Piano teachers tend to sit in a room all day. As one student leaves another appears and this repetitive cycle can go on for hour after hour. Some are happy with this status quo. Others admit to feeling isolated and ‘lonely’ during the working week. Many teachers work all day on a Saturday, too, leading to the same feelings over the weekend. There’s no doubt that this profession can be a ‘solo’ affair with little active support or contact with colleagues. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Organisations aim to connect instrumental teachers. They do this whether teachers work from home studios or in school settings. EPTA, or the European Piano Teachers Association, is one such ‘institute’. EPTA was established in 1978 by Carola Grindea. It offers teachers a variety of opportunities. These range from personal development and public liability insurance to much needed ‘camaraderie’. I have been involved with EPTA for many years and have written copious articles for their magazine Piano Professional. I have also adjudicated some of their piano competitions and given classes.
For a yearly fee, teachers are free to access all that EPTA offers and, if you teach, you may feel this a worthwhile investment. This season I will be presenting one of the many EPTA webinars held throughout the year. This event is taking place this coming weekend, on Sunday, October 9th, from 3.00 – 4.00pm. I’m focusing my talk on developing a flexible piano technique, a subject on which I have spoken about on many occasions. I’m always heartened by the number of students and teachers who have found my exercises and suggestions helpful.
Many readers hail from Australia, and I was delighted to be invited by the Music Teachers’ Association of South Australia to present a webinar on November 7th at 7.00pm (local time). Similar to the EPTA event, I will cover my technical exercises. These exercises are the basis for developing a relaxed and ‘flexible’ piano technique when working with my students.
This element of piano playing is one that I’m passionate about having witnessed the adverse effects of tension on students. Tendonitis, repetitive strain injury, and focal dystonia are just a few of the terrible afflictions. They can manifest as a result of ‘tightness’ during piano practice and performance. It’s why I believe that there should be a far greater focus on instigating a sound technique from the beginning or the earlier stages of piano study. If you are a piano teacher and fancy learning more about these organisations, do check out them out, here:
Ciao! I am Paolo Fieni, an italiano piano teacher: how can partecipate to this interesting webinar?
Thanx!!
Hello Paolo! To join either of these webinars you would need to get in contact with EPTA (in the UK) or the Music Teachers’ Association of South Australia. They will be able to advise you, because these are their events. Thank you!