This article is the second part of a three-post series delving into suitable repertoire intended to develop piano playing at whatever your current level: it was published earlier in the week on Pianist Magazine’s website. Whether your practice is structured so that you are able to tackle the following repertoire altogether, or you decide to…
Tag: Piano Repertoire
Teaching Observations: How many is too many?
I’ve been musing on the topic of students learning and preparing a small amount of repertoire thoroughly as opposed to studying a much larger number of pieces in a perhaps more ‘laid-back’ fashion. This is a perennial subject, especially amongst adult returners, and is often quite a controversial issue. A common question in my Facebook…
New RSL Awards Classical Piano Exam Repertoire
For the past eighteen months I’ve been working with the music examination board RSL Awards. RSL are renowned for their rock and pop exams known as Rockschool. This arm of their work is popular the world over but probably less known is their classical exam syllabus. They published the classical piano exam syllabus in 2020…
A Journey Through Debussy’s Preludes 2: Julian Jacobson
Today’s post is the second in a series written by concert pianist and piano professor Julian Jacobson, who is ‘journeying’ through Debussy’s two books of Preludes in preparation for his concert on Thursday June 6th 2024 at 7.30 pm, at the 1901 Arts Club in London (pictured in the featured image at the top of…
On preparing for a Beethoven Marathon Part 2: Julian Jacobson
This is the second article in a series written by pianist and piano professor Julian Jacobson. Here, he traces his journey from the beginning, and explores the reasons why he feels drawn to this repertoire. Is Beethoven my favourite composer, as people tend to assume? The answer is “yes and no and perhaps”. My personal…
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 piece and you can download it here for free. Chris also offers some practice…
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,…
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: Trinity College London Grade 5
Continuing with my series surveying piano exam repertoire, today’s post examines Trinity College London Grade 5. List A offers a diverse and well-chosen collection of pieces. It includes composers such as Richard Jones, Anton Diabelli, Moritz Vogel, and Dmitri Kabalevsky. Each candidate must prepare three exercises. These are played alongside scales and arpeggios. These exercises…
Practising Nocturne No. 20 in C sharp minor Op. Posth. by Frédéric Chopin
I wrote about practising this beautiful nocturne a few years ago. You can read the article by clicking here. It has become one of my most ‘viewed’ blog posts. This work is now especially popular and one reason is that it is on the current ABRSM Grade 7 syllabus (2017 – 2018). I rewrote the…
Do pianists really need to play the entire piano repertoire?
This is a topic relevant to performers of all standards and abilities. How can we build an effective and enjoyable recital programme which is varied, interesting and more importantly, will compliment a pianist’s abilities and talents? For younger, inexperienced performers, teachers are paramount here, hopefully suggesting works beyond the scope of those found in various…