Getting the most from this great hobby!
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...
"Become more accurate at the piano"Continue reading
Aimed at returning pianists Are you returning to piano after a break or perhaps looking for a set of pieces aimed to gradually build or rebuild your technique … this is my third instalment on Melanie Spanswick’s Play It Again Piano Book 2 – today looking at the third piece she has chosen – one...
It’s about the speed A friend of mine told me that his piano teacher had recommended he try staccato practice when needing to build speed with something. I didn’t think about it too much at the time, but as I have a couple of projects at the moment that are requiring me to get up...
"Will Staccato Practice make me faster at the piano?"Continue reading
This post is to go with my YouTube Video comparing Piano Practice to baking a Layer Cake. I often want to tackle pieces that are way beyond my current technical level. This means that by definition I need to gain the technique which I will need in order to be able to manage the new...
"Piano Practice: A Layer Cake Approach"Continue reading
This post is to go with my YouTube video Today I’d like to share a neat trick I found to help when trying to master a couple of tricky Waltzes on the piano. That trick is to play it in 4/4 time. You might think I’ve gone mad – a Waltz by definition is in...
"Piano Practice Idea: Waltzing in 4/4 time?"Continue reading
This post is to go with my YouTube video https://youtu.be/0Nz8ibdQUOI. Ever struggled to decide how fast (or slow) to play something – especially when there’s no metronome marking on the score? This is the case with most classical music and, in fact, you’d have to think about how useful they might really be in reality...
"Piano Practice: Choosing the ideal tempo – no metronome required"Continue reading