The History of Piano Technique: Studies and Exercises
There has been much feedback and lively debate on last week's post about Czerny and his legacy of studies and exercises. It seems some piano teachers firmly believe in assigning…
A Tool for Memory Work: Tracking
Memorising a piece takes plenty of time and energy, and requires a strategy more sophisticated than simply closing the score after several weeks of reading it. Some memory work is…
Playing by Ear
I had an email from a reader asking how he could learn to play by ear, so here are some random thoughts on the subject. When we play by ear…
Eat Your Greens!
A thorough knowledge of scales and arpeggios is an absolute necessity for all serious students of the piano. Here are some tips for incorporating them into lessons and practice.
The Analytic Memory
I have had several requests for an article on memorisation. Since I already wrote one last year for Pianist Magazine, entitled Mind Over Memory, I thought I would include it…
Five-a-Side Team Events: Some Thoughts on Chord Playing
In my youth I was fortunate enough to have some lessons with Philip Fowke, the first one was on Rachmaninov's rather overplayed Prelude in C sharp minor. I recall the…
An Energy Saving Tip
The other day the bulb in my piano lamp blew. It was the only light I had on in the room, and because it was dark outside and I was…
More on Passagework
Last week's post on passagework dealt with a fair amount of mechanics. Here, I would like to outline a process which strengthens everything - the ear, the memory and the…
Silent Practice: The Art of Inner Listening
Somewhat reluctantly, I have just sold on my Virgil Practice Clavier, having watched it gather dust and take up space for the past few years. For those of you too…
Overpracticers Hanonymous
It is not so much what we practise, but how; it is the quality rather than the quantity that matters. We need a specific aim when practising an exercise, a piece, a phrase…