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…
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…
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…