Learning to play the piano to a reasonable standard takes time and commitment so it’s vital to do your research. Here’s part 2 of our article for parents on how to choose the right piano teacher. In Part 1 of our blog on this topic, we suggested that the first important step is for […]
We are launching the third annual survey into teaching beginner pianists. If you have started to give lessons to beginner pianists of any age you are invited to take part. 2020 has been a year that none of us is ever going to forget! As the Covid-19 pandemic spread across the world, all piano […]
Every piano teacher I know loves teaching the piano at Christmas! I certainly do. That’s because students often get a huge burst of motivation that results in increased practice and enjoyment all round. CHRISTMAS CAROL EFFECT I first noticed The Christmas Carol Effect many years ago. Young students, who were practising rather reluctantly, suddenly started […]
Socially-distanced piano lessons can be a good thing. Hannah O’Toole shares 7 positive things she has discovered, and explores how COVID-19 restrictions can actually refresh our teaching. Socially-distanced piano lessons; a third way of teaching in 2020? One thing I have found myself saying a lot since July/August 2020, is that face-to-face piano lessons post-COVID […]
How many new beginner pianists started piano lessons with you this academic year? Back in November 2018 we asked for your help in gathering some figures together on beginner pianists. One hundred and eight-four teachers contributed to our on-line survey. Between them responsible for teaching 1211 adult and children beginners. The Teaching Beginner Pianists survey […]
Teachers are often a bit scared of using sol-fa in piano lessons. Yet sol-fa is such a useful tool for piano teachers and once learnt is a real time-saver. Sol-fa is the use of singing names for vocal pitch: doh, rah, mi, fah, soh, lah, ti. doh’. As pitch cannot be seen, sol-fa helps our […]
Are less children and adults starting to learn the piano these days? It’s a question that I have been asked on several occasions and up till now I’ve always had to say that I don’t honestly know. The recent decline in A level and GCSE Music in the UK is well documented with […]
At what age did you start learning the piano? MY STORY My lessons began aged 8 when one of the teachers at my school remarked to my parents that: ‘Sally sings loudly in assembly – maybe she should learn an instrument?’ Once lessons began I made quite swift progress through the grades arriving at […]
During April we have been looking at musical literacy from lots of angles. Today’s blog post is simply a round-up of all the different posts and videos we’ve put out there: a one-stop guide. MNEMONICS – HELP OR HINDRANCE? Back at the start of the month I questioned whether the use of mnemonics in learning […]
Do your young piano pupils struggle to fully grasp reading music notation? Do some pupils drop out because they can’t seem to get the hang of it despite your best efforts to help them? For teachers this can be very frustrating. Often, we wonder what exactly the problem is. USING MNEMONICS One traditional way of […]