My column for the latest bi-monthly newsletter for Pianist Magazine offers tips and suggestions for how to keep a rhythmic pulse. Keeping time (or playing rhythmically) can be a challenge for many, and particularly for pianists, as they are often playing alone and therefore have the opportunity to change the tempo as often as they…
Tag: Rhythm
Rhythmic Precision in the First Movement of Beethoven’s Sonata in C Minor Op. 10 No. 1
Beethoven’s thirty-two piano sonatas are a musical autobiography, charting the composer’s development from a young man up to his death in 1827. The early sonatas are more typical of the traditional classical style. They are akin to those written by Mozart and Haydn. The last six sonatas are possibly the greatest in this genre ever written for…
Pulse Perfection
Over the past few weeks I’ve been coaching several exam candidates; pianists who have come to me to play through their set pieces and other aspects of their respective exams. It’s the time of year for cramming, studying and practising beyond the norm in order to achieve that coveted high mark. There have, however, been…