Category Archives: General

Should you ever put your piano in storage?

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It’s a heartbreaking decision many pianists face at one time or another. You have to move to a smaller home – or maybe move overseas for a new job – and you just don’t have space to keep your piano with you. Or it’s simply not practical.

At first sight, the choice seems to be between selling your piano and putting it in storage. Neither option is easy. Naturally, storage seems like the least-worst. At least then you don’t have to part with your beloved piano.

The trouble with storage…..

Storage is far from perfect, however. On the one hand, it can end up costing you thousands per year just to hold onto an instrument that you never play. On the other, the ambient temperature and conditions in many storage warehouses are not optimal for keeping your piano in good condition.

Too dry, and many of the parts of the instrument will contract. Too humid, and many of the parts will swell. These conditions could lead to loose tuning pins, loosening or drying out of glue joints, blemishes in the finish, even rusting strings. And an expensive restoration bill when you do finally take your piano out of storage.

One piano shop owner and restorer told us that he was recently given two pianos to restore. Both of them had been damaged by their time in storage. One of them had had all its felt parts eaten away by moths!

A better alternative…….

Now, the ideal humidity level for a piano is around 40%. And while you might want to check with prospective storage providers that they can guarantee this if they take your piano, there is a third option to consider.

Why not give your piano to a shop to rent out for you?

This is a great option that means your piano will be taken care of. Any issues with its condition will be spotted and treated right away – and the shop will take care of them for you. All at no charge to you, because they’ll be paying for maintenance and upkeep out of the money they make on the rental.

Just think – your piano will be properly cared for. You won’t have to shell out thousands a year in storage fees. And, best of all, it will still be yours. So you can claim it back at any time.

If you’re moving to a smaller home, talk to your piano mover to see if they know any reputable shops who can handle this for you. Most professional removal firms will be able to do this if you ask them.

Or you can do a search yourself for local piano shops who may be able to help. Talk to them so you can be satisfied they’ll take care with your piano. The peace of mind and savings you’ll enjoy are sure to outweigh any possible inconvenience.

 

This article was written by Damien Seaman, brand manager of buzzmove.com, a site where people can compare reliable removal companies

 

This is a sponsored post. All information was supplied by buzzmove

Disclaimer: Frances Wilson’s Piano Studio does not necessarily endorse organisations that provide sponsored posts which link to external websites, and does not endorse products or services that such organisations may offer. In addition, Frances Wilson’s Piano Studio does not control or guarantee the currency, accuracy, relevance, or completeness of information found on linked, external websites. However, every effort is made to ensure such information contained on this site is accurate at the time of publication.

Let’s Play Piano! No excuses!

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There is absolutely no need to regret not having learned to play an instrument simply because it is truly never too late to do so. Sure, people like to tell themselves that they’re too old for learning something new, but that’s just not true because we never actually cease to learn new things.

The only thing that stands in the way of you playing the piano is making the conscious decision to learn how to play. To avoid the hassle of finding a piano teacher and rearranging your schedule to commit to lessons, piano-teaching apps such as flowkey exist.

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Learning the piano has never been easier or more comfortable than it is in our day and age. Although no app can fully replace an experienced piano teacher, flowkey comes pretty close! flowkey teaches you all there is to know about playing the piano and reading sheet music in the comfort of your home. All you need to get started is a computer (PC, Mac, laptop) or tablet (iOS and Android) and your instrument (piano, digital keyboard, etc.). Open the app in your web browser or download the app for your tablet, sign up, and you’re all set.

HOW TO BEGIN YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY

Signing up for flowkey is a quick and easy process. You answer three questions to enable the app to categorize your level of experience and create a specific learning plan just for you, and you’re all set to go. The way the app works is simple: you choose a piece of music and start learning it. “But how does that work,” you might ask, “if you have no experience reading sheet music?” Ah, not to worry: the app’s player not only shows you the sheet music that “flows” across your screen but also a bird’s-eye view of a professional pianist’s hands, playing the music. These keys are even highlighted with bright colors to make it easier to follow along visually.

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One very helpful feature of flowkey is that it provides you with real-time feedback while allowing you to learn at your own pace. You don’t have to be shy or embarrassed to repeat a difficult section an extra time: flowkey is a friendly piano teacher that accommodates you and adapts to your desires and wishes. Speaking of wishes, if there’s a particular song or piece of music that you’d like to learn which isn’t available in the flowkey library, you can always contact the support team to request your song wish which then gets recorded and released in one of the upcoming monthly song releases.

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The bottom line is that flowkey is a great tool for people of all ages and levels. The songs and courses are meant for both beginners and advanced piano students who can take on the challenge of learning a difficult Chopin prelude or perhaps completing the “Chords & Pop Piano” course to improve their improvisation skills. The best way to start (or continue) your musical journey and test out this revolutionary method is to try it out for yourself!

Find out more

This is a sponsored post.

Faber Music Piano Anthology

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This attractive anthology contains a wealth of favourite piano pieces and gems of the repertoire, including Fur Elise, Gymnopedie No. 1, Solfegietto in c minor, La fille aux cheveux de lin, To A Wild Rose, and many other popular works by leading composers for the piano. There are also pieces by lesser-known composers such as Alkan, Guilmant, Lyadov and Maykapar. Many of the works will be familiar to teachers from piano grade exam repertoire, and for the student pianist it is a real treat to have such a rich selection of piano music compiled into a single volume. The pieces are organised by ability, starting with Bach’s evergreen Minuet in G, BWV 114, which is roughly Grade 2 level, and closing with Fauré’s Romance sans Paroles (Grade 8) thus offering a progressive and varied overview of popular classical piano repertoire. Compiled by pianist and teacher Melanie Spanswick, this large-format hardback  collection is presented with an eye-catching cover illustration (‘The Concerto’ by Cyril Edward Power) and coloured endpapers, high-quality paper and a ribbon marker.

I have to admit I found the format of the book slightly cumbersome when actually trying to play from it at the piano: the hardback cover is rather unforgiving. I would have also liked  more twentieth-century and contemporary piano repertoire included in the selection (pieces by Bartok and Prokofiev wouldn’t go amiss, for example), but the pieces are selected from Faber’s own music collection and perhaps some composers’ works were not available due to copyright constraints. Overall this anthology would make a very pleasing and long-lasting gift for pianists of all levels and ages.

To win a copy of The Faber Music Piano Anthology, please answer the following question

Who composed the piano miniature ‘To A Wild Rose’?

(Please use the contact form to reply)

Publisher: Faber Music

ISBN: 0571539572

RRP £22.00

Further information and ordering

Practising the Piano Online Academy goes live

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Those fortunate enough to have studied with acclaimed pianist, teacher and writer Graham Fitch will be very familiar with his intelligent, insightful, inspiring and highly accessible approach to piano playing. The internet allowed Graham to share his expertise and knowledge initially via his very popular and readable blog ‘Practising the Piano‘. This was followed by the hugely successful eBook series. Now Graham’s tried and tested methodologies are taken to the next level with the Practising the Piano Online Academy, a comprehensive library of lessons, video masterclasses, articles, and other material combined with insights from other leading experts. Aimed at piano teachers and pianists, these materials are presented in an intuitive, interactive and accessible manner, and provide a comprehensive range of resources to support pianists of all levels, and piano teachers too. The result of many years of experience teaching at the highest level in specialist music schools, conservatoires and universities around the world, and privately, Graham draws on his own practice tools, strategies and techniques, which he has tested and refined in his work with students of varying ages and levels of ability, to offer a significant new online learning resource.

For those unable to see Graham personally for one-to-one lessons, the Practising the Piano Online Academy offers an extensive and regularly updated library of lessons, articles and resources which:

  • Illustrate Graham’s methodologies and approach in more depth with multimedia content, interactive features and resources such as musical examples, worksheets and annotated scores which can be downloaded and printed.
  • Expand on practice tools and strategies with masterclasses and tutorials applying them to popular pieces in the repertoire, exam syllabuses and specific technical challenges.
  • Share the expertise of guest experts on subjects including applied theory, improvisation and healthy piano playing.
  • Be regularly updated, easily searchable and allow for personalisation with bookmarking and notes.
  • Be shaped by your input, responding to your questions and suggestions for new content to meet your needs.

Here are a couple of features which I feel are really valuable, especially to those pianists who are studying alone without the support of a regular teacher:

Learning Pieces section – collections of popular or favourite piano repertoire (for example, Grieg’s Lyric Pieces, Schubert’s Opus 90 Impromptus, Ravel’s Sonatine and Bach’s WTC, Book 1). Each work is presented as a mini-masterclass or lesson (called a “walk through”) with detailed guidance on specific technical issues, productive practising and some contextual and historical background. There are excerpts from scores and video clips to demonstrate and clarify the instructions. An additional feature for this section will eventually be links to annotated study editions, which will offer comprehensive information on how to approach the music, technically and artistically.

Technique – exercises – jail-breaking Hanon. For devotees of piano exercises, and those who are unsure about using them, this section explains and adapts Hanon’s exercises contained in The Virtuoso Pianist to make them relevant for today’s pianist and teacher. As with the “walk throughs” of pieces, these exercises are accompanied by explanatory video clips and score excerpts.

Practising. Here specific aspects of practising – slow practise, mastering polyrhythms, skeleton practise – are explained and demonstrated, with accompanying video clips and worksheets which can be downloaded to print out or saved to a tablet for use at the piano. In the Mastering Polyrhythms section, for example, the reader is not overloaded with information: instead, the subject is introduced and then explored through separate articles, allowing one to build one’s expertise gradually through intelligent, incremental practise.

Overall, the information is presented in an attractive and easy-to-read format, both on desktop computer and tablet, and the site is easy to navigate with clear menus, search functions and links, plus the ability to bookmark and save material to your personal library. The Practising the Piano Online Academy is an impressive addition to online piano study and piano teaching materials. The site is intended as a growing resource and also integrates with Graham’s blog, ebook series and forthcoming Annotated Study Editions. For more information and to sign up, visit https://informance.biz/products/practising-piano-online-academy/

Highly recommended.

At the Piano with Graham Fitch (interview with The Cross-Eyed Pianist)

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Piano Masterworks – a smart new app from Tido Music

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Tido, in partnership with renowned music publisher Edition Peters, has created a smart new iPad application for pianists which takes the educational app to new heights. Tido has already developed the Mastering the Piano app with Chinese superstar pianist Lang Lang, and therefore already had a stack of tech and musical know-how with which to build its latest app, Tido Music.

Most iPad music education apps are designed for children and young people, or for teachers to use with their students (such as Wolfie). Others, such as Tomplay, encourage independent learning combined with piano fun, but few offer detailed historical context, analysis, and instruction in the way Tido Music does.

What makes it special?

Tido Music is a platform for the discovery and performance of music. To achieve this, Tido has used Music Encoding Initiative’s open source framework which supports the development of dynamic notation. Put simply, for the end user, the app delivers interactive sheet music seamlessly layered with audio, video and text to allow musicians to feel more immersed in the music.

‘In designing Tido Music, our starting point was to find an architecture which could unite all the varied ways of experiencing music: notation, audio, literature, video and more…….We’ve created an app that does just that. Not only does it bring all the facets of music together in one place to create a truly immersive experience; it also features the very best content from some of the world’s leading performing artists and scholars.’

Brad Cohen, founder of Tido Music

The app has an attractive clean design and is very easy to navigate. Music is stored by composer in “volumes” – for example, Bach’s Two-Part Inventions, Chopin’s 24 Preludes – and for each piece, the user may listen to the music (played not by a MIDI player but beautifully by a real live pianist) and view the score. Tido’s technology includes a magic cursor, a mauve shadow which guides the user through the music (and which is far more comfortable on the eye than a coloured marker which some other music apps use). Within the score, the user can adjust the pulse and annotate the score, and there’s a useful help option too. The app also offers a revolutionary automatic page-turning facility that works by allowing the app to listen to the player. Page turns can also be programmed depending on how far ahead you read/memorise what is coming next – and the app will turn the page for you even if your performance isn’t 100% accurate.

So far so similar to other score-reading apps….but the real achievement of Tido music is the inclusion of filmed live performances of the music being played. The audio and visual quality of these films is really striking, and the user can enjoy multi-angle performances of the pianist’s hands at work. While the video plays, you can also read the score at the bottom of the screen with a cursor which moves in sync with the performance. In addition, there are masterclasses where the user can explore the piece in the company of a real concert pianist or musicologist who offers their own insights into the music and how to play it. In future, the app will include masterclasses of multi-movement works as well.

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Concert pianist Daniel Grimwood introduces a Bach Two-Part Invention

There is information about the composer’s compositional style and techniques, and an in-depth guide to the music in each volume, including social and historical contexts. It is this additional content which, for me, makes the Tido app far superior to anything else I have seen. To be able to watch, close up, the music being played, and hear the pianist talk about it, is a compelling learning tool – in effect, one can enjoy a private masterclass with a top-flight pianist in the comfort of one’s living room or piano studio.

Tido has secured an impressive roster of international pianists for the app, including Daniel Grimwood, Clare Hammond, Adam Tendler, Richard Uttley and French piano music scholar Roy Howat. Each brings their own personal insights and “pianistic hacks” to the pieces (Richard Uttley, for example, has a neat “fix” for dealing with a tricky flourish in Brahms’ Intermezzo Op 119, no. 3). These are the sort of details one would normally only expect to obtain from a master teacher.

Tido’s partnership with music publisher Edition Peters gives them access to a vast archive of scores for use in the app, from J S Bach to John Cage. Some of these are free, others can be purchased singly or in volumes. Those downloading the app can experience and explore its many features by signing up to a free, 30-day trial, and take advantage of a special introductory £2.99 monthly subscription. Tido promises that the app, “will continue to grow with a range of content from leading publishers”. The first collection, Piano Masterworks, offers a great selection, including popular favourites such as Beethoven’s Für Elise, Ravel’s Pavane, Chopin’s Preludes and Grieg’s Lyric Pieces, but it is cheering to also find music by Cage, Field, Scriabin, Mussorgsky, Clementi and Janáček, thus offering the user a wide variety of repertoire to explore and play.

This is an impressive and innovative music app, particularly suited to amateur pianists or piano students who are looking for the opportunity for independent but supported study of the piano and its literature.

Recommended

Key features:

  • acoustic audio recordings, aligned with interactive scores from Edition Peters
  • exclusive video performances and in-depth tutorials from leading experts and concert pianists
  • historical context and critical commentary from established scholars and editors
  • powerful practice tools, including annotation and auto-paging

http://www.tido-music.com

ipad_screen_perspective_03_downsize(pictures: Tido Music)

ABRSM launches a new Diploma

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Source: ABRSM Media release – 4 August 2016
ABRSM is strengthening its current diploma offering with the addition of a new performance qualification, launched today (4 August). The new assessment, the Associate of the Royal Schools of Music (ARSM), has been launched to provide learners with an opportunity to develop and demonstrate their performance skills after Grade 8.

The new diploma will be available to take in all ABRSM practical exam venues worldwide from January 2017.

What is involved?

The exam can be taken by anyone who has passed ABRSM Practical Grade 8 or a listed alternative. ARSM is available in all instruments currently examined by ABRSM, including voice.

Within the challenge of performing a 30-minute programme, candidates are assessed on their musical communication skills, interpretation and technical delivery. Candidates will have to perform:

• at least 20 minutes of music chosen from the ARSM repertoire list (this is the same list set for DipABRSM);

• up to 10 minutes of music can be own-choice repertoire (of at least Grade 8 standard).

There are no written or spoken elements, and no sight reading, aural tests or scales.

John Holmes, ABRSM Chief Examiner said 

“The diploma, which is supported by the Royal Schools of Music, is suitable for musicians who are looking for a challenge after grades and will provide a meaningful goal to work towards.

ARSM is unique in focussing solely on practical performing skills – nothing more, nothing less. It’s about the art and craft of musical communication through a half-hour programme which you choose and put together according to your own individual musical strengths and enthusiasms.

As well as focussing on the playing or singing of your chosen items of repertoire, ARSM also involves assessment of the performance of your programme as a whole, giving you valuable feedback from two complementary perspectives.”

For more information about ARSM, visit http://www.abrsm.org/newdiploma

New books for pianists from Trinity College London

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It’s good to see Trinity College London extending its publishing programme to include more books for pianists, including collections of pieces from beginner to advanced level, and a compilation of piano exercises, selected from past exam syllabuses, all of which offer excellent resources for teachers and students alike.

Raise the Bar is a new series of graded pieces from Initial to Grade 8 showcasing favourite repertoire from past Trinity exam syllabuses. Edited by acclaimed teacher, pianist and writer Graham Fitch, each book contains an attractive selection of pieces in a range of styles and periods. Teaching notes for each piece are included, highlighting aspects such as technical challenges, structure, rhythm and expression, and each book contains a summary at the back containing the composer, title, key, time signature, tempo markings and characteristics of each piece. There is a good range of music to suit all tastes and the teaching notes can be used as a springboard for further discussion between teacher and student or a basic starting point for independent study. These books provide useful additional repertoire for students preparing for exams or simply for playing for pleasure and broadening one’s repertoire and knowledge of different style of music.


Piano Dreams is an attractively-designed series of books containing pieces for beginner and early intermediate pianists composed by Anne Terzibaschitsch. The pieces will particularly appeal to younger children with their imaginative titles and fun illustrations. Programmatic text weaves elements of story-telling into the pieces to stimulate the player’s imagination and encourage more expressive and colourful playing. There are notes on each piece highlighting aspects of technique or expression. In addition to the solo pieces, there are two books of piano duets in the same format.

I am a big fan of Trinity’s Piano Exercises which students learn as part of their grade exams. The exercises are designed to develop particular aspects of piano technique and many directly relate to pieces in the exam syllabus, offering the teacher the opportunity to introduce students to the concept of the ‘Etude’ or Study. This new compilation of selected exercises ranges from Initial to Grade 8 and each has a descriptive title to inspire students to interpret the music imaginatively (thus reinforcing the idea behind Etudes by Chopin and Liszt – that pieces should be both challenging and musical, testing technique and musicality). These exercises provide a useful resource for developing secure technique and can be used alongside repertoire to inform and extend students’ technical and musical capabilities.

More information about Trinity College London music publications here

Be a concert pianist in your own home

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Do you dream of playing Beethoven’s Emperor Piano Concerto to a packed house at Carnegie Hall? Do you long to play the graceful slow movement of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 with a full orchestra?

When I was a teenager there was Music Minus One, which consisted of an LP and a score. I had Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto, because in those days, I had grandiose aspirations that I could hack it as a concert pianist, but the set up was never that satisfactory because I had to leap between the record player and the piano in double-quick time in order not to miss my cue.

That was some 35 years ago, and technology has moved on apace. There are a number of score-reading apps available now, some of which are simple PDF readers while others offer more sophisticated interaction between device and user. Tombooks Tomplay is a new app for iPad and PC/Mac which revolutionises score reading and offers musicians a unique experience – the opportunity to play your instrument accompanied by a full orchestra, just like in a concert hall!

The app has a varied and growing library of scores for many instruments, not just piano, including concertos, chamber music, piano four-hands, pop songs and film soundtracks. You can instantly download a score in PDF format to your PC or tablet, and thanks to Tombooks’ unique technology, Tomplay scores are interactive: they scroll automatically on-screen with a special cursor to guide you through the music. The app allows you to slow down or speed up the accompaniment in order to adapt to your level, with no loss of sound quality, and there are also options to self-record and annotate the score. There is also a function allowing you to practise a specific passage of a piece, in a loop, as well as a metronome to help you maintain a regular pulse.

Add the orchestral accompaniment and the playing experience is transformed.

Tomplay can be used by amateur musicians, teachers and students to explore and study repertoire, and to experience playing with other musicians without leaving the comfort of one’s home or practise room. It makes learning music simpler, more enjoyable and more effective

Tomplay is available for iPad, Mac or PC. Further information at

https://tom-books.com/en/tomplay/

Beautiful music in motivating pieces

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Why I love playing and teaching Ludovico Einaudi’s piano music – guest post by Maria Busqué

Ludovico Einaudi’s piano music is a delight to play. That aside, there are many advantages to teaching it. I’m still grateful to the person who first introduced me to his pieces.

Einaudi’s music is beautiful and unpretentious. It’s sincere, simple, and allows for a direct emotional connection. Why? Because it stems from improvisational work, fully open to the player’s fantasy. You can take the pieces as a starting point, a kind of “choose your own adventure”. Some of my students feel inspired, after playing a piece by him, to compose a new one exploring this style. That speaks for the openness of his work.

With teenage students, it’s especially important to keep the repertoire fresh, exciting, and relevant. This music is the perfect fit for all three, creating motivation out of itself.

There’s a reason why Einaudi’s music is so popular with students: It leaves them with a sense of accomplishment. He presents a few musical ideas, that he develops and varies. A genius move: students aren’t challenged every ten bars  and still can play beautiful long piano pieces.

Einaudi’s music prepares inexperienced players for long pieces and for other classical repertoire. They train rhythmic and technical aspects without the feeling of playing an etude.

As we know, piano players are expected to have a sense for harmony and structure. And you can never be too young to start. Einaudi’s music allows for straightforward musical analysis. His writing is very clear in that sense. I let students take a look at the whole piece. Which rhythmical patterns appear? These could be the indicators for the different sections. Basic analysis helps them gain a sense of structure and have it in mind when performing.

It’s a joy to play Einaudi’s works at first sight, discovering the emotion of the music as you go. You can just let him take you by the hand and explore together. And that’s really fun. And then, I keep coming back to those pieces of him which have touched my heart, and I can play them over and over again. Some of my favourites are: ‘Stella del Mattino, ‘I Giorni’, ‘Life’, ‘Run’, ‘Una Mattina’, ‘Divenire’, ‘Limbo’, ‘Bella Notte’.

We want to encourage in our students a love for sound and music as a means to self-expression. Einaudi’s works do that exactly, while at the same time bringing players forward pianistically. The perfect blend.

Maria Busque

Diploma Day

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A full day of masterclasses and performance/stagecraft workshops for adult amateur pianists taking, or thinking of taking, a Performance Diploma (ABRSM, Trinity or LCM). Masterclasses will be led by acclaimed pianist, teacher and writer Graham Fitch, and Frances Wilson (AKA The Cross-Eyed Pianist) will offer advice on stagecraft and performance anxiety. Group feedback on performance and programme notes will also be provided.

Six performers will have the opportunity to play a good portion of their diploma programme (ca. 20 minutes) on a concert grand piano to a small and supportive audience, as a trial run before the exam itself. Graham will then work with each performer in detail on aspects of their performance. The performance will also be videoed so that performers can use it to reflect on their presentation in the run up to the exam.

For those who aren’t ready to perform yet, or for whom a diploma is more in the early planning stages, the day is an ideal opportunity to observe several hours of masterclasses on diploma-level playing, get ideas for repertoire and how to get started with preparing a programme, and also to meet other potential diploma candidates.

Fee for performers: £75
Fee for observers: £15

Performer places are now all reserved, but there is a waiting list – please email if you would like to be added to the waiting list londonpianomeetup@gmail.com

To book an observer ticket, click here

8481e4cf3afe7f10c19eGraham Fitch has earned a global reputation as an outstanding teacher of piano for all ages and levels. He is a popular adjudicator, a tutor for the EPTA Piano Teachers’ Course, and a regular writer for Pianist Magazine with several video demonstrations on YouTube. His blog www.practisingthepiano.com features hundreds of articles on piano playing and together with his multimedia eBook series is read by thousands of musicians all over the world.

avatars-000208691703-0he3lq-t500x500Frances Wilson is a pianist, piano teacher, concert reviewer and blogger on classical music and pianism as The Cross-Eyed Pianist (and author of this blog). A passionate advocate of adult amateur pianism, Frances co-founded the London Piano Meetup Group in 2013 and is co-administrator of Piano Network UK on Facebook. She has hosted and participated in many workshops, masterclasses, courses and meetups for adult pianists, and completed Licentiate and Associate Performance Diplomas (both with Distinction) in her late 40s, having returned to the piano after a long break. Frances writes a regular column on aspects of piano playing for Pianist Magazine’s online content and is a regular guest blogger for HelloStage and InterludeHK.