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Melanie Spanswick

Piano Educator, Author, and Composer

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Practising The Piano

PRACTISING THE PIANO

A selection of articles and features on all aspects of practising the piano.

World Piano Day 2024: Why play the piano?

March 28, 2024
Voicing: 5 Tips

March 3, 2024
Rehearsing Piano Duets and Trios: 5 Tips

January 14, 2024
Reverse Practice

October 22, 2023
5 Tips for Practising Polyphony

September 24, 2023
Rubato

August 6, 2023
Preparing A New Piece – 5 Tips Part 3

March 19, 2023
Preparing a new piano piece – Part 2

January 15, 2023
5 tips on preparing a new piano piece: Part 1

November 20, 2022
5 Tips For Breath Control

September 9, 2022
Exploring the Key Bed: 5 Tips

July 21, 2022
5 Tips To Help Develop Finger Control

July 10, 2022
Perfect Alignment: 5 Tips

March 13, 2022
Attuning Our Listening Skills

January 23, 2022
Tricky Corners: Tension Breaks

December 12, 2021
Sweet Dreams by P. I. Tchaikovsky

November 29, 2021
5 Tips for Perfecting That Silence

November 1, 2021
Spot Finger Practice

September 24, 2021
Teaching Fast and Slow

August 15, 2021
Tricky Corners: Lateral Arm & Wrist Movement

August 2, 2021
The Thumb

July 18, 2021
Exploring the Sostenuto Pedal

July 4, 2021
Lost in Thought: Practice Tips

June 14, 2021
The Una Corda: 5 Tips

May 16, 2021
Tricky Corners: Wrist Circles & Finger Articulation

March 28, 2021
5 Tips For Your Left Hand

February 28, 2021
Tricky Corners: Fourth and Fifth Fingers in Chords

February 7, 2021
Repertoire Selection: 5 Tips

January 11, 2021
Tricky Corners: The Opening Phrase

December 13, 2020
Ornaments: 5 Practice Tips

December 8, 2020
Developing the Fourth and Fifth Finger

November 16, 2020
Tricky Corners: Smooth Passagework

October 25, 2020
Tricky Corners: The Leaping Fifth Finger

September 20, 2020
Practising Fast and Slow

September 13, 2020
Reverse Learning

August 16, 2020
Étude in A minor by Louise Farrenc

July 6, 2020
Positional Piano Playing

June 7, 2020
5 Tips to Help Develop the Fourth & Fifth Fingers

May 24, 2020
The Bridge Position

May 10, 2020
No Pain, No Gain?

April 26, 2020
Creating Even Passagework

March 6, 2020
Painless Piano Playing Part 3

February 28, 2020
10 Motivational Practice Tips

February 7, 2020
5 Vital Daily Practice Reminders

January 27, 2020
5 Tips for Secure Coordination and Quick Movement

September 9, 2019
5 Top Tips for Hand Coordination

July 8, 2019
Painless Piano Playing Part 1

June 14, 2019
10 Tips for Piano Exam Success

May 17, 2019
Preparing for your piano course: 5 top tips

May 10, 2019
Selecting the piano course for you: 5 top tips

March 24, 2019
Twiddling Your Thumbs

March 1, 2019
5 Stage Presentation Tips Part 2

February 8, 2019
Etude op. 97 No 1 by Anton Reicha

February 2, 2019
Fruitful Fingering Part 2

January 12, 2019
Basic Tips for Healthy Piano Playing

December 1, 2018
5 Tips to Create the Illusion of Legato

November 23, 2018
Structured Piano Practice for Beginners: 10 Tips

October 28, 2018
Fingering: Part 1

September 30, 2018
5 Tips on Stage Presentation Part 1

August 28, 2018
5 tips to quell a sustaining pedal addiction

August 21, 2018
The Sustaining Pedal

June 15, 2018
Are you all Fingers and Thumbs?

May 3, 2018
Hand Flexibility: Piano Professional Article

April 17, 2018
Favourable Fingering

March 15, 2018
5 Top Tips for Keeping Time

January 22, 2018
5 Top Tips for Piano Playing Progress in 2018

January 1, 2018
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: Trinity College London Grade 5

December 11, 2017
5 Top Tips for Hand Flexibility

December 4, 2017
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: ABRSM Grade 5

November 29, 2017
Practising Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor Op. Posth. by Fryderyk Chopin

November 10, 2017
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: Trinity College London Grade 4

October 3, 2017
5 Tips for Practising without the Piano

September 29, 2017
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: ABRSM Grade 4

September 25, 2017
5 Tips for the Perfect Practice Schedule

August 26, 2017
Approaches to Staccato Playing

August 19, 2017
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: Trinity College London Grade 3

August 12, 2017
Practising Piano Waves

August 6, 2017
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: ABRSM Grade 3

July 23, 2017
Selecting and Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: Trinity College London Grade 2

July 10, 2017
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: ABRSM Grade 2

July 5, 2017
5 Tips to Instantly Improve a Performance

June 22, 2017
Selecting and Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: Trinity College London Grade 1

June 13, 2017
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: ABRSM Grade 1

June 6, 2017
9 Tips for Piano Exam Success in 2017

May 30, 2017
Practising Duets

April 25, 2017
5 Top Tips to Aid Memorisation

March 7, 2017
Hand Flexibility

January 20, 2017
Improve Your Sight-Reading Skills: 5 Top Tips

January 10, 2017
10 Top Tips to improve your Practice Schedule in 2017

January 2, 2017
5 Top Tips to Improve Your Warm-Up Regime

December 13, 2016
5 Top Tips To Improve Your Listening Skills

November 7, 2016
10 Top Tips To Pass Your Piano Exam

September 27, 2016
The Power of Repetition

August 21, 2016
The Art of Polyphony: 12 Top Tips

August 2, 2016
A few thoughts on the ‘Una Corda’

June 28, 2016
A Few Thoughts on Selecting Piano Diploma Repertoire

June 14, 2016
The Power of Visualisation

April 26, 2016
Selecting a piano diploma programme: 10 Top Tips

April 19, 2016
Practising without the Piano

March 14, 2016
10 Tips To Seriously Improve Your Piano Playing in 2016!

January 1, 2016

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