I’ve wanted to work in the Middle East for a while and have been busy hatching a suitable plan to present my books and workshops to teachers and students. Most countries in this part of the world are not known for their love of Western music education and it’s this relative indifference that caught my…
Tag: Schott Music
Women Composers – A Graded Anthology For Piano: An Interview for No Dead Guys Blog
A few months ago, I gave an interview for pianist and writer Rhonda Rizzo , which was published on her excellent blog No Dead Guys. Rhonda publishes a wide variety of articles relating to piano playing and music education, and she also features many guest posts. This written interview focused on my new Women Composers…
5 Tips To Help Develop Finger Control
My most recent article for Pianist Magazine’s newsletter focuses on honing firmer fingers for clear and crisp articulation. I hope it’s of interest. There is plenty more information about this topic throughout my Play it again: PIANO series (Schott), which is on special offer at the moment at Presto Music. Check it out, here. Rapid…
The Recording Process: Yuki Negishi
Today’s guest writer is no stranger to my blog; Japanese pianist Yuki Negishi has written many articles chronicling her pianistic journey to date and you can read them in my Blog Archives, under Guest Post Series. In this post, she describes her most recent project; the recording of her new album, Enigma. I’m both honoured…
Women Composers – A Graded Anthology For Piano
I’m delighted to introduce my new three-book piano series: Women Composers – A Graded Anthology For Piano (Schott Music). This series was published in February/March 2022 and was one of my lockdown projects. Schott and I worked on these publications over a significant period. I’m happy to say that this series won a Presto Music Award for…
Beginning Jazz Piano: Tim Richards
My guest writer today is renowned British jazz pianist, author, and educator Tim Richards. Tim has written numerous best-selling books and is a Schott Music author and composer. In this article, he offers an introduction to his latest series, Beginning Jazz Piano – A Introduction to Swing, Blues, Latin & Funk. Part 1 is the…
Pianists From The Past: James Booker
My Pianists From The Past series goes from strength to strength; I’m delighted that so many musicians have participated. You can read all the articles in this series on my blog archives page, here. Today’s post features jazz pianist James Booker. This article has been written by British jazz pianist, composer and educator Tim Richards,…
TIPA Live Show
Last week I wrote about the Tokyo International Piano Association (you can read this blog post, here), and this week I would like to continue with a little information about the new TIPA Live Show which will be taking place each month, hosted by TIPA’s artistic director, Aisa Ijiri. Japanese pianist Aisa will interview a…
Chakra Suite for Clarinet & Piano
2020 is not a year which we will remember fondly. It’s been extremely upsetting for us all to witness the demise of the ‘live’ performance what with the closing of theatres, concert halls, and many arts venues – and some will probably never re-open. Those of us who teach have been generally been fortunate, with…
Simply Driven: 5 Virtuoso Pieces
Simply Driven, published by Schott in their renowned Edition Schott Series, is a collection of five pieces intended for advanced to virtuoso level pianists: Frenzy, Aisa: Sand, Silk and Love, Enigma, Chasm and Time. Each piece proffers a completely different character, whilst still reflecting minimalist influences. Composed over a period of a year, four of…
Melanie Spanswick 