Author of 33 mostly piano-related books, composer, adjudicator, examiner, and piano faculty member at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
View all posts by Melanie Spanswick
Simple things I use are – I play a simple tune and ask my pupil to sing it back and then find it on the piano – great for the jazzy minded pupils but not everyone (adults!) likes to sing so I start with just one or two notes and show them how I do it as my singing is not good and they usually laugh at my singing first! Well worth practising and I use paul harris “improve your aural” books with some pupils to practice alone 🙂 Your vlogs are great Melanie!
I love exams 🙂 I love piano 🙂 I love life 🙂 I dont like moaners 🙁 if you don`t like something why dont you stop doing it and move on?! These posts are not a sound board for your insecurities sweetness :_:
I had a teacher a few years ago who told me i was difficult as was bloody minded and although I was upset at the time I realised I was resisting everything they tried to help me with! I went back and changed ay attitude and now love learning new things. Not bothered about exams as not really got the inclination – just want to learn how to play and enjoy tunes to relax to. Learning is hard work but slowly getting there, if I cant do something then I stop and come back to it so I can enjoy it more. I also tried to learn a language and was getting no whre so switched hobbies
have you considered woodwork instead of the piano? its so relaxing and the teachers tend to be more tolerant of us bloody minded so and so`s! i too had a teacher who told me I was difficult to teach and thankully it made me realise I was a pain in the rear end for moaning about being rubbish! so I stopped moaning and I feel regenerated
Simple things I use are – I play a simple tune and ask my pupil to sing it back and then find it on the piano – great for the jazzy minded pupils but not everyone (adults!) likes to sing so I start with just one or two notes and show them how I do it as my singing is not good and they usually laugh at my singing first! Well worth practising and I use paul harris “improve your aural” books with some pupils to practice alone 🙂 Your vlogs are great Melanie!
Thank you Ceinwen and thanks for your excellent, helpful comments too 🙂
I love exams 🙂 I love piano 🙂 I love life 🙂 I dont like moaners 🙁 if you don`t like something why dont you stop doing it and move on?! These posts are not a sound board for your insecurities sweetness :_:
I had a teacher a few years ago who told me i was difficult as was bloody minded and although I was upset at the time I realised I was resisting everything they tried to help me with! I went back and changed ay attitude and now love learning new things. Not bothered about exams as not really got the inclination – just want to learn how to play and enjoy tunes to relax to. Learning is hard work but slowly getting there, if I cant do something then I stop and come back to it so I can enjoy it more. I also tried to learn a language and was getting no whre so switched hobbies
have you considered woodwork instead of the piano? its so relaxing and the teachers tend to be more tolerant of us bloody minded so and so`s! i too had a teacher who told me I was difficult to teach and thankully it made me realise I was a pain in the rear end for moaning about being rubbish! so I stopped moaning and I feel regenerated