FAQ

General

There is no pre-requisite for you to join any of our courses. Most learners start from Level 1 when they sign up. If you feel that you are either too fast or slow in your

Over the years (since 1999), we have witnessed the improvement rate of our students.  It has shown that learners improve faster in a group environment as it provides a more interactive experience. Adding on, peer observation multiplies learning distinctions inevitably. Unless you are very specific in your learning objectives (where Private Coaching would be more appropriate), we would say Group learning is the way to go!

It is possible subject to an assessment, either during a Trial lesson or a submission of your audition video.

Yes! In fact, we believe that exposure is key to your musical breakthrough, hence, students will have opportunities to perform on stage in our very own Performing Studio.

Excelling students may also audition to be hand picked into THE Hark Performing Team, to further gain experience in performing ;bringing you closer to your musical dreams and goals. Click here to know more!

We always ensure that every student can progress well with the class. If your classmates’ and your learning pace do not match, we will arrange you to join another class of a similar pace or suggest other solutions on a case-by-case basis.

The average age group of our current students is mid-20 to 30s (Youngest: 13 yrs; Most Elderly: 55yrs). For the last 10 over years, our teaching approach has been proven to be acceptable by both teenagers and adults.

With the Covid Safe-Measures, we encourage you to bring your own *guitar for hygiene. For keyboards, sanitising sprays and wipes are available for you to use before and after use.

* If you don’t have a guitar or inconvenient to bring yours, you can use our studio guitars too. Sanitisers will be available for use.

Students have the freedom to choose any songs they like. However, most of our students prefer songs ranging from English to Mandarin Pop.

Course fee is payable on a monthly basis, for 4 lessons. Lessons that are cancelled due to Public Holidays or other matters will be replaced subsequently.

We are open everyday and is only closed on Public Holidays. For lessons that fall on Public Holidays, we will re-schedule them to another day. Don’t worry, if no rescheduled lesson can be arranged, the lesson will not be accounted for.

Yes. You can state your preferred days and timings in your registration form, and we will try to arrange the next upcoming intakes according to your selected timeslots. For Group classes, lessons will be fixed on that particular day of the week subsequently.

If you inform us 1 week in advance, your coach will try to arrange for a short makeup lesson with you. However, this is still subject to the availability of classrooms and coaches’ schedule. Whether there is a presence of makeup session, your coach will ensure that you can progress well with the class.

Yes, we provide Private Coaching (Individual, Pair, Trio) according to your objectives and preferred timings.

You may defer your lesson until you are ready to continue with your course. We will arrange you to rejoin the same or another class based on your learning condition when you are back.

Yes. You may opt to join a Private Coaching class which will be more suitable for your timing needs. Subject to availability of the coach, you may choose your days & timings of classes, as long as you complete 4 classes within 6 weeks.

Yes, we do! We actually have quite a record of experiences working with corporate/private groups, conducting music workshops, music performances. We have worked with various corporate for customised programmes, such as SAFRA, SMRT, Singapore Refinery Company, Wyeth International, HDB Board and many more!

A Certificate of Course Completion will be awarded. Many of our students has since gone to become performers in live music places, music coaches to inspire more people to continue the passion in them.

Vocal

You will be taught the same set Vocal EXPRESSWAY® concepts and techniques.
Whichever path you are going after, your coach will be able to support you according to your learning pace.
If you wish to further accelerate your progress, you may take up your singing lessons with our Lead Coaches or Directors.

Yes and yes. Several students in your situation have benefitted from us, with our emphasis on on-stage performance to achieve your musical breakthrough. All songs used in class are chosen according to the preference of the students.

We have many students who have the same concern as you. These students have achieved considerable improvements such that they have been taught in a way that heightens their sensitivity towards pitching. With that, they are able to sing much better as compared to when they first started! We believe that no one is tone-deaf – but only “less-developed” in terms of pitch/hearing. By going through our learning system in conjunction with effective practice, significant improvement can be seen in weeks.

Chest voice is our speaking voice, whilst head voice are a high-pitched sounding voice (imagine talking to a baby, or imitating a cat’s meow). They are both produced by different set of vocal colds – true folds (chest voice) and false folds (head voice), therfore they difference a lot in terms tonal quality.

However, a trained singer can blend these 2 voices together to make it an entire range to sing in. That’s why you have those songs with big range! In our training, you will learn how to make our head voice sounds like chest voice. That’s how you bridge them up!

In classical term, falsetto in fact means ‘male high voice’. In the current era, this term becomes diluted. In the most common situations, it usually refers to an airy sounding head voice. It’s still commonly usable in some pop songs and a full-tone head voice would not sound lyrical.

You have to learn how to control your head voice to have it produced in airy, semi-airy, full tone, so that you can have different expression while using head voice.

Hoarseness is a result of throat tension or too much air ‘attacking’ our delicate folds. Learning the proper voice support techniques will help in both your singing and speech needed in daily life.

Definitely! Talking and singing both uses the same voice instrument. Many students are pleasantly surprised that their speaking voice improved after few months of singing. Also – as it involves breathing techniques, they also realised they breathe better, deeper in their daily lives.

Acoustic Guitar

Contrary to popular belief, the classical guitar is actually a member of the acoustic guitar family, with the other member being the folk guitar. Generally, the folk guitar is steel-stringed and produces a brighter sound quality as compared to the nylon-stringed classical guitar. Both guitars are used here, students may use either one based on their preference.

Left-handed guitarists can choose between playing a regular right-handed guitar or a left-handed guitar. There are many left-handers who can play a regular right-handed guitar.

Yes, the fingertips and wrist will feel sore as a beginner when you are trying to build up strength to play different chord positions. Rest assured that it doesn’t hurt to the extent that you can’t carry out your daily activities. After a few weeks of consistent practice, you will start to get used to it. For a start, you may consider to start playing a nylon-stringed guitar which helps to lessen the discomfort. Buying a quality guitar helps too, as the strings’ action (distance between the strings and fretboard) is narrower hence, less pressure is needed.

If you want to be able to play (pluck & strum) a song while singing along, then an acoustic guitar is more suitable for you. However, if you want to learn how to play solo-lines and “rock-out,” then the electric guitar is for you. Another factor to consider is the cost. You will definitely find it cheaper to play the acoustic guitar because all you need to buy is just the guitar. If you wish to play the electric guitar, you will need to acquire not only the guitar, but an amp, cables, effects, etc. One perk of starting on an acoustic guitar is that it will provide you with a good foundation to play the electric guitar later on.

Pop Piano

No. We do not emphasize on reading scores (5-lines), instead we focus on chord-reading which is more fun and achievable for adult-learners. You will learn the seemingly technical stuffs in clear-categorized concepts and to apply them in pop songs. This has proven to work very well with adult learners as you will feel more motivated!

When you play a chord, you play three or four music notes at the same time. For example, for a ‘C major chord’, students are taught to know the individual notes they have to play without using notation. It is less intimidating and so much easier to achieve.

No, you do not need to. All you have to do is to attend a trial lesson in which you will be assessed. After the assessment, the coach will determine the class which is suitable for you and we will make the necessary arrangements.

You can definitely use your piano to practice if you do not wish to purchase a keyboard. The main difference between them is the feel of the instruments. Keyboard keys are softer to the touch while piano keys are heavier.

We do not conduct formal examination for our students nor send our students for academic examinations.

We coach you according to our uniquely-developed syllabus developed & researched for the past 15 years in mind to adults’ learning behavior. It has proved to be highly effective to let you enjoy and experience music in the shortest time possible. We do not believe in academic examoniations, instead there will be coach evaluations and performances throughout the course to ensure proper grasp of the concept learnt in each level.

This means, a musical part which supports or partners an instrument, e.g. voice, or group. When you learn accompaniment playing, you will learn how to play and sing.