Palm Court Waltz: Weekend Competition

It’s time for a weekend competition. Today’s prize is a copy of the score of this majestic, rousing, and effective duet written by pianist, composer and professor of piano at the Royal College of Music and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, Julian Jacobson. Julian has been composing for many years and his work is published by…

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5 Tips For Your Left Hand

My most recent post for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter focuses on the left hand. I hope you find it of interest. The left hand can pose problems for many a pianist. If you examine some beginner method books, you might notice that a significant number focus on the right hand and right-hand music for pages –…

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Compose Yourself!

Today’s guest post has been written by Lindsey Berwin and Alison Mathews; two composers who have recently established a new online Piano Competition Festival. It’s a pleasure to highlight such an exciting venture, and I’m delighted to be one of the featured composers. Over to Lindsey and Alison… Compose Yourself! is a new and exciting…

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Chetham’s International Piano Summer School Piano Teachers’ Course 2021

I’m really looking forward to leading the Piano Teachers’ Course at the renowned Chetham’s International Piano Summer School in 2021. My course was initially programmed to take place in August 2020, but, due to the pandemic, we decided to run it this year instead. If you haven’t yet explored what’s on offer at this incredible…

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Tricky Corners: Fourth and Fifth Fingers in Chords

Today’s ‘Tricky Corner’ examines those pesky fourth and fifth fingers in chords. A student recently studied the Praeludium from Ludas Tonalis by Hindemith. This delightfully contemplative piece presents a few technical challenges, not least the opening introduction, which must sound improvisatory, and the subsequent Moderato passage (from bar 4), with its copious demisemiquaver figurations. None…

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RSL Classical Piano Exams

It’s generally acknowledged that the UK music exam landscape is dominated by three major examination boards; ABRSM (The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music), Trinity College London, and the London College of Music Exams. These organisations have been around for many years and have garnered quite a following –  they are also popular…

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A Masterclass with Freddy Kempf

It’s time for a masterclass and today’s offering was recorded at the Royal College of Music in London during October 2020. Taking place in the RCM’s Performance Hall, the class was given by renowned British-born pianist Freddy Kempf, who worked with two young RCM students, Nataly Ganina and Kirill Zheleznov; they performed Chopin’s Scherzo No….

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Pianist Magazine’s New Online Piano Courses

Renowned teacher and writer Graham Fitch and I will be hosting new online courses for Pianist Magazine. This will be the first time the magazine has ventured into piano lessons, and the new courses and workshops will hopefully encourage regular readers to engage with Pianist’s teachers and writers. Graham’s course, which is intended for those…

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Repertoire Selection: 5 Tips

  My most recent newsletter article for Pianist Magazine focuses on repertoire selection, which is an important topic for many a piano student, and it’s especially pertinent at the beginning of a new year. I hope it’s of interest. Piano students occasionally struggle to find appropriate repertoire. And by ‘appropriate’ I mean piano works, which…

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Happy New Year! Is the future online?

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU AND YOUR FAMILY I hope you had an enjoyable Christmas and you were able to see loved ones during this lockdown period. There’s no doubt that 2020 will go down in history as one of the most catastrophic episodes of our lifetime – possibly of the century. We…

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