Continuing my series on my composition grade pieces, today we will look at the Grade 4 original composition. The brief for this piece is: “An original composition for any TWO instruments of the candidate’s choice, of approximately 3-4 minutes in duration. The composition should NOT include a vocal part.” Strategy Read more…
I posted a few weeks ago about the quantity of practice time needed to progress with learning an instrument, so today I’m going to talk about quality – why we need focused practice rather than mindless repitition, how to analyse what needs work and how to keep track of it. Read more…
This week’s Centre Stage features a piece from an album which is a must for every aspiring pianist, and although it was intended for children it can be enjoyed by players of any age. The piece Title: Song of the Lark (Russian: Песня жаворонка), Op. 39 no. 22 Composer: Pyotr Read more…
A student asked me this week if it’s better to have frequent short practice sessions or less frequent longer sessions. My answer is always that regular sessions, ideally every day but at least 5 days a week, are more beneficial due to the phenomenon known as the ‘forgetting curve’. We Read more…
Any performer will, at one time or another, have a performance that doesn’t go according to plan. Whether it’s a concert, an exam, a competition or a casual event, we all have performances we’d rather forget. So what do you do when things go wrong? If you are in the Read more…
To give you some idea of how composition exams work I will be sharing some of the pieces I submitted for my own portfolios. This will include my original compositions and possibly some of the arrangements, depending on copyright limitations. When I discovered this suite of exams I did not Read more…
A slightly delayed update as I spent last weekend in Liverpool doing what I do when I’m not being a musician – Pokémon Trading Card Game! I’ve been playing casually for about a year and decided to enter my first official tournament, one of the European Regional Championships (the 2022/23 Read more…
One of my goals for this year (I don’t like New Year resolutions, for new or regenerated activities I prefer Steve Pavlina’s 30-day trial concept) is to complete my ALCM in composition. This is a diploma assessed on a composition portfolio, and a type of music exam I didn’t know Read more…
Welcome to a new series! Centre Stage will introduce a new piano piece, with some background information and tips on how to manage the structure and technical demands of the piece. As you could write an entire postgraduate thesis on many of these topics I’ll keep the introductions brief and Read more…
Happy New Year and welcome to 2023! It has been some time since I made any significant updates to this website, and over 2 years since I added anything to the blog. Saying the pandemic weighed heavily on all of us would be an understatement, and many in the creative Read more…