Category Archives: Practising

69/100 – Jig-saw Learning

Posted on November 10, 2016 by

What do you do when a pupil turns up at a lesson, declaring that she hadn’t done any work on the piece from last week because “it is too difficult”…. Let’s pretend she was a violin pupil learning to play … Continue reading →

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64/100 The Post-It Window

Posted on October 24, 2016 by

I follow  the www.teachpianotoday.com site, and often use ideas that they suggest. I’m pretty sure this one came from them, but I haven’t been able to track it down. Anyway, here it is; Can you see, under the coloured pencils, … Continue reading →

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63/100 Colouring-In for speedy learning

Posted on October 19, 2016 by

Going back to the contents of my teaching pencil-case, let’s talk about “colouring-in”. I don’t mean the mindfulness colouring books which are the current fashion! Here’s an example – the ABRSM Grade 5 piano piece, “Tarantella” At first sight, the … Continue reading →

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61/100 The Practice Adventure Trail

Posted on October 16, 2016 by

Last week, a young student hadn’t done much piano practice, which was unusual for her. Eventually, she admitted that she “was scared of the pieces”. She is preparing for the current ABRSM Prep test, and I think a lot of … Continue reading →

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35/100 Practice Starters

Posted on June 5, 2016 by

Paul Harris has a list of publications as long as my arm. Here is my new “toy” Now, don’t laugh; I was ordering a couple of books of music, and needed to add a little something so that I didn’t … Continue reading →

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24/100 Splatty finger Toy

Posted on April 6, 2016 by

I follow www.teachpianotoday.com It’s a great source of ideas, and I love this one: “The Amazing Finger Exercise Cup” DO watch the video! With the sound on! I’m going to make some for my own students, and also as class … Continue reading →

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23/100 “Daily” practice record

Posted on April 5, 2016 by

We’re issued with a pre-printed A4 sheet to give to students that we teach through Music Services.There is a box for writing down what the student is supposed to practice, and another box with 7 circles and a dotted line … Continue reading →

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Issue 141: Leaping about on a piano

Posted on September 29, 2014 by

Well, not literally, of course! No, it’s when you have to jump to a new chord. Step 1 is to KNOW where you have to land – seems obvious, but too often the student hasn’t really, REALLY learned the notes, … Continue reading →

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