thoughts on piano teaching and beyond
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
Following in the footsteps of Robert Schumann, Bela Bartok and Dmitri Kabalevsky, British composer Robert Peate has created a delightful collection of piano miniatures for children. Like Bartok's For Children and his Mikrokosmos, Peate's pieces are both imaginative and educational, and range in difficulty from very easy (pre-Grade 1) to more challenging (cGrade 3/4). The… Continue reading ‘Under the Rowan Tree’ by Robert Peate
The wonderful range, originality and variety of pieces prove that contemporary classical music is not "plinky plonky", atonal, inaccessible or lacking in melody, and as such as Spectrum series is the best introduction I know to encourage young students in particular to explore contemporary music.
There is so much in music that is subjective and open to personal taste and interpretation. In order for us to play convincingly, we have to develop an interpretation that is meaningful TO US, vivid in all its details. Unless we are convinced by what we are doing, we are unlikely to convince our audience… Continue reading Adventures in Interpretation
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… Continue reading Beautiful music in motivating pieces
To follow up my recent post on Modern Music, here's a great article by fellow blogger and pianist ClassicalMel on contemporary classical composers and their music: Contemporary piano music?
A Piano Teacher Writes... 