Have you ever included samples of birdsong or other recordings in your music? In this guest blog post, Ruth Carlyle shares her reflections on creating a soundscape mix of the…
Piano duets have always been an important part of my teaching. I've written about them many times before and recently reviewed a brand new book for piano duet. With restrictions…
Anyone with even a passing interest in music for film and television cannot fail to recognise the name, Rachel Portman. Born in 1960, and educated at Worcester College, Oxford, Portman…
It's now been nearly a year since ABRSM revised their Music Theory syllabus in order to adapt to their new online exams. Their own Discovering Music Theory workbooks (a refresh…
I have a whole shelf of piano duets. They range from very easy, one-finger beginner pieces, right through to complex four-hand arrangements of orchestral works. You might ask why, if…
In my work as a mentor for teaching diplomas, it is often the DipABRSM viva voce which sends shivers down the spine of candidates. Often, people's most pressing thought is:…
Many of us, as both pianists and teachers, have enjoyed Nikki Iles' previous books for piano: Jazz in Springtime; Jazz in Autumn; Jazz on a Summer's Day; and Jazz on…
I have long admired Trinity's Theory of Music Workbooks with their clear and concise look, and this new volume is no exception. Introducing Theory of Music is designed to: "help…
Sometimes a book arrives for review, and not only is it the book you wish you’d had when you were first having piano lessons, but it’s also the book you’ve…
I don't know about you, but as a teacher, I spend a lot of time talking about rests. I think they're underrated. It's often much harder to 'play' rests than…
At the age of just 16, Alma Deutscher already has her own Wikipedia page, having composed her first piano sonata at the age of five, and a short opera at…
I have been very lucky throughout my life, that I have always had teachers, both instrumental and school teachers, who encouraged me to both improvise and compose. I started making…