School Policy

School Policy

1   Upon enrolment, a student is given a permanent lesson slot in the school timetable for the entire Academic Year. The Academic Year consists of 48 lessons (4 lessons per month). Fees paid are non-refundable and non-transferable.

2   Students must arrive at each lesson punctually, well-prepared and with their assignment books and music. To make good progress, daily quality practice is necessary. Please always refer to the student’s Music Diary for lesson notes and assignments.

3       Students who intend to take leave/ holiday must give a written notice or fill up the NeoClassic Leave Form at least two (2) weeks before their leave date in order to have their replacement lessons properly scheduled and to avoid the lessons being forfeited. Teachers may utilise 5-week months for replacement lessons.

4   Please refer to the NeoClassic Music School Academic Calendar (available at the Reception Counter) for public holidays observed by the school. Please take note that we are open on certain public holidays. A lesson falling on a Public Holiday observed by NeoClassic Music School will be replaced. Absence due to illness will be replaced provided a medical certificate is presented. 

5   Fees must be paid on or before the 14^thday of each month. Late payments and returned cheques are subject to BND25.00 additional charge per month/ per cheque.

6   The school reserves the right to terminate a student’s lessons if the tuition fees have not been paid.

For more information, please contact us or send us an e-mail at neoclassicmusic@gmail.com.

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TOP 3 EAR TRAINING / SIGHT-READING APPS! Tried, Tested & Highly Recommended!

"Music is an audiovisual art. One can only truly enjoy deeper meanings behind the music if your eyes and ears have been properly trained to recognize the many various elements of its rich tapestry." - Sharon O. Jusay

Here is our list of the Top 3 Most Useful FREE Apps (tried & tested) to improve your listening and sight-reading skills!

Simply click on the activated links for each app below, install and you're ready to start honing your listening skills! Enjoy! :)

Do you know of other great music apps? Feel free to suggest and leave comments. We'd love to hear from you! 

1. myEar

myEar

Improve your aural skills and be more confident in improvising.

Learn to identify intervals, chords, scales, random melodies and chord progressions.
Create custom exercises (one for each training type in Free version). Challenge yourself with our exercises of the day.

Input answers using buttons or piano keyboard. So you can train your ear and piano keyboard orientation at the same time.

Use the statistics reports to see your strengths and weaknesses.

Ear trainer for musicians who want to improve their relative pitch recognition abilities and get one step further towards perfect pitch.

2. Note Trainer Lite

** FREE lite version of Note Trainer - make learning music notes fun! ***

Move away from rote memorization techniques and learn how to read music notes in a natural and engaging way. Note trainer lite is a fun sight-reading game that teaches you to recognize music notes. The game increases in speed and difficulty over time so that you can truly learn to sight-read music notes effortlessly.

Note Trainer Lite

Note trainer replaces traditional flash cards and was developed in collaboration with a distinguished award-winning member of the North American Music Teachers Association and in consultation with a touring member of the Canadian National Youth Orchestra and soloist for the Hamilton Symphony.

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What's in Note Trainer Lite?
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* Great for those just learning to read music as well as those challenging themselves to increase the speed at which they can read music notes
* Practice mode (option to turn on or off note labels and labels on piano as you learn to read notes)
* Game mode to challenge your skills at an increasing difficulty level
* Treble clef and Bass clef modes (upgrade for sharps & flats)
* Track your scores and see when you’ve exceeded your personal best
* Achievements and badges to measure progress
* Full statistics to show where you are making mistakes and note reading accuracy

3. Pitch Improver Lite

Pitch Improver Lite

Pitch improver is a set of exercises that will help you learn to play by ear.

The ear training excercises are the same as at http://pitchimprover.com optimized for Android devices.
In every excercise you will start with the easiest tasks which will get more complex as your ear improves.
Pitchimprover is designed to work on your weak sides. If you mix up two chords or intervals, the program will drill you with these particular types.

Ear training excercises:
-Repeating melodies (20 levels)
-Intervals recognition (11 levels)
-Perfect pitch (11 levels)
-Chord types (12 levels)
-Chord progressions (16 levels)

The keyboard is optimized for mobile layout, you won't miss the black keys even with small screen and big fingers.

We will update this list when we find some more great apps! 

- NeoClassic Music School Team

ABRSM Grade 4 Piano Exam Tips for "The Sun Is Setting" by William Alwyn

Hello! Here are our tips to play the ABRSM Grade 4 Piano Exam piece "The Sun Is Setting (by William Alwyn)" well.

Enjoy and feel free to add your own tips! :)

Bars 1 - 8         : Keep LH subdued while maintaining p

Bars 9 - 17       : Take note of the piu espressivo marking. Gradually increase over-all dynamics but keep the LH subdued.  Also, observe the dolcissimo (very sweetly). RH melody must be expressive. Visualise "sunset" and use your inner hearing to imagine how sunset would "sound" like (not easy but worth trying to get your Distinction!) Observe cresc and decresc markings.

Bars 18 - 25     : Back to p but with poco a poco cresc (little by little increase of sound). Always keep the LH subdued while increasing and decreasing dynamics.

Bars 26 - 30     : Release pedal at Bar 26. You may use it sparingly thereafter.

Bar 31 - 32      : Play these 2 bars with different dynamics preferably pp at Bar 32.

Bars 33 - 37     : Bring out the LH melody at Bar 33 and then both hands with more similar dynamics at Bars 34 -35. Make sure you play Bar 37 softer than Bar 36. And also remember to apply rallentando starting as early as the last beat of Bar 35.

Bars 38 - 45      : Tempo should be back at original speed from Bar 38. This time, keep the RH subdued  ( pp ) making sure the LH melody is brought out to life in a "singing manner" (cantabile).

Bars 46 - 59      : The melody is now back on the RH. Apply cresc and decresc throughout. Observe the mf at Bar 55 with a beautiful decresc starting at the last beat of Bar 57. Rallentando may start at Bar 58 for a more beautiful effect.

Bars 60 - 62       : Take your time starting at Bar 60. Make sure all notes sound together. Insert a break before Bar 62 which must be played very, very softly.

Here's a video applying the tips above. Enjoy! :)



The Sun Is Setting by William Alwyn (Pianist: Sharon Jusay)

Get the piece "The Sun Is Setting by William Alwyn" here or below.