Tag Archives: fingering

Bricks – Following a Melody

I’m spending more and more time in lessons with beginners working on identifying ‘steps’ (seconds) and ‘skips’. Reading music becomes much quicker when you don’t go to the trouble of working out the letter name of each note, but merely … Continue reading

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14/100 Getting my Harpsichord to “talk”

It’s been interesting learning how to make my harpsichord “talk”. Let me admit, first of all, that it is a Roland digital harpsichord (as distinct from a keyboard switched to harpsichord sound) so the touch is very forgiving – completely … Continue reading

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Issue 120: Stickers for a young violinist

  Tonight I was running through the piano accompaniments for a young (and very tired) violinist preparing for Grade 3. One piece has a couple of Grade 1 standard A major and D major arpeggios, and she was consistently playing them … Continue reading

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Issue 8: How to Draw a Piano Keyboard

Drawing a piano is a very useful skill for answering theory questions, teaching keyboards, and creating musical birthday cards.  I have also found that piano students often find it much easier to grasp the intricacies of the notes and fingerings of … Continue reading

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Issue 5: Silence is Golden

I never knew about how effective Silent Practise was until I started teaching beginner recorders.  I hit upon the idea of fingering the notes while singing the words, and the letter names, and the fingering numbers, over and over again, … Continue reading

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