders:

Things to BRING

• Black file with scores
• Tuner
• Money for food
• Make-up: foundation, light blusher (unless you rather be a ghost on stage)
• Club shirt
• Jeans
• Black leather shoes/court shoes
  
• Shoes to go with with jeans
  

J1 Girls

• Black dress

J1 Guys

• Shirt
• Black pants

J2s

• White long sleeve shirt (fold up sleeves)
• Black long sleeve shirt
• Black pants
• Silver
  
  
  Remember to iron your clothes! (thanks chanyi for helping compile this list).

Research Symposium

J1s, those involved in the research symposium this Saturday are NOT excused from it.

However, you can ask your classmate to take your place so that you can attend training instead.

Excuse from cheering

Dear J1s,
Sorry but you HAVE to attend the cheering session tomorrow (Wednesday). Therefore, please come back for guitar practice as soon as possible after your cheering session.

Also, cheer hard for the table tennis team! GO HWACHONG!!!

FULL DRESS REHEARSAL TMR

HI ALL! WE'LL BE HAVING A VERY VERY VERY VERY IMPT Full Dress Rehearsal tmr: 22nd April 2008 @ Audi. 2pm-7pm.

Please remember to bring all the outfit that you will be wearing, INCLUDING THOSE EXTRA ONES FOR PPLE W

**Note: All J2s who are down for econs remedial tmr are excused**

------------------------------------------------------
J2s - these are your outfits for the concert

Guys / Girls
[Outfit 1] - Samba, Morenita
White Long Sleeve Shirt (Sleeve folded)
Black Pants
Black Leather Shoes(Guys) / Court Shoes (Girls)

[Outfit 2] - Spring Message, Shan Liang
Black Long Sleeve Shirt (Sleeve not folded)
Black Pants
Silver Tie (we will provide)
Black Leather Shoes(Guys) / Court Shoes (Girls)

[Outfit 3] - Club Song, Concert Song, Lambada
Club T-shirt
Jeans
Shoes

J1s - these are your outfits for the concert

Guys
[Outfit 1] - Gavotte, Salut D'amour
Black Long Sleeve Shirt (With Designs on it)
Black Pants
Black Leather Shoes(Guys)

Girls
[Outfit 1] - Gavotte, Salut D'amour
Dress (We're buying it for you)
Court Shoes (Girls)

Guys/Girls
[Outfit 2] - Mass Singing, Club Song, Concert Song
Club T-shirt
Jeans
Shoes

CYA ALL! :D