I’m music store Presto Music’s current ‘Author Focus’ this year, which means that Presto publishes a video about my work every month on their YouTube channel and website. You can watch earlier videos in this series by clicking on the button below: Part six focuses on my popular collection of elementary piano pieces ‘Ghostly Piano…
Tag: Piano Teachers
’25 For 25′ at Chetham’s International Piano Summer School
In 2001, distinguished pianists, piano teachers and dynamic husband and wife piano team Murray McLachlan and Kathryn Page started a piano summer school. They wanted their school to provide an inspiring, warm, friendly environment where anyone obsessed with the piano could simply show up, learn, and hang out. Fast-forward 25 years, and the Chetham’s International…
‘Bright Start’ for Elementary Pianists
My latest book was published last week: ‘Bright Start’ is a collection of educational elementary piano pieces published by Clifton Edition. I have composed an elementary piano piece for every issue of Pianist magazine for over five years. Every issue’s piece focuses on a different technical or musical element, and my challenge is to come…
‘Author Focus’ at Presto Music: Part 4 – Play it again: PIANO
I’m currently music store Presto Music’s ‘Author Focus’ of the year, which means that Presto will be publishing a video about my work every month over the next year on their website and YouTube channel. You can watch earlier videos in this series by clicking on the button below: Part four focuses entirely on my…
Teaching Observations: Making Notes
Last week’s post, ‘The Pencil’, garnered a lot more interest than I had anticipated: it was really intended as an irreverent end-of-term topic that had been on my mind for a while. If you’d like to read it, please click on the button below: Subsequently, several teachers have written about the issue of ‘enticing’ students…
‘Author Focus’ at Presto Music: Part 3 – The Older Beginner
I’m currently music store Presto Music’s ‘Author Focus’ of the year, which means that Presto will be publishing a video about my work every month on their website. I recorded these videos over the Easter holiday and you can hear the first one, published in May and serving as an introduction to the series, by…
5 Tips To Sharpen Concentration and Focus
In this month’s Pianist magazine tips article, I suggest ways to sharpen mental focus, helping to optimise both our attention span and concentration. We all know that feeling, don’t we? We are happily traversing our way through a favourite piano piece and then all of a sudden and seemingly out of no-where, we’ve lost our…
Pianissimi in India
Piano courses are becoming increasingly popular, particularly those focusing on the adult piano ‘hobbyist’ market. It makes sense: this demographic probably have the most money to spend, and they also have more time to hone their piano chops, especially retired pianists. And they can be excellent players and attentive students. Like many teachers, I’ve taught…
The Opus One 2026 Summer Music Festival Showcase & Concert
The Opus One Summer Music Festival is establishing itself as an international platform for young musicians. The programme, running in July this year, welcomes upwards of 30 participants, from small children to young professionals, and offers solo masterclasses, chamber music workshops, and public performances across London as well as in Paris, France. Founded initially as…
‘Author Focus’ at Presto Music: Part 2 – The Young Beginner
I’m currently music store Presto Music’s ‘Author Focus’ of the year, which means that Presto will be publishing a video about my work every month on their website. I recorded these videos over the Easter holiday and you can hear the first one, published last month and which serves as an introduction to the series,…
Seeds of Hope: From Inception to Publication and Beyond by Alison Mathews
Today’s guest writer is pianist, teacher and composer Alison Mathews. Over the past year, Alison has compiled and edited a very special publication called ‘Seeds of Hope’: a collection of elementary level piano pieces featuring Middle Eastern themes with a focus on nature, growth and hope. Each work in this volume has been written by…
Classic Piano Repertoire: Advanced Level
My latest ‘Tips’ article for Pianist magazine’s website was published just a couple of weeks ago and focuses on repertoire for advanced level players. You can read the first two posts in this series by clicking on the button links below: This is the third and final part in a series delving into suitable repertoire…