thoughts on piano teaching and beyond
Just as so many aspects of our normal daily lives have been severely disrupted or curtailed by the coronavirus pandemic, so has the graded music exams system. The three main exam boards, ABSRM, Trinity College London (TCL) and London College of Music (LCM), cancelled physical face-to-face exams and both sought to offer candidates the opportunity… Continue reading MTB Exams – graded music exams for the digital age
I'm selling some previous exam syllabus books, accompanying tests (aural and sight-reading) and other scores. Although these are from previous years' exam syllabuses (ABRSM and Trinity), teachers and students may find them useful for additional repertoire etc. If you are interested in purchasing any of this music, please contact me ABRSM piano exam pieces 2019/2020… Continue reading Sheet music for sale
Fans of John Rutter's choral music will delight in this collection of eight of his best-loved works transcribed for solo piano
Piano Portals: 7 Secrets to Technique from Out of This World - pianist & teacher Stephen Marquiss introduces Piano Portals
A new book from Nathan Holder takes a wide-ranging and eclectic approach to piano music and other facts about the piano. Primarily aimed at teenagers, there is much in this to appeal to the piano enthusiast of any age.
Amidst all the recordings of virtuoso repertoire comes this delightful collection from pianist and creator of Pied Piper Music Christopher Northam.
This is a transcript of an article I wrote to accompany the release of Trinity College London's new piano syllabus, for which I also contributed teaching notes. Here I introduce the new piano syllabus for Grades 3 to 5 and explores some of my favourite pieces from the repertoire. For music examples, please see the… Continue reading New Trinity College London piano syllabus – exploring the repertoire
The simple answer to this question is "no". But the recent, rather heated discussion around the inclusion of pieces by Ludovico Einaudi in the new ABRSM piano syllabus revealed that some teachers feel it is their duty to steer their students to music which aligns more closely with their own tastes. A number suggested that… Continue reading Should our own tastes in music influence our students’ choices of repertoire?
Divisive as ever, the inclusion of two pieces by Ludovico Einaudi in the ABRSM’s 2021-22 piano syllabus has generated some heated discussion around the pedagogic merits of his work. Teachers who enjoy his music are happy to see him included. Others do not like his work but are pleased on behalf of their students. The rest are dismayed, seeing it as representative of a dumbing down of standards.
It's sad to find the all-too-common snobbery in classical music creeping in to reactions to the new piano syllabus from the ABRSM - a syllabus which has undergone quite a significant transformation from previous years to reflect the needs and tastes of piano students and teachers in the 21st century. (You can read detailed reviews… Continue reading Let’s not bash Einaudi
