It’s time for a masterclass and today’s public lesson was filmed at the Oxford Piano Festival last year. This recording was streamed live on August 4th and the video contains the entire class, which runs nearly three and a half hours in length. If like me, you’re a fan of observing piano lessons, you will…
Tag: Piano Teachers
Teaching Observations: Marmite
You’re quite right in thinking that I’m not a food writer, and marmite is, of course, a rather dark, thick, sticky, potent, yeast-based paste that we spread over, well almost anything. You either love it or hate it. Apologies to vegetarians and vegans who will, no doubt, prefer Vegemite! In this post, the marmite connotation…
Reverse Practice
This article was published in Pianist Magazine’s latest newsletter and is, therefore, in the customary ‘5 Tips’ format which applies to nearly all my articles for Pianist’s website. It highlights a rather unusual practice tool, that of reverse practice. Some may find this unnecessary and irrelevant, but it does help to focus our minds when…
The Beauty of the Rotation Technique: Rami Bar-Niv
Pianist, teacher, and composer Rami Bar-Niv returns this week to continue his excellent, and very popular, series here on my blog. Rami’s articles are focusing various aspects of piano technique and today’s surveys the rotation technique. A rotational movement is the movement we do when we turn a doorknob or a key in a door….
5 Tips for Practising Polyphony
This month’s article for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter focuses on polyphony, also known as counterpoint, or the playing of several different musical lines at the same time. I hope it’s of interest. Contrapuntal or polyphonic music usually consists of several musical lines sounding altogether, or at the same time. This style of music can be complicated…
The Magic of Wrist Circles: Rami Bar-Niv
Today’s post is the second in a series of articles focusing on piano technique written by guest writer Rami Bar-Niv. Rami is an Israeli pianist, teacher, writer, and composer based in the US. Here, he discusses the importance of wrist circles. Wrist Circles is one of the important piano-playing techniques. It enhances legato, phrasing (also…
The Music of the Wrists: Rami Bar-Niv
Today’s post has been written by guest writer Rami Bar-Niv. Rami is an israeli pianist, composer, author, and instructor of master classes, who is based in the USA. In this article, he discusses that vital topic for all pianists: wrist movement. Rudolf Serkin complained once: “how come, before I play the opening chord of Beethoven’s…
The Schott Student Edition Series
I’m pleased to be contributing to the Schott Student Edition Series. Popular amongst teachers and students, this series is, first and foremost, intended with instrumental tuition in mind. Each book is edited in collaboration with experienced instrumental teachers, providing information about the selected composers and works as well as useful ‘Teaching Notes’ with plenty of…
Guildhall Young Artists Online – Preparing For Conservatoire Entry: A New Course
From September 2023, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London is offering an innovative new course for students. This advanced two-year online course is aimed at international musicians who are interested in studying for a degree at the Guildhall School or at any other UK music conservatoire. Students, who are of post Grade…
Adult Piano Returners – A Group Celebration
Those who read this blog regularly will know that I host an increasingly popular Facebook Group called Adult Piano Returners (click on the group name to find out more). I started this group in September 2021 at the end of the pandemic as a way of connecting with adult pianists, and I also wanted to…
Chord Playing and Improvising 5: Christopher Norton
Christopher Norton’s Connections for Piano has been very popular since its launch in 2007. It forms a major part of the new Royal Conservatory syllabus in Canada, as well as being a feature of many other syllabuses, festival programmes and competitions around the world. Here’s a recent quote from a teacher: Connections: this series is…
Rubato
Today’s ‘5 Tips’ post was first published a few weeks ago in Pianist Magazine’s bi-monthly newsletter. It focuses on rubato, which literally means ‘robbed time’. Taking time for musical effect during a piece can be a tricky task for many a student and this article offers some suggestions. Rubato means ‘robbed’ time or taking time…