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 currently working on. This survey was a follow-on from an open-ended survey I ran in January which covered both repertoire and topics. My team has analysed the responses and we would like to take the opportunity now to let you know what the most popular topics were.

The first question asked what specific areas of technique you would like me to address, and the most popular requests were:

• Pedalling
• Ornaments
• Learning complex, irregular rhythms

The next question asked which specific areas of practising you would like to see covered in more detail, and the most popular responses were:

• Slow practice
• Quarantining
• Memorisation

I also asked about other topics not currently covered on our blog or within our eBook series, and the following have come up:

• Practical theory and harmony
• Injury prevention and healthy playing
• Improvisation and playing by ear

Many thanks to everyone who responded, your feedback is very much appreciated and I will be incorporating it into the content for the Online Academy.

I have already taken a number of your suggestions on board, and I am busy working on materials that feature them. Here are some of things I am working on right now:

• Various articles on The Practice Tools, with video demonstrations and cross references to the repertoire you have chosen.
• Have you ever wondered how you are going to fill in the gaps in your understanding of theory and harmony? You know you need to know more, and you would be willing to take a course but you just can’t seem to find the right one. I am addressing this need in the Online Academy with be a section on the new site dedicated to applying theoretical concepts and helping you gain an understanding of how harmony works in a practical, hands-on way using repertoire rather than dry text book examples.
• Because pedalling was one of the most requested topics, I have just finished a series of articles and videos using a variety of interesting filming techniques and camera angles that explore the subject in a comprehensive way across a wide range of repertoire.
• We have a number of resources (not just from me) dealing with healthy piano playing and injury prevention.
• I have just finished a big series on handling those pesky polyrhythms, giving step-by-step directions on how to master them with loads of video clips and examples from the repertoire.
• Right now I am writing another series exploring how to deconstruct a score for the purposes of deep learning and also for digging solid technical foundations.
• Next on my to-do list is how to use controlled stops in practice (rather than being controlled by accidental ones!).
• I shall also be starting on what will turn into another big series on memorisation, taking you through some of the processes involved from the very start to your secure, performance-ready version.

As a result of a successful crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, a number of special pre-launch offers for the Online Academy are still available. These include taster subscriptions which give you a choice of ten lessons or articles from the Online Academy and discounted annual subscriptions which give you access to all content and resources (including the materials listed above). Please click here to visit the campaign page to find out more or click here to view sample content on the Online Academy demo site.