This month’s topic for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter is a perennial favourite: fingering. Do you write your fingering into the score before you start learning your piece? Or do you let your fingers roam wherever they feel comfortable? Here are a few ideas which I hope might be useful. Fingering is a perpetual hot topic and…
Tag: Piano Tips
Selecting & Practising Piano Exam Repertoire: ABRSM Grade 2
Continuing my series on selecting and practising piano exam repertoire, today we move on to ABRSM Grade 2. I’ve chosen three works. One is from each of lists A, B & C. They are hopefully complimentary. This selection offers a balanced exam programme, with five practice tips for every piece. As always, selections come from the…
The Perils of the Glissando
The Glissando seems like a relatively simple piano ‘manoeuvre’. We know it represents the quickest way ‘to glide from one pitch to another’ (according to Wikipedia) and it’s often presented as suggested in the image above. Essentially the fingers ‘slide’ over the keys in order to produce a very swift and even sound, providing plenty…
It’s All In The Preparation 3: 5 Top Tips
This is the third post in my series intended to help those who would like a few tips on how to prepare and practice piano pieces from the very beginning. It can be beneficial to have a strategy, or ‘tried and tested’ method which can be used on a whole range of pieces and genres. The first two posts…
Memorising Tips
I had some interesting responses to the post I wrote a few days ago dealing with memorisation, which you can read here. It was suggested that I should also focus on what happens when memory fails, that is, a memory slip! Therefore, here are my thoughts on this incredibly stressful event in any pianist’s life….