We hope that you all had a peaceful and enjoyable Festive Season and that 2025 is off to an excellent start for you so far. We have an array of exciting of plans in store, including lots of new content and several events to inspire and energise your piano playing over the coming year!
In this blog post we share some details for our upcoming events and some links to resources to help you with any piano-related goals you might have for the New Year!
New Year Piano Goals
- Expand your repertoire – It’s always exciting learning new pieces and if you’re looking to build solid foundations from the outset, why not try our free email course on starting a new piece (click here to sign-up) or click here for some suggestions on choosing new pieces. If you’re seeking inspiration then have a look at our Pieces to Play series or visit our repertoire library for guidance for learning 300+ works!
- Hone your technique – Although it’s a means to an end, a refined technique is important for being able to realise our artistic aspirations at the piano. Our technique library contains a vast array of resources on technique, from advice on using studies and exercises to improve specific areas through to general tips for playing that feels and sounds good.
- Share your playing with others – Getting feedback on your playing or just sharing your playing with others can be an excellent way to improve and energise your playing. This article has some suggestions for how to approach performing as an amateur or you might find Adina Mornell’s course on developing your own recipe for performance success useful!
- Brush up on your theory knowledge – Understanding music theory gives us a wonderful insight into how music works and can also enable you to learn repertoire faster, interpret it more authentically and explore new worlds of improvisation and composition. This blog post has a listing of resources to help you build your theory knowledge.
- Develop your broader musical skills – With the emphasis so often being on developing technical skills and learning new pieces, many pianists neglect the development of general musical skills. Why not resolve to train your ear or improve your sight-reading? Or perhaps give improvisation a try?
Online Workshops
The Secrets of Experts (Part 2)
Our events programme kicks-off on 21st January with the first workshop of the second part of Adina Mornell’s Secrets of Experts course. This next part takes the knowledge about how the brain works, ways music can be learnt and memory strengthened and shows how it can be applied to optimise your practising.
Over the course of three workshops interspersed with practical exercises, you will discover how to tweak your practice strategies for more enjoyable, rewarding sessions and long-lasting success. Click here for more information and to book your place!
Applying the Practice Tools
Starting on the 8th of March, Graham Fitch will be presenting a series of interactive workshops to coincide with publishing of revised versions of his perennially popular practice tools videos. These workshops will use exercises at a variety of levels especially designed to show you how to apply the tools in your practising to pieces you are learning. You’ll also have the opportunity to try things out in the comfort of your own home and to get assistance and advice from Graham during the sessions. Click here to find out more!
Other events
In addition to the above, William Westney will present a hands-on workshop on how to incorporate the concepts from his Making Friends with the Notes series into your practising on 23rd February. Penelope Roskell will also be hosting a workshop for beginner pianists in early March and further details of these and other events will be announced shortly!
Our practice clinics will also resume with the first episode to be published in late January. If you are a subscriber and have a practising-related question you would like Graham to address then please sign-in to your account and use the link provided on your dashboard to submit your question by 10th January.
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The Practising the Piano Online Academy is the ultimate online resource for mastering the piano. It features a constantly growing library of thousands of articles, videos and musical excerpts on topics including practising, piano technique and performing from leading experts. Online Academy subscribers also get 40% off online workshops in addition to several other benefits.
Please click here to find out more about the Online Academy or on one of the options below to subscribe:
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