As the new term gets underway, many will be preparing for music exams at the end of the year and the aim of this post is to provide a few extra pointers and ideas for last-minute preparations. Once the pieces have been learnt, scales, arpeggios and technical work is all in place, and the dreaded…
Tag: Trinity College Exams
Do Piano Exams Matter?
On returning from my holiday, I enjoyed reading Rosie Millard’s recent interesting and thought-provoking article in The Telegraph deliberating over the benefits of music exams (you can read it here). She labels herself a ‘pushy’ parent, although I don’t find her approach particularly ‘pushy’. I think her concerns are fairly natural amongst parents who want…
Kay Tucker in conversation with Melanie Spanswick
My Music Talk Series continues today ‘Cellist Kay Tucker who is the founder and director of Stringbabies. Stringbabies is a method of teaching stringed instruments to young children. It has twice been shortlisted for the Inaugural Rhinegold Music Teachers Awards for Excellence in music education. I met up with Kay recently at Steinway Hall in…
Some thoughts on chordal playing in the Scottish Legend Op. 54 No. 1 by Amy Beach
It’s great to highlight female composers and Trinity College Exam Board’s Grade 8 syllabus has revealed a gem of a piece, by the American pianist and composer Amy Beach. Beach (1867-1944) was the first successful American female composer of large-scale art music. Most of her compositions and performances appeared under the name of Mrs. H.H.A….
