On Tempo Relationships
I was working with someone on Schubert’s B flat Impromptu last week, a set of variations on the so-called “Rosamunde” theme. Variation form always poses a tempo challenge to the…
Our Inner Conductor
In some Romantic music it may be appropriate to change tempo slightly when the musical idea changes, even if this is not specified in the score. This is just one…
A Scale Plan
So you know you have to practise your scales but you're not really that keen, and you find your mind is constantly wandering. You need some sort of plan, and…
Spring Cleaning a Repertoire Piece
Do you have a favourite piece you just love to play, but end up feeling disappointed that you're just not doing the piece (or yourself) justice each time you drag…
Firm Foundations
A late, esteemed colleague who had amazing sight reading skills once told me he never read through more than once a new piece he was about to learn. It was…
Q&A: How Do I Get A 12-Year Old To Practise Slowly?
A reader sent me in the following question, which feels more like a plea! I have been teaching a 12-year old boy for a couple of years now. He has…
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…
Practising Fast
Common sense suggests that if we can play a fast piece faster than intended, it will be easier to manage at the proper tempo, since we will have gone the…
More Thoughts on Slow Practising
I am convinced it is not possible to say too much about slow practising or to overemphasise its importance. Here are one or two random thoughts on the subject, which…
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…