The Piano Teachers’ Course UK Continuing Professional Development Days
I am one of the principal tutors on The Piano Teachers' Course UK, and am delighted to announce a new venture that we're starting this year, a series of seven…
Pedalling for Resonance
In the days before the piano was invented, harpsichordists did not have any sort of sustaining device and so created resonance using the technique of overholding (or finger pedalling). On…
Create First! Teaching Improvisation from Lesson One
This week’s guest post features an article by pianist, composer, and educator Forrest Kinney. In his post, Forrest introduces his approach to a creativity-based model for music education in which…
On Rhythm: How to Develop a Steady Pulse
I decided to put together an occasional series on rhythm, in response to readers who say they experience rhythmical issues when they play. There are many factors that may contribute…
The New Look Online Academy!
We’re delighted to announce that after some extensive development work during the course of the summer, the new look Online Academy website is finally live. The Online Academy’s content has…
How to Begin a New Piece: Part 1
In 2015 I published a series of what turned out to be six posts on how to begin a new piece. At this time of the year, many people are…
The Myth of Perfection
Debunking the myth of perfection in piano performance and suggestions for achieving healthy perfectionism when practising a performance.
On Practice versus Playing Through
I am republishing this relatively recent post (from March, 2017) because I think it is crucial to keep reminding ourselves that playing through a piece is a different activity from…
How to Manage Repetition in Practice
First published in June, 2017, this post addresses the issue of how many times we repeat a passage, and what should be going through our head as we do so.…
Enjoying Ultra-Slow Practice
First published on October 16, 2014, Enjoying Ultra-Slow Practice came about in response to students who were trying to run before they could walk. I needed to find a way…