Slow Practice: The Sequel
I am very glad last week's post on enjoying slow practice seemed to have interested quite a lot of readers. While practising a fast or fast-ish piece very slowly is…
Improve Your Sight Reading – Away From the Piano!
According to his memoirs, Artur Rubinstein learned César Franck’s Symphonic Variations on a train on his way to the concert. As there was obviously no piano on the train, he made…
Fixing Mistakes
There have been two interesting blog posts this week that have caught my attention, one by Dr. Noa Kageyama - 8 Things Top Practicers Do Differently - and the other by…
More on the Pedal
Further to last week's post on pedalling through rests, a reader wrote to me asking why Rachmaninov added the rests at the beginning of the G minor Etude Tableau if he…
Pedalling and Rests
Rests in piano music can be confusing. Some rests we have to treat very literally - this means a noticeable silence - whereas others may simply mean don't play anything on…
Ad Hoc Pedalling
I have an adult diploma student who is incredibly meticulous and organised. He needs to be fully in control of everything he does - in his professional work, and at…
Some Favourite Pianists: Part Four
As an Englishman, I want to include some English pianists in this short favourites series. However, I would be on very dodgy ground if I chose some but not others,…
Some Favourite Pianists: Part Three
While I have plenty of favourite pianists who are still very much with us, I decided to explore some names you might not have come across, whose playing you might…
Some Favourite Pianists: Part Two
I have just returned from an exciting week of playing and teaching at the Summer School for Pianists in Walsall, where I heard some wonderful piano playing from my colleagues and from…
Some Favourite Pianists: Part One
It is summer time in the UK, and because I have a couple of recitals to play I need to do some practising of my own. So, rather than write…