Piano/Keyboard: Courses Offered (A) Classical Piano: Mr. Donovan adopts the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London (ABRSM), Trinity College of Music (London), Rock School (London), London College of Music (LCM) and the Australian Guild of Music Education (AGME) curricula for music grade & diploma examinations; and even for students' leisure learning. Students learn progressively from beginner, then Grade 1 till Grade 8. After which, they may proceed to further study for the piano diplomas. For leisure learning, Mr. Donovan may cater to students' needs to play their favourite classical piano pieces and not following the above curricula. The idea is to learn for leisure. (B) Pop Piano: There are three different levels for pop piano; namely beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. For beginner pop piano students, they will need to have classical piano foundation (around Classical Grade 1 to 3), before they can join the beginner pop piano course. They will learn to play simple left hand bass lines in different harmonic & rhythmic variations, based on the given contemporary chord symbols in the lead sheet; while playing the right hand melodies. As for intermediate pop piano course, students will need to have prior beginner pop piano playing skills, and/or classical piano Grade 4 to 6 levels, before they can join it. Students will learn to place contemporary chords below melodies for the right hand in their performances; and play left hand bass lines in a more complex manner. In the advanced pop piano course, students must have learnt intermediate pop piano course previously. They will learn embellishments and improvisations to enhance their performances. A wide range of musical styles, such as blues, rock and funk will be taught. (C) Jazz Piano: The jazz piano course is designed for classical piano advanced students and teachers. They need to possess prior classical piano level of around Grade 8 before joining this course. Contemporary chords & harmony, rhythmic & harmonic comping, chord voicing, different jazz styles, such as Swing, Bossa Nova, Ballad, Samba and Latin will be taught. (D) Keyboard: The keyboard course is designed for learners who have digital piano/keyboards and wish to play popular tunes by manipulating the buttons & functions of these instruments. Learners will learn to set voice registration, play popular tunes with rhythmic box, play with single-fingered or full chords for the left hand, manipulate the basic recording function of a digital piano/keyboard. (E) Music Theory: Graded music theory - Grade 1 to Grade 5 (ABRSM) can be taught, in addition to practical piano lessons.

Course Description: This course is specially catered to adults and teenagers who have zero or minimal knowledge in Mandarin/Chinese and wish to learn Mandarin/Chinese from the very beginning. Students will learn the course using mainly 3 books: (1) Mandarin Conversation Book (with learning elements in conversational role playing, grammar and Chinese culture & tradition) (2) Chinese textbook (with learning elements in listening, speaking, reading and writing skills) (3) Chinese workbook (with plenty exercises and drillings complementing for the core four skills found in the Chinese textbook). At the very beginning of the course, students will learn the Hanyu Pinyin System (Mandarin phonics & its notation system); getting to recognize and pronounce Mandarin vowels, consonants and their combinations correctly. In addition, students will also learn the four Mandarin tones accurately. Once students have mastered the Hanyu Pinyin System and the four Mandarin tones, they will venture into learning daily conversational Mandarin, Chinese vocabulary & essential grammar rules; as well as appreciating the Chinese culture and tradition, of which are found in the Mandarin Conversation Book. In order to further develop speaking & listening skills, and picking up different critical skills such as reading and writing simplified Chinese characters, students will also study the other two books at the same time: The Chinese textbook and workbook for these purposes. Indeed, these two books are arranged with the same topics sequentially; and therefore are interlinked and they complement closely with each other. On the other hand, the Mandarin Conversation Book contains themes that can also be mapped very well onto the Chinese textbook and workbook. For instance, after students have learnt conversing in a dialogue on the topic of family members in the Mandarin Conversation Book, they will then learn more about reading and writing simplified Chinese characters on the same theme (i.e. family members) in the Chinese textbook and workbook. As such, these three books are used interchangeably as they share common themes/topics that will enhance students’ learning more effectively in an organized and coherent manner; providing a lot of role playing, oral and written practice work for students to work on. As for the learning aids, students will get to listen to a lot of audio playing during lessons, mostly for developing listening skills; and listening to conversations. Besides this, I will also use the internet to browse for specific information related to the lessons during teaching and show these to students. Moreover, there will be ample opportunities for students to practise dialogues/conversations with me. In short, students will get wholesome Mandarin/Chinese learning from this course, without getting a compromise in any of the core four language skills – Listening, speaking, reading and writing. And certainly, the ability to speak, communicate and understand well in basic Mandarin conversations would be the most appealing motivation in learning Mandarin, and this is exactly what this course is providing for you and what you are looking for! Do not miss this precious Mandarin learning opportunity! Mandarin is the second most-spoken international language, after English; and it is also spoken by most people in the world – more than 1.4 billion people! Flame and propel your passion in learning Mandarin! Come and join this exciting course and learn with a highly-experienced, qualified and warm native Mandarin speaker and educator! I extend my greatest and warmest welcome to you in joining this fun, educational and rewarding Mandarin learning journey with me. No prior skill is required for this course. Students join with zero Mandarin knowledge or very limited Mandarin speaking skill (i.e. CEFR A1). This course is ongoing and the lesson duration is 60 minutes per lesson. Course Goals: Recognize and pronounce any Mandarin vowels, consonants and their combinations, as well as the four Mandarin tones correctly; based on the Hanyu Pinyin System (Mandarin phonics and its notation system). Master and use Hanyu Pinyin System mainly for the purposes of speaking Mandarin and reading simplified Chinese characters. Listen to, understand and speak basic daily conversational Mandarin. Learn a wide range of Chinese vocabulary and essential grammar rules; based on different topics/themes. Learn four core skills typically found in mastering a language: Listening, speaking, reading (i.e. reading simplified Chinese characters with and without the aid of Hanyu Pinyin) and writing (i.e. writing simplified Chinese characters) skills. Appreciate general Chinese culture and tradition of China.