Improve Your Thumb Technique
Wouldn't it be great if Nature had designed our hands with the fingers in reverse order? If the "strong" thumb were on the outside of the hand and the "weak" pinky on…
On Pedalling, Slow Practice and Practical Theory
I’ve recently run a survey to find out what repertoire you would like to see me feature in blog articles, annotated study editions and in the Online Academy which I’m…
Securing a Fast Passage
The other day I was practising Chopin's 3rd Scherzo, a piece I have played regularly over the years. Because I haven't touched it in a while, I found it needed…
Rediscovering Bach’s Prelude in C
The C major Prelude from Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in C (Book 1 of the WTC) is very familiar to us all. This beautiful progression of harmony in broken chord texture continues to inspire generations of keyboard players.
Nimble Chromatics
When it comes to fingerings, it helps to understand the principles behind certain fingering patterns we find in our scores, rather than just merely playing what we see. In this…
Guest Post: Why Take a Performance Diploma?
This week's post is a guest post by Frances Wilson - pianist, piano teacher, concert reviewer and blogger as The Cross-Eyed Pianist. Frances asks the pertinent question - why take a…
Applying the Stepladder Approach
At the core of my practice tools are what I call The Three S's - or Slowly, Separately, Sections. They refer to nitty-gritty practising, the sort of thing we do not…
Raise the Bar Competition
It is with great pleasure that I announce the publication of a new series from Trinity College London for which I have written the teaching notes, called Raise the Bar. In the…
The Practice Stepladder
I’m a great believer in practising fugues one voice at a time, and then in all possible combinations of voices before putting the fugue together. This is valuable not only in…
The Metronome: Friend or Foe?
Solving a problem at the piano may have nothing whatever to do with technique in the mechanical sense. To attempt to solve it by analysing physical movements, hand and arm positions and…