Q&A: Exam Preparation
A reader sent in the following question, to which I hope I have given an adequate response. Please feel free to leave comments and let's start a discussion on the…
Snapping The Shutter
Last week at Steinway Hall in London, I made a series of three new video demonstrations for Pianist Magazine. At the end of the filming, we stopped to take some…
Mirror Mirror On The Wall
I once had to do up someone else's tie and found the only way I could do it was to stand behind and pretend I was putting it on myself.…
The Monkey And The Typewriter
If you gave an infinite number of monkeys an infinite number of typewriters, would they eventually produce the complete works of Shakespeare? This favourite question of barstool philosophers seems relevant…
Snakes And Ladders
In life, we repeat certain ways of doing things until they become habits - until we become unconscious of them and do them without thinking (and without the need to…
Piano Graffiti
Recently I ordered a new item of furniture, and when it arrived the delivery man plonked his clipboard onto my piano and there began to do his paperwork. This gesture…
Eliminating Tension(2): Braced Conditions Of The Hand And Wrist
Yes, I know I was going to talk about forearm rotation this week, but inspiration took me elsewhere. I'll get to that soon, I promise! This post deals with how…
Eliminating Tension (1)
There are many reasons for tension at the keyboard. Faulty training is an obvious one, inefficient use of the body another. Yet tension does not always have its origins in…