My bi-monthly article for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter is always a ‘5-tips’ affair. This month’s focuses on the oft-forgotten Sosenuto pedal, or the ‘middle’ pedal, on grand pianos. I hope you find it of interest. As a teacher, if you mention the Sostenuto pedal you tend to get a perplexed or puzzled look from a student….
Tag: Pianist Magazine
The Una Corda: 5 Tips
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you will know that I write an article for Pianist Magazine’s bimonthly newsletter. This post, known as ‘online content’, always appears in a ‘5 tips’ context, and this month’s tips focuses on the ‘una corda’ or left pedal. I hope it’s of interest. The Una corda, or…
Weekend competition: The Winners
Many thanks to all those who took part in my weekend competition. The prize is a digital download copy of Play Women Composers, which is a new and interesting publication from Pianist Magazine. You can find out more about it here. The three winners are: Leila J Viss, AmyPianist, and Astrid C Congratulations! Please send…
Play Women Composers
Play Women Composers is a new digital volume, published by Pianist Magazine, comprising twelve piano works, taking pianists from elementary to advanced level. Featuring nine female composers spanning a couple of centuries, it’s perfect for those who wish to discover new and exciting repertoire, whether that be to learn or to sight-read. The download, which…
5 Tips For Your Left Hand
My most recent post for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter focuses on the left hand. I hope you find it of interest. The left hand can pose problems for many a pianist. If you examine some beginner method books, you might notice that a significant number focus on the right hand and right-hand music for pages –…
Pianist Magazine’s New Online Piano Courses
Renowned teacher and writer Graham Fitch and I will be hosting new online courses for Pianist Magazine. This will be the first time the magazine has ventured into piano lessons, and the new courses and workshops will hopefully encourage regular readers to engage with Pianist’s teachers and writers. Graham’s course, which is intended for those…
Repertoire Selection: 5 Tips
My most recent newsletter article for Pianist Magazine focuses on repertoire selection, which is an important topic for many a piano student, and it’s especially pertinent at the beginning of a new year. I hope it’s of interest. Piano students occasionally struggle to find appropriate repertoire. And by ‘appropriate’ I mean piano works, which whilst…
Ornaments: 5 Practice Tips
My most recent article for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter focuses on Ornaments. I hope you find it of interest. An aspect of piano playing which can be extremely tricky to implement is the inclusion of ornaments. An ornament is an embellishment or a ‘decorative’ added note pattern, in other words, notes which are not intrinsic to…
TIPA Live Show
Last week I wrote about the Tokyo International Piano Association (you can read this blog post, here), and this week I would like to continue with a little information about the new TIPA Live Show which will be taking place each month, hosted by TIPA’s artistic director, Aisa Ijiri. Japanese pianist Aisa will interview a…
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 (pictured below) you can enjoy all the usual articles and scores, as well…
Melanie Spanswick 