Getting the most from this great hobby!
Classical scores do not normally use chord symbols. If one appears above the stave in an edition of Chopin, it was almost certainly added later by an editor rather than written by Chopin himself. If your musical background is mainly classical, symbols such as Cmaj7, C9 or G7(♭9) can look as though they belong to...
"Do complex chord symbols help classical pianists?"Continue reading
Looking for something to help you get back into your piano playing …I’d like to tell you about Play it again Piano. These are a couple of books I discovered aimed specifically at people coming back to piano after a break. I also reviewed them on my YouTube channel if you prefer to watch rather...
"Play It Again Piano by Melanie Spanswick | Review"Continue reading
This article is part of my step by step guide on how to practice the piano effectively. It looks at how we diagnose problems in piano practice (a skill that changes everything). At some point, most of us reach a stage where practice starts to feel less effective. And yet… things don’t really improve. When...
"How to Diagnose Mistakes"Continue reading
This article is part of my guide to improving our piano playing and practising. How to Structure Our Piano Practice (Once Simple Routines Stop Working) Organising our practice time is incredibly important. Especially as busy adults, there are many calls on our time and we simply can’t afford to waste it. But before we get...
"How to define the right Piano Practice Routine"Continue reading
This article is part of my guide to Improving our Piano Playing One of the reasons we get stuck is that we tend to do too much of one type of practice. Either we simplify endlessly without ever testing ourselves … or we repeatedly try to play things “as written” without actually solving the problem....
"Pareto Piano Practice"Continue reading
This article is part of my guide to recording your piano at home. One of the biggest obstacles to getting great piano recordings is trying to capture both the audio and the video with the same device. Whether you look at a Hollywood film or a simple YouTube podcast, audio and video are almost always...
"How to Record Piano with Separate Audio and Video (It’s Easier Than You Think)"Continue reading
Being able to teach piano virtually became critical as the COVID pandemic took hold on the world. Even now, in these (hopefully) waning days of the pandemic, it seems certain that virtual piano lessons for adults (especially adults) are destined to remain popular. Health concerns aside, many adult piano students have discovered the enjoyment of...
"How to Teach Piano Virtually with Perfect Audio Quality"Continue reading
One common theme amongst we amateur pianists seems to be frustration with how long things can sometimes take us. We’ll often ask ourselves the question as to why aren’t I improving on piano. We’re programmed to believe that if we keep practising, then we should be seeing improvements all the time. Yet, the tough reality...
"Why aren’t I improving on piano?"Continue reading
Back in January, I was browsing through the usual ‘New Year’s resolution’ type posts on Facebook. In one of the Piano groups of which I’m a member, someone posted ‘what is the technique you’re going to be working on this year’? I innocently responded that my primary goal was to become a better musician. I...
"To become a better musician"Continue reading
