Mar 15, 2020 | Artistic philosophy, Practice and performance, Teaching and learning
It can feel quite strange for students of fluent musicianship to be forced to think of nothing but a simple model of how music works: I won’t allow students’ focus to drift towards anything other than intending musical shapes made from rhythm cells and tonal...
Sep 6, 2019 | Practice and performance, Teaching and learning, Video
When you know the language of music fluently, you love to discover new music. Whilst it is natural, up to a point, to want to play music we know and love, there can be rather a delusional element to this, if what you are playing sounds less intelligible than you might...
Aug 8, 2019 | Musicianship, Practice and performance, Teaching and learning, Video
Playing by pinning fingers to set keys destroys natural musical fluency – you can use any fingers. If we can only play music using the same fingers every time, it means that muscle memory has such a critical role in how we play the piano that our musicianship is...
Jul 1, 2019 | Audio, Interpretation, Musicianship, Pianos, Practice and performance, Teaching and learning, Video
What makes a good piano sound? A good piano sound comes from a combination of factors. We must have a decent instrument with a good range of volume and timbre. It must have a reliable action with a wide range of velocity available so that you can control the sound....
Aug 14, 2016 | Practice and performance, Teaching and learning
I’ve been giving some serious thought to the subject of why we get blocked around practice. Everyone struggles with practice resistance to some degree at times. I think there are 5 key insights that can help us overcome practice resistance. 1. Curiosity –...
May 1, 2014 | Musicianship, Teaching and learning
Non-perishable skills, like language, walking, riding a bike are valuable. So many people learn set pieces and scales but without constant practice, their memory begins to fade. Aural and muscle memory do not survive the brain drain which afflicts us all. But playing...
