Tips for a Natural Hand Position
My approach to piano technique is based on using movements that are most natural to the body, movements that are free, loose and that feel good. It is most important…
The History of Piano Technique (Part 1)
Writing about the history of piano technique for my new eBook I recalled vividly my harpsichord studies with Ruth Dyson at the RCM, and her insistence that the fingers play from…
Five Fingers
My piano chum, Leon Whitesell, has a brand new Facebook group called Piano Playing Questions. In a recent post, Leon referred to the five-finger exercise formulae of famous Russian teacher,…
Chess or Checkers?
I have written extensively about the subject of slow practice on this blog and elsewhere. Since slow practice is such a cornerstone of our practice routine I don't apologise for making a…
The Fantasie-Impromptu: Some Ideas (Part Two)
This is my second post on Chopin's Fantasie-Impromptu. In the first, I proposed two different ways of choreographing the LH, the arm steering the hand in both. I also discussed…
Some Thoughts on Five-Finger Exercises: Variations on a Theme by Hanon
Almost every book of piano exercises has a chapter dealing with five-finger exercises, and a lot of pianists won't feel warmed up and ready to face their practice session without…
Eliminating Tension(2): Braced Conditions Of The Hand And Wrist
Yes, I know I was going to talk about forearm rotation this week, but inspiration took me elsewhere. I'll get to that soon, I promise! This post deals with how…
Tools for Memorisation
Here is the second part of my article MIND OVER MEMORY, published last year in Pianist Magazine. Remember, everyone who has ever played the piano in public has had that horrible…
On Passagework
There are innumerable examples in the piano repertoire of what is commonly known as "passagework", a string of fast notes that lasts either a few bars, a whole section, or…
On Double Notes (Part One)
Technikos: "of, or pertaining to art, artistic, skilful" But there is no difference between interpretation and technique. Every dynamic and nuance must be produced simultaneously by a technical means (Walter…