Make the most of your piano lessons by recording them. There are a number of benefits in doing this, not least the ability to recall word for word and note for note the interaction between you and your teacher, and the chance to listen again to comments, suggestions and passages which you went over during… Continue reading The benefits of recording your piano lessons
Author: The Cross-Eyed Pianist
Frances Wilson is a pianist, writer, music and arts reviewer, music PR, and blogger on classical music and pianism under the pen name 'The Cross-Eyed Pianist'
The Well Rounded Musician
A guest post by Pamela Rose Much is said about nurturing the “well rounded musician”. Examining boards, conservatoires and teachers aspire to nurturing them. What is one exactly? [no fattist jokes please!] For me, it is someone who understands the music they play, visually, aurally and practically; who has connected these 3 elements (or sides… Continue reading The Well Rounded Musician
Purrfect Practice ‘Technique Trainer’
Purrfect Practice was created by Australian piano teacher Jackie Sharp. Her new Technique Trainer 1 is intended as the first volume in a three-part series of e-books of technical and musical exercises that develop the many skills necessary for achieving excellence and artistry at the piano. With an engaging and accessible design, Technique Trainer covers… Continue reading Purrfect Practice ‘Technique Trainer’
‘The Virtuoso Teacher’ seminar with Paul Harris
Renowned educator, writer and clarinetist Paul Harris, author of innumerable books on sight-reading, music theory and music teaching as well as original compositions, led a seminar based around the ideas set out in his seminal book T'he Virtuoso Teacher' (Faber, 2012). The book focuses on the core issues of being a teacher and the teaching… Continue reading ‘The Virtuoso Teacher’ seminar with Paul Harris
40-Piece Challenge
This excellent initiative was started by Australian piano teacher and composer Elissa Milne and was taken up by the music publisher Hal Leonard Australia in 2013. The purpose was to promote and implement the concept of students learning a huge quantity of piano pieces in one year. The main purpose of this exercise was to… Continue reading 40-Piece Challenge
Trinity College of London new piano syllabus – an overview
In July 2014 the new Trinity College of London (TCL) piano grade exam syllabus was released. I have enjoyed teaching the TCL syllabus and my students have enjoyed learning the pieces: some highlights of the previous syllabus include Fanfare for the Common Cold (Grade 2), Allegro Non Troppo (Grade 2), Song of Twilight (Grade 3)… Continue reading Trinity College of London new piano syllabus – an overview
Small people at the piano – a student concert
This weekend I had the great pleasure of attending a concert given by students of my friend and piano teaching colleague Rebecca Singerman-Knight. Based, like me, in Teddington, SW London, Rebecca specialises in early years' piano tuition, as well as children and adult beginners and returners. Most of the children performing in her concert were… Continue reading Small people at the piano – a student concert
Professionalism in Private Piano Teaching – a presentation for The Oxford Piano Group
I was delighted to be invited to contribute to a very interesting and stimulating discussion on the subject of professionalism in piano teaching at the The Oxford Piano Group on 29th October 2014. Other contributors to this important debate were Nigel Scaife (Syllabus Director, ABRSM), Lucinda Mackworth-Young and Sharon Mark-Teggart (Evoco) who each gave presentations… Continue reading Professionalism in Private Piano Teaching – a presentation for The Oxford Piano Group
At the Piano with……. Nadine Andre
What is your first memory of the piano? My parents moved from Hammersmith to Surrey when I was 3 years old, and the house they bought came with an old grand piano that was left behind! I remember being fascinated by the keyboard and what went on behind the lid. I had my first lesson… Continue reading At the Piano with……. Nadine Andre
An image crisis in independent piano teaching?
This article first appeared on my sister blog The Cross-Eyed Pianist I recently ran a survey, Perceptions of Independent Piano Teachers, as part of some research for a paper I am writing to present at the Oxford Piano Group meeting at the end of this month. Originally intended to offer some insight into whether private… Continue reading An image crisis in independent piano teaching?
A Piano Teacher Writes... 