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…
Tag: Piano Exams
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…
Women Composers – A Graded Anthology For Piano: An Interview for No Dead Guys Blog
A few months ago, I gave an interview for pianist and writer Rhonda Rizzo , which was published on her excellent blog No Dead Guys. Rhonda publishes a wide variety of articles relating to piano playing and music education, and she also features many guest posts. This written interview focused on my new Women Composers…
Chord Playing and Improvising: Christopher Norton
This is the first of five articles written especially for this blog by renowned composer and educator Christopher Norton. These posts are intended to encourage classical players (and teachers) to explore jazz and pop styles. Deep in Thought is the first featured piece, and you can download it here for free. Chris also offers some…
Border Tune by Christopher Norton
My guest writer this week is world-renowned composer Christopher Norton. In this post, he offers practice suggestions for his piece Border Tune, which is the second piece from the volume Country Preludes Collection for piano. This piece is featured in List B of the Trinity College London Grade 7 piano exam 2021 – 2023 syllabus….
London College of Music Pre-Grade 1 Piano Exam Syllabus
I’m delighted to have written, compiled and annotated the new London College of Music Exams Pre-Grade 1 2021 – 2024 syllabus. I also worked on the Grade 1 – 8 2021 – 2024 piano syllabus, too, selecting some of the repertoire as well as writing many of the performance notes, as I had done for…
Teaching Fast and Slow
Over the last few weeks I have been preparing for what will no doubt be the highlight of my year; directing the Piano Teachers’ Course at Chetham’s International Piano Summer School. This preparation has prompted a reflection on my own teaching, hence the subject of this blog post. There is often a general perception that…
The Key to Scales and Arpeggios: Weekend Competition
Today’s guest post has been written by Jane Mann. Jane is a piano teacher and writer, and, in this article, she highlights her scale book series (published by Alfred Music UK), telling the story behind its conception. We are also running a weekend competition, too, and therefore, for your chance to win one of two…
My work as a composer: Wendy Edwards Beardall-Norton
My guest writer today is Canadian composer and teacher Wendy Edwards Beardall-Norton. Wendy has taught the piano for over 40 years and, more recently, she has been writing music for it. In this article she describes her journey towards composition, and how she became a published composer. You can also enjoy her music by hearing…
Melanie Spanswick 