Some Useful Books
It's that festive time of year, and you may want to do a little book shopping. Here is a selection of books on piano playing that are at the top…
More Thoughts on Slow Practising
I am convinced it is not possible to say too much about slow practising or to overemphasise its importance. Here are one or two random thoughts on the subject, which…
Practice v Performance
A colleague put this quotation up on his Facebook wall this week, and while these golden words are from one of the greatest violinists of the last century, they apply…
More on Passagework
Last week's post on passagework dealt with a fair amount of mechanics. Here, I would like to outline a process which strengthens everything - the ear, the memory and the…
On Passagework
There are innumerable examples in the piano repertoire of what is commonly known as "passagework", a string of fast notes that lasts either a few bars, a whole section, or…
Green Fingers
Over the past few weeks in my teaching, I have found myself repeating what I consider a truism about practising, so I thought it might be worth writing about. Not…
The Baroque Urtext Score – Tempo and Rhythm (4)
I was hoping this would be the last post in this series, but I can't quite squeeze everything I want to say in this week's offering, so I crave your…
The Baroque Urtext Score – Articulation (3)
Articulation in music is understood to mean the way notes are connected or grouped - this involves accentuation and, to some extent, rhythmic inflection. While François Couperin was an obsessive control…
The Baroque Urtext Score – Dynamics (2)
I would like to suggest some guidelines for using dynamics in the music of Bach (and others) at the piano. The only absolute rule, in my book, is to play expressively!…
The Baroque Urtext Score – A User’s Guide (1)
Further to last week's post about taking ownership, I thought I might say a few words about this in relation to Urtext scores - of Bach in particular (click here…