PIANO PRACTICE
A selection of articles and features on all aspects of practising the piano.
Tricky Corners: Smooth Passage Work
In my previous Tricky Corners post, I focused on fifth finger leaps within a passage from C P E Bach’s Sonata in A flat, H. 31 (first movement, Un poco allegro); you can read the article, here. Today’s post will continue with this piece, looking, this time, at another caveat which can present serious issues…
Tricky Corners: The Leaping Fifth Finger
September heralds the start of a new academic year and is therefore an appropriate time to begin my new monthly series, ‘Tricky Corners’. Those who read this blog will know that I particularly enjoy developing a student’s technique. This is all about re-training bad habits, transforming them into good ones, which takes time and care….
Practising Fast and Slow
One thing about writing regular articles for magazines and websites is the alarming rate at which the weeks and months tick by, and it’s hard to believe that the Autumn is already upon us. In the new October/November edition of Pianist Magazine you can enjoy all the usual articles and scores, as well as the…
Reverse Learning
My latest article for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter, published in June, focuses on a seemingly counterproductive concept: ‘reverse learning’. But this can be a surprisingly useful tool, and I hope you might find it of interest. Chances are that when you start learning a piece, you open the score, and begin at bar one. When learning…
5 Tips to Help Develop the Fourth & Fifth Fingers
This post was first published in Pianist Magazine’s April 2020 newsletter. The fourth and fifth fingers can be tricky to control. They require patience to develop. If left to their own devices, they will assume all kinds of weird, sprawling positions. Here are a few ideas to tame them. Most pianists know only too well…
The Bridge Position
Today’s post features my latest technique article for Piano Professional, a piano teachers’ magazine published by EPTA or the European Piano Teachers Association. This article highlights the Bridge Position, which is generally considered an important hand position for pianists. I hope it’s of interest to both teachers and students. If you cast your mind back…
No Pain, No Gain?
How many times have you heard this phrase? A fair few, I would imagine. It may be true for some activities. These might be the ones where grit and determination are necessary to achieve a desired outcome. But this phrase certainly does not apply to the activity of playing the piano. Yet, increasingly, pianists suffer…
Creating Even Passage Work
The following article was recently published in Pianist magazine’s newsletter. I hope it might be a useful practice tool for creating nice, even passages. Creating even passages, devoid of lumps, bumps, and rhythmic jerkiness, can be a demanding challenge. How can we practice fruitfully, encouraging fingers to work optimally? Here are my 5 tips: 1….
Painless Piano Playing Part 3
Today’s article is the third in a series written for Piano Professional Magazine (published by EPTA) and is the final article in the series. This technique article was featured in their recent winter edition. It focuses on painless piano playing, a subject about which I am passionate. I hope you find it of interest. You…
10 Motivational Practice Tips
It’s no mean feat keeping children, especially younger children, interested, not just in the piano and during the lesson, but for the practice sessions throughout the week, too. In my experience, very young children require constant parental guidance during piano practice, if progress is to be made. I don’t teach young students, but one interesting…
5 Vital Daily Practice Reminders
This blog post was recently published in a Pianist Magazine newsletter. It will hopefully provide a few basic, but important, practice reminders. We all benefit from reminders. Those elements which tend to be forgotten as we sit at the instrument, keen to get on with our job of practising. But sometimes it’s a good idea…
Painless Piano Playing Part 2
This blog post has been recently published in EPTA’s Piano Professional. EPTA is the European Piano Teachers Association. I currently write a feature technique article for this flagship UK publication. It’s the second article focusing on developing a pain free, relaxed piano technique. You can read Painless Piano Playing Part 1, here. In my previous…