A Scale Plan
So you know you have to practise your scales but you're not really that keen, and you find your mind is constantly wandering. You need some sort of plan, and…
A Practical Theory Lesson
Learn why starting with B major and D flat major scales simplifies piano learning. Chopin’s approach makes scales more comfortable for beginners. Discover practical exercises like the Circle of Fifths and improve your piano teaching techniques!
Practising the Piano Part 3 – Scales and Arpeggios
It seems to me that a thorough knowledge of scales and arpeggios is an absolute necessity for all serious students of the piano. Western music is built on the major/minor…
My New eBook on Scales and Arpeggios
I’m delighted to announce the launch of Part 3 of my eBook series, Practising the Piano. Part 3 is a single, bumper volume on scales and arpeggios starting with a guide…
Don’t Play!
We tend to think of sitting at the piano and practising totally in terms of making sounds. If we’re not moving our fingers up and down, we’re not really practising,…
Watch What You Say!
Over the years in my teaching, I have noticed the tendency for some students to need to preface their playing with an often lengthy verbal introduction – a description of…
Tackling a Programme
I had an interesting question from a reader in Australia, so this week I thought I would address the issue of how to learn a programme consisting of multiple pieces.…
Efficient Practising for Busy People
This is the follow-up to last week's post, in which I outlined the first few stages for cleaning up a piece beset by errors, stumbles, approximations and other anomalies that…
Practising the Piano Part 1 eBooks available on Amazon
I am pleased to announce that all three volumes of Part 1 of my Practising the Piano eBook series are now available on the Amazon Kindle store via the following…
Spring Cleaning a Repertoire Piece
Do you have a favourite piece you just love to play, but end up feeling disappointed that you're just not doing the piece (or yourself) justice each time you drag…