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Luxuriant Piano Playing
A Wellness Philosophy and Practice
In these excerpts from his presentation at NCKP 2021, William Westney shows that whether we are concert performers or beginners, we can all luxuriate in free-flowing, generous, comfortable, unfettered, and unforced movements that “feel great” at the piano.... Read >>
Developing Speed
Now that you've learnt your piece at the "Speed of no mistakes", how do you go about increasing the tempo to performance speed? Many pianists use the incremental metronome method in which the metronome tempo is gradually increased for a passage. However, there are much better ways to build speed! This video introduces a few highly effective methods for increasing tempo whilst avoiding tension and retaining accuracy. Schubert -... Read >>
The Floating Fermata
Beethoven - Ecossaise in E-Flat (No. 4 from Six Ecossaises, WoO 83) Faure - Andanta Moderato (No. 5 from Piecès brèves, Op. 84) Beethoven - Sonata No. 8 in C Minor (‘Pathétique’, Op. 13, 1st mvt) Resources & links Open domain editions for the works featured in this video are... Read >>
Looping
To make ourselves thoroughly comfortable with a tricky passage, it can be helpful to practise it “on a loop”, repeating several times. With each repetition we aim to finesse our sound, to feel loose and free in the body and to correct any unwanted accents, wobbles or dings. Chopin - Waltz in E minor, B.56 Beethoven - Sonata No. 30... Read >>
Inventing Exercises from Your Pieces - Introduction
This set of videos will help you come up with creative ideas for inventing your own exercises within your pieces to solve problems and master challenging passages. Debussy - Arabesque No. 1 from 2 Arabesques Resources & links Open domain editions for the works featured in this video are available via the following links: Debussy 2 Arabesques ... Read >>
Inventing Exercises from Your Pieces - Repertoire Examples (1)
Beethoven - Sonata No. 27 in E Minor (Op. 90, 1st mvt) Beethoven - Sonata No. 27 in E Minor (Op. 90, 2nd mvt) Resources & links Open domain editions for... Read >>
Inventing Exercises from Your Pieces - Repertoire Examples (2)
Chopin - Étude Op. 10, No. 12 Chopin - Étude Op. 10, No. 12 (Cortot Exercise) Chopin - Étude Op. 10, No. 12 (Cortot Exercise) ... Read >>
Zigzag Practice
Bach - Invention no. 11 in G minor, BWV 782 Resources & links Click here for an open domain edition of the work featured in this video. ... Read >>