Today’s post is the third and final installment of a mini-series for Pianist Magazine’s Newsletter: how to approach and learn a new piece. I hope it is of interest. Read Part 1, here, and Part 2, here. In Part 1 and 2 we examined ‘how’ to start learning a new piece. In Part 3, we…
Author: Melanie Spanswick
Improvisation by Design: Susan Staples Bell
My guest writer today is Texan piano teacher and composer, Susan Staples Bell. Susan has taught piano for over 30 years, in various locations all over the world during her husband’s 30-year US Navy career. Though she’s been a creative all her life, the development of the internet and social media has given her a…
International Women’s Week: Composing For Schott Music
Every year during March we celebrate the lives and work of women. Is this important? Yes, it is. Women in the workforce is still a relatively recent phenomenon, however, I feel that we finally have a platform from which to build meaningful and fulfilling careers. As you may have sensed if you are a regular…
The 4th Montecatini International Piano Competition
Over the past few years, I have been fortunate to be a jury member at several international piano competitions. Most of these have been online, which, thanks to the pandemic, has started a new ‘trend’. There are clearly some disadvantages to hearing young pianists perform in this situation regarding sound and instrument quality, but, generally,…
Chord Playing and Improvising: Christopher Norton
This is the fourth article in renowned composer Christopher Norton’s series for my blog. In this post, he offers tips and suggestions for practising chords and improvisation, and the article includes a free download of Positively Swinging, a piece which hails from the fourth volume of Chris’ ever-popular piano series, Connections. You can read more…
Teaching Observations: Too Small?
This is the second article as part of my new series Teaching Observations. These posts are focused on my thoughts and observations as a piano teacher. Perhaps you are a teacher and will empathize with my views – or you might disagree with them entirely! Either way, I aim to vocalise topics that are sometimes skirted…
My Notebooks – A Personal Journey: Angeline Bell
Regular readers of this blog will know that I enjoy publishing guest posts. Today’s writer is composer and piano teacher Angeline Bell. Angeline has recently published two new volumes of piano music with Editions Musica Ferrum, and, in this article, she takes us on her journey as a composer. Scroll to the end of the…
Teaching Observations: Those Pesky Photocopies
Today’s post heralds the start of a new series on my blog: Teaching Observations. These posts will include random teaching related topics which might be of interest to other teachers, students, or piano lovers. I hear and work with a wide variety of piano students both in the UK and abroad; younger, older, and those…
Teaching Through Composition: First steps in Harmony at Grade One Level – Jeni Warder
Welcome to the first guest post of the year! I’m delighted to welcome back Jeni Warder, who is the founder and director of Keys Piano School in Bolton near Manchester. Jeni is a passionate piano and composition teacher and in this post she explores teaching Grade 1 composition; there is also a downloadble free resource…
Middle Eastern Odyssey
I’ve wanted to work in the Middle East for a while and have been busy hatching a suitable plan to present my books and workshops to teachers and students. Most countries in this part of the world are not known for their love of Western music education and it’s this relative indifference that caught my…
Melanie Spanswick 