Our Practice Clinics return on 10 September
Is there a passage that never seems to become secure, a technical problem you are not quite sure how to solve, or an aspect of practising that continually leaves you feeling stuck?
Our Practice Clinics are designed for exactly these situations. They give you the opportunity to bring your practising questions and challenges to Graham Fitch and get practical solutions and approaches for tackling them.
The next Practice Clinic takes place on Thursday 10 September at 18:30 BST, returning after the summer break and kicking off our autumn programme.
What happens in a Practice Clinic?
We all encounter challenges in practice. Sometimes the problem is obvious, but we’re not sure how best to tackle it. At other times, we can spend a great deal of time working on something without really understanding why it isn’t improving.
Recognising the problem is one thing; solving it can be another. Drawing on his extensive experience as both a pianist and teacher, Graham works through selected questions, offering fresh approaches and effective solutions to even the most stubborn practising problems.
And you don’t need to have submitted a question yourself to benefit. Someone else’s problem can often shed light into your own practising, giving you ideas you can take back to your pieces.
What are you struggling with?
Perhaps you are dealing with:
- a passage that never seems to feel secure;
- a technical difficulty you are unsure how to approach;
- problems with fingering, rhythm or coordination;
- memorisation that feels unreliable;
- a piece that does not seem to improve however much you practise it;
- preparing something for performance;
- uncertainty about which practising strategy to use.
Or maybe you simply know that something isn’t working, but aren’t sure what to change.
Online Academy members: submit a question for Graham
If you’re an Online Academy subscriber, you can submit a question for Graham to consider for the next Clinic. Simply sign in to your dashboard and look under Subscription Benefits for the question submission form.
Join us for the Practice Clinic
You don’t need to submit a question or to be an Online Academy subscriber to take part. Anyone can join us for the Practice Clinic on 10 September.
Sign up for the Practice Clinic mailing list using the form below to receive registration details and joining instructions if you’d like to watch live, together with a link to the recording afterwards if you’re unable to attend:
Ask the Faculty
This September’s Practice Clinic is only the beginning…
This October, the Online Academy celebrates its 10th birthday, and as part of the celebrations we’re giving pianists an opportunity to put their questions to members of our faculty.
Maybe you’d like advice on technique, interpretation or preparing for performance. Or perhaps there’s another aspect of piano playing that you’ve always wanted to ask an expert about?
Ask the Faculty gives you the chance to draw on the insight and experience of some of the leading teachers and specialists who contribute to the Online Academy. Send us your question and we’ll match selected questions with faculty members who are particularly well placed to respond.
It’s open to everyone. We’ll be revealing much more about our 10th birthday celebrations soon, with selected Ask the Faculty video responses forming part of them. In the meantime, please submit your question by Sunday 13 September.
Coming up this autumn
Become a More Well-Rounded Keyboard Player
A week after the Practice Clinic, composer, pianist and educator Lona Kozik turns the focus to the wider musicianship skills that support how we learn, play and experience music.
In this practical workshop, she brings together music theory, ear training, sight reading and keyboard harmony, showing how skills that are often studied separately from our day-to-day playing can help you hear more clearly, learn repertoire more efficiently and remember it more reliably.
Explore previous Practice Clinics
If you’d like a taste of the kinds of questions we explore, you can browse recordings and highlights from previous Practice Clinics.
From solving specific technical problems to finding more effective ways of practising, the archive offers an extensive collection of practical ideas and insights across a wide range of repertoire that you can apply to your own playing.
Still looking for a project to take into the new term?
Our summer course offers are available for a little longer, with a selection of resources to help you develop your playing, strengthen your foundations or begin something new.
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