Trimming Down For The Holidays
A family in my street has gone to absolutely no trouble with their Christmas tree whatever. It has virtually nothing on it, except for a few red ribbons and the…
Eat Your Greens!
A thorough knowledge of scales and arpeggios is an absolute necessity for all serious students of the piano. Here are some tips for incorporating them into lessons and practice.
Q&A: How Do I Get A 12-Year Old To Practise Slowly?
A reader sent me in the following question, which feels more like a plea! I have been teaching a 12-year old boy for a couple of years now. He has…
On Touch (Part Two)
My second article on touch has just been published by Pianist Magazine. When I was first commissioned to write a series of three articles on touch, dealing with legato and staccato in the…
On Attitude & Gesture
Some years ago, I had the privilege of sitting in on some lessons taught by a colleague who specialised in teaching talented youngsters. Because she also had a background in…
The Fantasie-Impromptu: Some Ideas (Part Three)
Further to my first two posts, a reader has written in asking how to avoid the problem of fatigue in the RH in the forte passages from bar 13, and at the…
The Fantasie-Impromptu: Some Ideas (Part Two)
This is my second post on Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu. In the first, I proposed two different ways of choreographing the LH, the arm steering the hand in both. I also discussed…
The Fantasie-Impromptu: Some Ideas (Part One)
I have had several requests to talk about the Fantasie-Impromptu of Chopin. It's one of those evergreen pieces that everyone wants to play! There is so much to say on…
On Touch (Part One)
I was recently asked by Pianist Magazine to write a series of three articles on touch, which turned out to be more challenging than I had anticipated. The second article…
Contrapuntal Playing: The Art Of Disentanglement
On my shelves, I have several copies of Bach's 48 Preludes and Fugues, ranging from modern Urtexts to some dodgy editions by luminaries of yesteryear, with fancy performance directions, dynamics…