Getting the most from this great hobby!
We are often told that listening to recordings is good for piano students. Yet, recently, on one of my favourite Piano Facebook Groups, there was an interesting post. It came from one of the Admins (Rami Bar-Niv). He posted that in his view, one of the most over-used and least useful pieces of advice proffered...
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OK, so it’s a bit click bait I admit. In fact, I’m not saying that we should not memorize piano music. Rather I’m saying that there is no absolute need to have to memorize everything. Often, people are almost bullied into thinking that they will perform less well with the score in front of them. ...
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We are often told that we shouldn’t learn piano music that is too difficult for us aren’t we? However, as adult learners it is advice that we frequently ignore. Personally, I’ve come to the conclusion that, within reason, we should largely please ourselves what we learn. I know that many will start shaking their heads...
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Did the title Lies to Pianists grab your attention? Is it click bait as they say? Actually it’s a critical part of my philosophy of how we can practice piano more effectively. Lies to Children is an expression I came across in the Terry Pratchett Book ‘The Science of Discworld’. For those of you unfamiliar...
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I was watching a video of the amazing Martha Argerich the other day. Whilst watching her play, she seemed to be almost nonchalantly throwing her hands in the general direction of the notes she wanted to play, yet, of course, landed each one with pinpoint accuracy. This had me start thinking more about what the...
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Practising problem passages in context is the Integrate step of my Four Step Piano Process. It’s how we get from isolated technical problems to flowing passage. What do I mean by practising problem passages in context? Let me start with this hilarious image I came across on Twitter a long time ago. I think it...
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When I read Neuhaus Book ‘The Art of Piano Playing‘, I was fascinated to read his reflection that ‘modern technology’ might completely remove the need for piano teachers. Of course, by modern technology, he wasn’t referring to what we think of as modern now, but to simple recordings (both audio and video). He gives an...
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We’re all familiar with hearing how certain pianists have a fantastic ‘tone’ at the piano. We’ve all probably read numerous articles telling us how we need to concentrate on ‘tone production’ at the piano. However, how often is it even clear how we should do that? What is more important, training the fingers or training...
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I have come to the conclusion that The Art of Piano Playing by Heinrich Neuhaus is essential reading for pianists. At the time of writing, most of the world is in lockdown so what better time to further our piano studies. It was first published in the UK in 1973 and has been reprinted many...
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An essential piano practice strategy is to keep it simple! We are often are advised to use the 3 S’s whilst practising piano. That is to say: All three of these piano practice strategies have one thing in common – they are based on the principle of ‘simplification’. After all, playing something slowly is simpler...
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