Q&A: How Can We Use Rotation in a Scale?
Q. You speak about forearm rotation in your eBook and in your YouTube video on scales and arpeggios, but I think of rotation as a large movement for things like…
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…
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…
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…
Practising Softly
One of the most skillful and useful ways to practise is softly, especially loud passages. Let me start with an anecdote. In the early 80s I had the great good…
Voicing Chords
A chord is officially two or more notes played simultaneously, but there are probably as many species of chords as there are of spiders. There is so much to say…