The Practice Sleuths Episode #6

By Informance, 2026-05-21 Posted in: Learning Pieces, Practising

Creativity in Practice

Graham Fitch and Adina Mornell return with a new episode of The Practice Sleuths to tackle a question that every pianist faces: how can we bring creativity into our practice and avoid going on autopilot?

Using a range of musical examples, they explore how imagination, experimentation and curiosity shape the way we practise, from avoiding mechanical repetition through to developing a more personal, expressive approach to music.

This episode is packed with ideas on how to make practice more engaging and effective, showing that real progress comes from a creative and exploratory approach to the process.

Works featured

  • Schubert: Impromptu in G-flat Major, Op. 90 No. 3 – Click here for open domain score or click here for Graham’s video lecture series on this work.
  • Chopin: Étude in E Major, Op. 10 No. 3 – Click here for open domain score
  • Debussy: Voiles (Préludes, Book I) – Click here for open domain score

Do you think of yourself as a performer?

Not everyone who plays the piano feels comfortable with that word.

You may play only for yourself, for family now and then, or avoid playing for others altogether – but the moment your music is heard by someone else can bring up all sorts of thoughts and feelings.

We’re starting a new conversation about that with a short survey. Whether you perform regularly, rarely, or not at all, we’d love to hear from you!

👉 Find out more and take the survey here!

Further resources & links

  • A Practice Toy Box – Click here for an article featuring a collection of practice tools and approaches to help make your practice sessions more creative and engaging.
  • Practice Clinics – Click here to view an index of our regular Practice Clinics in which Graham Fitch answers practising-related questions submitted by Online Academy subscribers.
  • The Secrets of Experts – Click here to find out more about Adina Mornell’s course on creating your own recipe for enjoyable, successful performances.

Future Episodes

A full archive of Practice Sleuth episodes will be available here as further episodes are added and in the meantime, be sure to sign-up to our mailing list to be notified of new episodes!