Resources for Studying Bach
Quite a lot of my students bring the works of JS Bach to lessons, which is always a delight. I often find myself directing them to various different sources to…
Look, No Feet!
People think in terms of pianists' fingers - not their feet - but a direct line of communication from our ear to our right foot is an absolute necessity and…
Q&A: How Can We Use Rotation in a Scale?
Q. You speak about forearm rotation in your eBook and in your YouTube video on scales and arpeggios, but I think of rotation as a large movement for things like…
Slaying the Dragon
Piano playing can never be an exact science. We will not always be able to say with absolute precision or certainty how we arrived at a particular result in our…
There’s a Hole in my Bucket
Imagine a situation where you have to fetch water using a bucket. The problem is your bucket has a few holes in it, and on the journey from the well…
An Arpeggio Practice Plan
If you're preparing your scales and arpeggios for an exam, or if you want to include some as part of your warm-up routine or technical regime, it is a good…
Announcing a Survey – Performance Anxiety among Pianists
There was a time when performing artists would not readily admit to suffering from stage fright, or performance anxiety. They kept this to themselves so they could maintain the illusion…
Managing Arpeggios
Scales and arpeggios are an important part of the developing pianist's technical regime, especially for those who go through graded examinations. Having looked at scale playing in recent posts, I…
Our Inner Conductor
In some Romantic music it may be appropriate to change tempo slightly when the musical idea changes, even if this is not specified in the score. This is just one…
Making Scales Sound and Feel Good
Some years ago I was invited to give a class on scales and arpeggios for a piano teachers’ association. There was one advancing student who was really struggling with them…