Piano Motivation

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

10 Reasons (Out Of 100s) Why Concert Attending Is Really Important For Musical Development – Part 2

2022-07-05T10:20:34+01:00

Part 2 In part 1 we covered the essence of what listening to classical music live could mean to us- physically, emotionally, chemically etc. Here are some more reasons why it is a wonderful experience to visit live performances. 6. It Sustains Culture Even though classical concerts might not be everyone’s favourite night out - it is certainly important to send the message that we need culture. And the best way to do so is to, of course, attend performances and show our support. Culture is holding our society together and by actively taking part in live performances (as audience) we [...]

10 Reasons (Out Of 100s) Why Concert Attending Is Really Important For Musical Development – Part 22022-07-05T10:20:34+01:00

10 Reasons (Out Of 100s) Why Concert Attending Is Really Important For Musical Development – Part 1

2022-04-25T15:25:41+01:00

Music Came Before The Language Music is not consumed just for fun as it might seem now, at the present time. Netflix, cinema, a night out... Music has changed its role drastically, in this century specifically. If we try to imagine our life without it - at first it wouldn’t seem that bad. Maybe it would be strange to exercise without music, or we frequently wouldn’t understand the context of a specific movie scene as many movie directors heavily rely on music to tell us the emotion of the scene. Imagine weddings, celebrations, birthday parties... the fact that music is everywhere [...]

10 Reasons (Out Of 100s) Why Concert Attending Is Really Important For Musical Development – Part 12022-04-25T15:25:41+01:00

Choosing Repertoire for Performances

2022-04-14T08:31:11+01:00

Choosing Repertoire This is a very interesting topic that could dictate a lot on how we progress and how we discover our strengths and weaknesses. Many performers today have chosen to stick to performing works by one or just a few composers. This allows a complete dedication and sinking into the depths of a specific language and style. On the other hand, we have performers who like to discover as they play - as they grow as musicians, finding new pieces and challenging themselves by immersing themselves into the unknown. What I find interesting is how the repertoire we chose shapes [...]

Choosing Repertoire for Performances2022-04-14T08:31:11+01:00

Why Scales?

2026-01-18T13:12:32+00:00

Scales can be seen as a tedious task by many people who choose to study the piano but without them your technique and knowledge will never reach its full potential and no one wants to be held back! I get asked frequently by students ‘why do I have to play scales?’ ‘What do they even do that benefit me?’ I usually struggle to find one short answer when this happens because there’s a whole list of reasons I could dive into…. And I do. The main reason for practicing your scales is to build up your finger technique. If you take [...]

Why Scales?2026-01-18T13:12:32+00:00

Importance of improvisation & composing in musical development

2022-01-19T21:41:20+00:00

Improvising on piano - Part 1 When we mention improvisation and composing to an averagely educated instrumentalist, both of these concepts sound scary, to say the least. The problem with music education is that it focuses on the bare minimum so to say: it provides music literacy and basic knowledge of playing a specific instrument. It takes a long time to become a healthy-sounding performer- so it is no wonder that this is the case. When we combine other activities in life; obligatory education, homework, commitments of all sorts - practising the piano every day seems plenty as it is. The [...]

Importance of improvisation & composing in musical development2022-01-19T21:41:20+00:00

The bridge between classical and jazz piano

2021-10-18T15:47:12+01:00

I am a classically trained pianist who was invited to perform at the Montreux Jazz Festival and decided to move to jazz soon after this unique experience. I was 23 years old and had finished my piano studies in Paris before travelling to Switzerland to hone my skills. I was preparing for a number of international piano competitions when I realised I had reached a plateau. Finding performing chances was difficult, and I wasn't sure which door to open next. I was still rehearsing various pieces of classical repertoire on a regular basis, but I didn't have anything to look forward [...]

The bridge between classical and jazz piano2021-10-18T15:47:12+01:00

This race against the clock will kill your piano playing

2021-10-01T10:32:14+01:00

Some adults begin their piano studies with the intention of completing it quickly. They do not begin because they are enthusiastic about playing the piano and want to incorporate this wonderful activity into their lives. They begin piano lessons as soon as possible in order to achieve their goal and cross it off their bucket list. I have met a few adults with this mindset who told me right away that they were going to give it a year. They wanted to quickly master piano playing so they could move on to something else. It had to be done as we [...]

This race against the clock will kill your piano playing2021-10-01T10:32:14+01:00
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