Pianist Magazine is currently celebrating its twentieth year, and it has been a delight to write for the magazine since 2014. I write a ‘How-to-play’ article in every issue and a ‘5 Tips’ based article for the bi-monthly newsletter. The following piece first appeared in the magazine’s most recent newsletter. What do I mean by…
Tag: Pianist Magazine
Exploring the Sostenuto Pedal
My bi-monthly article for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter is always a ‘5-tips’ affair. This month’s focuses on the oft-forgotten Sostenuto pedal, or the ‘middle’ pedal, on grand pianos. As a teacher, if you mention the Sostenuto pedal you tend to get a perplexed or puzzled look from a student. There are those who know what it…
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. The Una corda, or the pedal to the far…
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,…
5 Tips For Your Left Hand
My most recent post for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter focuses on the left hand. 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 – sometimes half a book! This is a…
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. Piano students occasionally struggle to find appropriate repertoire. And by ‘appropriate’ I mean piano works, which whilst challenging and fun to learn,…
Ornaments: 5 Practice Tips
My most recent article for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter features ornaments. 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 the overall structure of a piece. They appear…
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 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…
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…