Penelope Roskell

Penelope Roskell is an international concert pianist and Professor of Piano and Piano Pedagogy at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance.

Her award-winning book The Complete Pianist: from healthy technique to natural artistry, is the culmination of a lifetime’s experience of performing, teaching and research. It was published to huge critical acclaim in February 2020 and has remained Peters Edition’s best-selling publication ever since. Fifteen years in the writing and described as ‘an encyclopedic masterpiece of pianistic wisdom’ by Piano Magazine, USA, the book also features 300 videos and 250 newly-devised exercises.

Penelope is the UK’s foremost specialist in playing-related injuries. She is the piano consultant for the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine, where she runs a multi-disciplinary pianists’ clinic with hand surgeon Mr Mark Phillips. She has taught classes in healthy piano playing at music colleges and other institutions around the world, and given presentations at international conferences for EPTA, NCKP, MTNA and PAMA. She has been Director of the Musician’s Clinic, the ISSTIP Music Medicine course, and of the Piano Pedagogy Course for the European Piano Teachers Association.

Penelope Roskell is the Director of the Roskell Academy, which is committed to educating teachers in healthy, effective methods of teaching. Penelope’s comprehensive new online course on Teaching healthy, expressive piano technique is available to individual teachers as well as to institutions and currently forms the basis of the new Trinity Laban Piano Pedagogy course. The course consists of nine hours of videos and covers all aspects of teaching technique.

Other publications include a series of videos on Yoga for Musicians and a book The Art of Piano Fingering, which explores new ergonomic fingerings. Her five graded technique books for beginners and intermediate pianists will be published in 2022 by Peters Edition.

As performer, Penelope has performed as soloist at major concert halls throughout Britain, with renowned conductors including Sir Simon Rattle and Daniel Harding. She has given solo tours in over thirty countries in Western and Eastern Europe, the United States, Africa, Asia, and the Middle and Far East.

She won first prize in the British Contemporary Piano Competition and has made numerous broadcasts on BBC radio, WFMT Radio (Chicago) and British, Polish and Greek television. In between her busy teaching schedule, Penelope still performs as soloist and in ensemble with the Roskell Piano Trio and the Fitzwilliam String Quartet.

She has been a member of the jury on many competitions, including the BBC Young Musician of the Year and the British Contemporary Piano Competition and the David Parkhouse Award.

Author links and publications

  • Penelope's website (click here)
  • Roskell Academy website (click here)
  • Teaching Healthy, Expressive Piano Technique (click here)
  • The Complete Pianist: from healthy technique to natural artistry (click here)
  • The Art of Piano Fingering (click here to purchase eBook edition)
  • Yoga for Musicians (click here)

Featured content

The Art of Piano Fingering

A thorough understanding of the principles of good fingering is a vital basis for good piano playing. Without comfortable, musically appropriate fingerings, we can waste hours of practice time trying to remedy a problem which could have been averted much earlier. In this series of articles, author Penelope Roskell... Read >>


Penelope Roskell Technique Fingering

Healthy Piano Playing

Piano playing is a deeply satisfying artistic activity, but it can also be very demanding physically on our arms and hands. Just as elite athletes understand and care for their bodies, so should pianists think carefully about their approach to playing and practising. A healthy piano technique not only avoids... Read >>


Penelope Roskell Technique Healthy playing

Yoga for Musicians

In this collection of videos, Penelope Roskell demonstrates clearly and concisely how yoga principles can be applied directly to instrumental playing, and how playing can be more fluid, powerful and emotionally expressive. Suitable for musicians of any age; from beginner to professional; Classical, jazz, folk and pop, the exercises demonstrated... Read >>


Penelope Roskell Technique Healthy playing

Approaching Ornaments

Grace Notes, Mordents & Turns

In this excerpt from her online course, Teaching Healthy Expressive Piano Technique, Penelope Roskell shows how to approach practising and playing grace notes, mordents and turns.... Read >>


Penelope Roskell Technique