This beautiful miniature is a wonderful introduction to the impressionistic music of French composers Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel, and even the early compositions of Olivier Messiaen. The composer, Simone Plé, was contemporary with all three composers. She published two volumes of music for children. The title gives a clue to the mood and atmosphere… Continue reading How to play…. ‘Petit Mystère’
Category: Practising
How to Play….. Song of Twilight
This charming and haunting piece by Japanese composer Yoshinao Nakada blends eastern and western culture in musical form. A spacious right hand melody is hung over the steady, almost hypnotic pulse of left hand chords. Separate hands practice is crucial in this piece. You want to achieve a sense of the melody floating over the… Continue reading How to Play….. Song of Twilight
How to play……Allegro non Troppo
What a treat for the left hand this piece is! A moody "'cello" melody with plenty of scope for expressive shaping, with an agitated right hand figure of repeated chords, this piece is redolent of Chopin's Étude Opus 25 no. 7. Separate hands practice is crucial here - and not just in the early stages… Continue reading How to play……Allegro non Troppo
Listening and Hearing
If you can't sing it, you can't hear it. And that means we [the audience] can't hear it either." This is what my teacher said to me at my lesson last week. I was working on one of Chopin's Nocturnes, the Opus 62 no. 2, the last published in his lifetime. In bars 20-22 the… Continue reading Listening and Hearing
How to play……. ‘Fanfare for the Common Cold’
As the title of this piece suggests, it is inspired by Aaron Copland's famous 'Fanfare for the Common Man' - and the first thing I do when I start teaching this piece to a student is to ask them to listen to Copland's work and tell me what they hear in it and what instrument… Continue reading How to play……. ‘Fanfare for the Common Cold’
Penelope Roskell’s Advanced Piano Course
There are still places available on Penelope Roskell's Spring course (16th-18th March). Penelope is an inspiring and dedicated teacher, and the courses, which are open to all advanced pianists (Grade 8 - post-diploma), amateur, student or professional, offer a very supportive and stimulating learning environment. Taking place over three days, the March course will focus… Continue reading Penelope Roskell’s Advanced Piano Course
Making the most of your piano lessons
Make sure you get the most out of each and every lesson by following these simple points: Arrive on time for your lessons: get the most out of the time you have each week. Come prepared for your lessons: make sure you bring all your music, tutor book and practice notebook. Your teacher may have… Continue reading Making the most of your piano lessons
Be a super sight-reader
Many junior students fear sight-reading, and for most it's the part of the practical music exam they dread: being asked to play a short piece of music, unseen. Sight-reading is an important skill for any musician, professional or amateur, and being able to sight-read - and sight-play - well allows one to learn new music… Continue reading Be a super sight-reader
Guest post: Avoiding sightreading derailments at the piano.
by Erica Sipes Erica is a primarily a pianist but also a cellist who has a passion for bringing joy, personality, and fun into making, listening to, and performing classical music. She studied at the Eastman School of Music, and lives in Blacksburg, Virginia. She writes a blog for pianists and musicians called Beyond the… Continue reading Guest post: Avoiding sightreading derailments at the piano.
Telling stories, painting pictures
Music is all about story-telling and painting pictures. Pop music helpfully has titles and song lyrics to tell us what it is about, but Classical music can be more difficult to interpret unless the performer or performers give us "signposts" to help us understand the composer's intentions. The simplest "signposts" in the score are tempo,… Continue reading Telling stories, painting pictures
A Piano Teacher Writes... 