William Westney Collection

Collection of video lectures by William Westney on warming-up, practising, solving technical problems and teaching.

Practising for Long-Term Results

In this video, William Westney demonstrates a remarkably easy technique for mind and body to truly “digest” (and remember) what we’ve practised.

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Warm-Ups Revisited

In this two-part video lecture, William Westney re-thinks warm-ups and demonstrates an effortless process that takes only a few minutes to ensure successful daily practice.

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Luxuriant Piano Playing

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.

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The Body - Wiser than the Mind?

When we make music we experience fascinating integration of body and mind. As essential as it is to master certain well-defined skills (just as athletes do) there can also be moments when we manage to "get out of our own way" – and everything seems to fall into place beautifully. This series takes a practical look at this exciting possibility for all students of piano.

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Inside Bartok's Mikrokosmos

In this video series, William Westney illustrates in detail why Bartok's Mikrokosmos has long been his indispensable, uniquely effective “power tool” as a teacher. Always refreshing musically, it hones the skills of pianists from beginners to pre-professionals.

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Finding Effortless Speed

William Westney demonstrates his unique approach to scales for pianists of all levels which uses a simple exercise that can be applied to any fast passage in the repertoire.

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Making Friends With the Notes

William Westney presents a common-sense practising approach for achieving an underlying feeling of physical comfort and security at the piano. This powerful, proven strategy is easy to implement and frees us to play ANY piece of music freely, expressively and spontaneously. It can also lead to technical breakthroughs by thoroughly integrating the physicality of a performance into our bodies BEFORE we set out to refine or interpret.

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Author

William Westney

William Westney is recognised internationally as both a master performer and award-winning teacher. After winning the top piano prize in the Geneva International Competition, he performed to acclaim on four continents. His uniquely insightful, refreshing and empowering contributions to piano pedagogy include the innovative performance workshop The Un-Master Class®, the trailblazing book The Perfect Wrong Note (40,000 copies sold worldwide) and his latest book, Eros at the Piano: The Life-Energy of Classical Music.

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