Piano Motivation

Fourth Anniversary

2023-10-03T18:37:46+01:00

Fourth Anniversary Four years have passed since I started piano lessons - it is hard to believe that time flies so fast. My classes with Stefan Joubert at S & C Music have been excellent and life-changing really. He is a great teacher with the right blend of enthusiasm, standards and experience to help you grow as a player. The thing I love about S & C is that the lessons are designed for adult learners, and the teachers understand how adults learn and are sympathetic to the realities of learning as an older human. After four years, I now [...]

Fourth Anniversary2023-10-03T18:37:46+01:00

Am I Too Old For Piano Lessons?

2023-04-26T10:09:48+01:00

So, you're thinking about taking up piano lessons as an adult and the big question on your mind is, "Am I too old for this?" Well, let me tell you my friend, age is just a number! And honestly, what's the worst that could happen? You might not become the next Beethoven, but at least you'll have a new hobby to impress your friends and family with. Now, let's talk about some of the benefits of learning to play the piano as an adult. First off, you've probably already developed your music taste and have a better understanding of what you [...]

Am I Too Old For Piano Lessons?2023-04-26T10:09:48+01:00

Interview with Laura – April 2023

2023-07-18T09:57:42+01:00

About Laura Laura Bevan is a piano teacher at the London Piano Institute. She has been playing the piano since she was seven years old and since then has studied at the Conservatoire in Leeds, gaining a degree in classical and Popular music. Stefan Joubert: Laura Bevan: My favourite pianist is Yuja Wang for reasons other than her technical capabilities. Yuja Wang is my favourite pianist because she doesn’t listen to what is expected of her. The fact she wears what she likes despite it being deemed as ‘inappropriate’ for a classical musician is inspiring and shows that she is [...]

Interview with Laura – April 20232023-07-18T09:57:42+01:00

Thriving

2023-04-05T12:30:57+01:00

There is no feeling like being in the flow of doing something and flourishing at a particular craft. The first time you rode a bike without falling, or when you took up running and ran your first 10k is an excellent feeling of freedom and achievement. However, getting to this level is not simple, and requires practice and effort- but how do we achieve this? Thriving in piano playing has similarities to other high-performance areas and none more so than high-level elite sports performance. In a study on thriving in elite sports performers, Dr Daniel Brown, a sports scientist at [...]

Thriving2023-04-05T12:30:57+01:00

The Rule of Three

2023-03-16T08:54:36+00:00

I was watching a video recently about an Olympic athlete talking about their training. Right before they went to the last Olympics, they had a training session and, in their words, "was like a trainwreck'. They, of course, want to go to the Olympics in peak condition to have the best chance of winning and the worry was that they were behind in their progress. Their coach, however, had some great advice to give. She said when you are training at your upper levels of performance, not every session is going to be perfect and called it "the rule of [...]

The Rule of Three2023-03-16T08:54:36+00:00

How To Improve Your Memory For The Piano

2023-01-30T05:19:04+00:00

Improving your memory can be a great way to enhance your piano-playing skills and I am here to provide you with a few tips to achieve just that. Practice Regularly Consistent practice is crucial for improving your memory when learning to play the piano. When you practice the same pieces repeatedly, you are strengthening the neural connections in your brain that are responsible for muscle memory. This allows your fingers to move easily and smoothly over the keys, making it less challenging for you to recall the notes and fingerings as you play. In order to see results, try to [...]

How To Improve Your Memory For The Piano2023-01-30T05:19:04+00:00

The Psychological, Emotional and Physical Benefits of Playing The Piano

2023-01-03T21:16:10+00:00

There are many benefits that come with playing an instrument, specifically the piano. Some are obvious and some you wouldn’t believe, each are just as unique and important in their own way. Here are just a few of the psychological, emotional and physical benefits of learning the piano that may inspire you to learn or to carry on lessons. Learning the piano is known to boost your cognitive and intellectual abilities which essentially makes you stronger in the parts of your brain which uses reasoning and math. This is because the same area (the parietal lobe) is activated when you integrate [...]

The Psychological, Emotional and Physical Benefits of Playing The Piano2023-01-03T21:16:10+00:00

Coping With Stress In Practising/Performing

2022-10-31T12:57:37+00:00

With this article, I would like to share a few things that I found extremely helpful over the years- when it comes to coping with stress. Performing and practising can be highly demanding, and synchronising everyday life with the discipline of piano playing can be a true challenge. It is important to distinguish different types of stress in different fields of music making, so I will focus mainly on the quality of practice time as that is a good base for any further topic. The difficulty in maintaining a quality practice session stems from several aspects… the amount of work that [...]

Coping With Stress In Practising/Performing2022-10-31T12:57:37+00:00

Practising Piano Techniques – Part 2

2022-08-30T20:37:26+01:00

Hello again and welcome to part 2 of practising techniques! If you haven’t already checked out part 1, please do so as I shared some of the practising principles that I find super important. We covered the essence of concepts like searching, listening, identifying the problems and repetition. All of these concepts are somehow a core of practising any instrument. What I would like to further focus on is again both practical advice as well as a general concept. 5. Physical Awareness I find that physical awareness is often overlooked as a concept. Maybe more so with teaching children as they [...]

Practising Piano Techniques – Part 22022-08-30T20:37:26+01:00

Practising Piano Techniques Part 1 

2022-08-30T20:36:33+01:00

Practising is a highly sensitive topic. In my experience as a teacher and a performer - there are thousands of ways to do something on our instrument. Finding those shortcuts that make everything efficient and better,  with true clarity that can later turn into a method - proves to be a challenge. Let’s first examine a little bit what practising is. When we say “I have to practise “ - we already automated the action, I have to be by the piano (or any other instrument) and do some work. I find that some essential understanding of what work needs to [...]

Practising Piano Techniques Part 1 2022-08-30T20:36:33+01:00

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