It’s easy to go along to your instrumental lesson every week and focus on your pieces, scales and arpeggios, and sight reading, completely forgetting about the aural tests. This is an oversight because aural ability should ideally be developed over time. It takes practise to learn how to listen to ear tests and to respond…
Month: May 2012
Great British female Pianists and Teachers: Adelina de Lara
Adelina de Lara was a British concert pianist and composer. Lottie Adelina Preston was born in Carlisle, Cumberland in 1872 to George Matthew Tilbury (Preston) and Anna de Lara. Her grandfather was the Spanish Count Laurent de Lara. Her mother was the sister-in-law of Sir Landon Ronald. She was told that her surname ‘Preston’ was…
Practising Piano Scales: 5 Top Tips
Whether you are taking Grade 1 or Grade 8, you will probably need to practice your scales regularly. There is always a strong temptation to just play them through quickly moving on to more interesting parts of your exam. Try not to do this. Scales can be both fun and rewarding as well as a…
British female pianists and teachers: Helen Hopekirk
Helen Hopekirk was a concert pianist, teacher, and composer. She was born near Edinburgh, Scotland, and was the daughter of music shop owners Adam and Helen Hopekirk. Helen began to study the piano aged 9 and just two years later she played at a People’s Concert exhibiting unusual musical talent. She studied music with George…
Structured piano practice in 5 simple steps
This is a well-worn and popular topic! It’s too easy to sit down at the piano and play without much thought or adherence to any real practising schedule. There is nothing wrong with this and we all do it at some point. However, it’s a good idea to incorporate some kind of structure into your practice regime….