Now is the season of piano teachers up and down the country expectantly waiting for the sound of exam results dropping through the letterbox or into their email inbox. The summer season for graded music exams is the busiest and results are coming in thick and fast. It is cheering to see from colleagues' posts… Continue reading Celebrate every pass, merit and distinction
Category: Piano teaching
A helping hand
We know that practising hands separately in the earliest stages of learning a piece is very important - and goes on being important even when the music is well known. It is often worth returning to separate hands practise to make sure certain sections are secure or to highlight particular aspects of a section, such… Continue reading A helping hand
The curse of the pushy parent
Guest post by A Piano Teacher Anyone who teaches will know the type - and those of us who teach privately will know the type very well. The pushy parent - sometimes also known as the Tiger Parent - whose demands seem to take up far more time than anyone else's, whose child/children require special… Continue reading The curse of the pushy parent
Changing the Vocabulary
The way we interact with our students, and the language we use with which to communicate with them, can have a profound effect on how our students react to our teaching and their own attitude to music making. Young people in particular can be highly sensitive to the kind of words teachers use, and as… Continue reading Changing the Vocabulary
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
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
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... 