Preparing a new piano piece – Part 2

Today’s article featured in Pianist Magazine’s most recent newsletter. It focuses on basic practice suggestions and ideas for when learning a new piece. This article is part 2 of the process and you can read the Part 1, here. In my last article, Preparing A New Piece – 5 Tips Part 1, I offered several…

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Happy New Year: ‘Ukraine Will Rise Again!’

A Happy New Year to you all. I wish you joy, happiness, and peace. As it’s the beginning of the year, I want to highlight something special, and with the war still raging in Ukraine, this wonderful, heart-warming project offers a positive start to 2023. The internationally acclaimed concert pianist Margaret Fingerhut is known for…

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Seasons Greetings 2022

Wishing you a very Happy Festive Holiday and a Peaceful New Year 2022 has certainly had its high points and low points for us all, and with many world issues on our minds, it’s probably with a heavy heart that we usher in 2023. However, I want to thank you for your continued generosity and…

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Most Popular Posts of the Year

As 2022 comes to a close it’s only natural to reflect on the past twelve months. When I started this blog nearly eleven years ago, I never dreamt that it would still be popular today. Over the years, it has been a useful way to observe and log my ever-changing piano practice and teaching ideas…

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On preparing for a Beethoven marathon – Finale: Julian Jacobson

As many will know, pianist and piano professor Julian Jacobson has been writing a splendid and very popular guest post series for this blog, focusing on his recent Beethoven marathon where he performed all 32 of Beethoven’s piano sonatas in one day – both in London and in Uruguay. This final article is the postlude….

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Christmas Weekend Competition: the winners

Many thanks to all those who took part in my special Christmas Weekend Competition. I really enjoyed reading through the lovely comments. The prize is a digital copy (a PDF) of three publications; Capturing the Spirit of Christmas, Capturing the Joy of Winter and The Star of Wonder. These books have been  compiled, written and…

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Christmas Weekend Competition

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ll know that I enjoy hosting competitions. This weekend’s Christmas competition highlights three excellent Wintry publications, perfect for your studio if you’re a teacher or for your playing pleasure if you’re a student. All three publications have been released by Editions Musica Ferrum. If you’re new to…

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5 tips on preparing a new piano piece: Part 1

In the latest Pianist Magazine Newsletter, I focus on preparing a new piano piece. This is a three-part series. Part 1 looks at the periphery and early stages of preparing your piece. When learning a new piece, there are so many considerations. How will you start? Do you like to listen to several performances? Or…

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Chord Playing and Improvising 3: Christopher Norton

Today I welcome back world-renowned composer Christopher Norton to my blog. Chris is contributing a series of guest articles, each one offering a free download of one of his piano pieces, as well as plenty of practice tips, suggestions and advice. A Gentle Touch, an early intermediate level piece, is number three in the series…

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