… And none of them are “It makes you smarter”! 1. Learning music is fun! I never have so much fun in the week as during music lessons. Demonstrating techniques in singing often involves doing really silly things, and this means lots of laughter. Once you get going, you can Read more…
Two songs on the “perils of love” this week. Love Quickly is Pall’d – Purcell [AB(4)] This is a good introductory song for students who are beginning to tackle Baroque repertoire. Purcell incorporates quite a few vocal runs which should be practiced slowly at first to ensure Read more…
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. Helen Keller
It’s definitely colder up here, and so it’s been winter coat on this week. If it’s chilly where you are, curl up under a blanket and enjoy some of these great posts. Posts on learning Vocalists’ checklist for solving practice room problems (Beyond the Notes) – A really fantastic Read more…
So we’ve travelled the best part of 2,000 or 3,000 years as we’ve examined the history of music, and especially the history of vocal music. If you’ve missed any of the posts in this series, you can jump to all of them here: Introduction – Early History Renaissance Era Baroque Read more…
If you, or one of your students is heading for Grade 5 theory, you’re probably dealing with the rather dull subject of enharmonic equivalents. Most of the existing resources on this topic are pretty uninspiring, rather like a page of maths questions that asks if 3+1 is the same as Read more…
The first review of the season from the Usher Hall, taking our seats in the gods for Britten’s Simple Symphony, MacMillan’s Piano Concerto No 3 and Holst’s The Planets. Where and When: Usher Hall, Edinburgh; Friday 4th October, 7:30pm The Music: As always with classical concerts, the first half of this performance was Read more…
If you look deep enough you will see music; the heart of nature being everywhere music. Thomas Carlyle
October is here. I love October, but then it’s the month in which my birthday falls, so I’m biased! Posts on learning Build Greater Confidence by Approaching Practice Like a Surgeon (Bulletproof Musician) – Why reflective practice is more effective. I’ll admit it… I’ve made a mistake (Teach Read more…
Practicing is the most challenging part of every musician’s life. Whether we’ve been playing six months or sixty years, we all face days when we just don’t want to sit down and work, or if we do, we don’t want to do what we should be doing. We face many Read more…