One aspect of playing I have written little about is touch and articulation, specifically staccato. This past term, several of my students have taken advanced graded ABRSM exams requiring many scales, the majority of which must be played legato or smoothly, and staccato or short or detached, as indicated on the score by dotes above or…
Tag: Piano Teacher
10 Top Tips to help Resolve Tension
A few days ago I published an article which was originally written for EPTA (European Piano Teachers Association) last year, and was published in the Piano Professional Magazine. This article focused on resolving tension at the piano. Many of you have subsequently contacted me asking for a few tips regarding tension, to remember whilst practising. So…
Resolving Tension in Piano Playing: Article for EPTA’s Piano Professional
Most of us know that too much tension can ruin piano playing. Reducing this tension usually requires time and lots of work. There are many ways to address the uncomfortable, tight feeling. This feeling often accompanies a fixed and tense disposition at the piano. The following article was originally written for the Piano Professional Magazine, an…
Improving Your Scales: Feature Article for Piano Professional Magazine
I have written about scales and arpeggios before here on my blog. The following article was penned for the Piano Professional Magazine (Issue 34: Spring 2014). It was published by the European Piano Teachers Association or EPTA, which is designed for piano teachers. For many years I wrote a regular feature article on technique for this informative publication. Hopefully…
15 Top Tips for Successful Sight-reading
Last weekend’s blog post featured the first article I wrote for the European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA), which appeared in the Piano Professional Magazine (Autumn 2013 edition). Continuing with this theme, the following article was published in the Autumn 2014 Piano Professional (pages 20-22). It focuses on Sight-reading. We all know how important it is to be…
Ten Top Tips for Effective Memorisation: The Memory Game
This post comprises the first article I wrote for the Piano Professional Magazine (Autumn 2013 edition, Pg. 22-24), which is published by EPTA or the European Piano Teaching Association. I hope these suggestions and ideas might be useful to those studying for their diplomas or teaching memorisation to students. There is a helpful PDF download at the…
The Piano Bench Mag Feature
I was recently interviewed for an article in the December edition of The Piano Bench Mag. The magazine was founded and is edited by piano teacher Karen Gibson, who wanted to create an online ‘well’ of useful information for piano teachers. Karen is based in the US. The Magazine is published monthly. It is available on…
Philip Fowke in conversation with Melanie Spanswick
My twenty-seventh interview features British concert pianist and teacher Philip Fowke. We met up at Steinway Hall in London for a fascinating chat about many aspects of Philip’s career. Find out more about Philip, here. For those who prefer to read interviews, here is the transcript: MELANIE SPANSWICK: British concert pianist Philip Fowke made his…
Structured piano practice in 5 simple steps
This is a well-worn and popular topic! It’s too easy to sit down at the piano and play without much thought or adherence to any real practising schedule. There is nothing wrong with this and we all do it at some point. However, it’s a good idea to incorporate some kind of structure into your practice regime….
Sight Reading: 6 helpful hints
Sight reading is certainly a hot topic amongst those taking music exams and it simply means the ability to play a piece of music on reading it for the first time, or reading at sight. It’s the part of music exams that many students find a challenge, but it is possible to learn how to…