Today’s post was published in Pianist Magazine’s newsletter last month. It focuses on the importance of establishing and developing arm-weight into your piano playing. I hope you find it of interest. Producing an attractive, pleasing sound when playing the piano is key to good interpretation. When we perform a piece of music, we want our audience to enjoy the moment with us and this usually involves teasing a beautiful sound from the instrument – even if the actual instrument we are playing is not to our liking. Arm-weight is key to developing and honing this important factor. Here are a few s ..read more

Greetings from Melbourne, Australia, where I’m on a most interesting book tour. I’ve been intending to publish this post for a while; it’s a recent blog post written for Pianist Magazine’s website focusing on the use of the metronome. Over the years, I have found this device to be extremely helpful in my teaching class and I hope the following suggestions are beneficial. The metronome is rather like Marmite – you either love it or hate it! An often much maligned device, it’s essentially a practice tool to help students keep time during their practice sessions. As a teacher, it’s a device which ..read more

Last weekend I published a post highlighting a useful new website called pianocreativity.com. In today’s post, Garreth Brooke, who runs this website, has written his own article introducing his new project and sheds light on the importance of incorporating such an approach for use in piano lessons. One of the curious paradoxes of being a classical pianist is that we devote a vast amount of time to learning the music of the great composers, yet rarely dare to create our own. One the one hand, it makes sense. The greats wrote transcendent music; who are we to try? On the other, it’s self-evident ..read more

Today’s post features the fourth and final interview with pianist and piano professor at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Jan Loeffler. You can read all the interviews in this series, here. In this instalment, Jan discusses the importance of effectively funding the Arts. In light of today’s perpetual arts cut-backs, how can we draw greater attention to the importance of the training of today’s young pianists? There’s no denying the fact that we live in financially precarious times, so it is perfectly understandable why politicians and parents might feel wary of spending significant sums of m ..read more

Julian Jacobson’s final post in his Debussy series spotlights the last six preludes from Book 2 in preparation for his recital on June 6th at the 1901 Arts Club in London. This concert is now sold out but you can hear the performance online, here. Read earlier posts in this series, here. Preludes Book 2 nos. 7-12 And so to the final six Preludes of Debussy’s magnum opus for piano. Having diverted us with a clown’s antics in General Lavine, Debussy withdraws into his deepest subconscious for no. 7, La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune, a piece almost as mysterious and compl ..read more

Today’s post is the fifth article in concert pianist and piano professor Julian Jacobson’s insightful series highlighting Debussy’s two books of preludes in preparation for his concert at the 1901 Arts Club in London on June 6th. Read earlier posts in this series here. Preludes Book 2, Nos. 1 – 6 And so to the second book of Debussy’s great, if understated collection. This followed reasonably swiftly from the first book, Debussy being occupied with no other major projects for the time being. They took him a little longer than book 1, composition being spread over the years 1911 and 1912 ..read more

Concert pianist and piano professor Julian Jacobson continues his Debussy journey in today’s blog post. This fourth article surveys the final six works of the French composer’s Preludes Book 1 (Preludes Nos. 7 – 12), in preparation for Julian’s concert on June 6th at the 1901 Arts Club in London, where he will play the complete Preludes Book 1 and 2. Read earlier posts in this series here. After the desolation of Des pas sur la neige, the elemental fury of Ce qu’a vu le Vent d’Ouest (What the West Wind Saw) comes as something of a catharsis. It is easily the most violent of ..read more

In this series of articles, concert pianist and piano professor Julian Jacobson throws light on his preparation process for a forthcoming recital at the 1901 Arts Club in London on June 6th, where he will play both books of Debussy’s deliciously enigmatic Preludes. This is the third article in the series. Read earlier posts here. And so to the glorious Preludes themselves! I will cover six in each of the next four posts, starting with the first six of Book 1. Book 1 covers a wide range of moods, from the sweet simplicity of La fille aux cheveux de lin to the violence of Ce ..read more

Today’s post features the third interview with Jan Loeffler who is a pianist and piano professor at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire (UK). In this instalment, Jan offers his thoughts on teaching technique, repertoire, and using the piano exam syllabus. Read more interviews in the series, here. At what approximate age and level do your students begin their musical journey with you? This varies a bit, of course, but most students are 10 years and above, and most students are post ABRSM Grade 5 standard by the time they start working with me. Teaching at a conservatoire, you probably mostly teach t ..read more

Today’s post is the second in a series written by concert pianist and piano professor Julian Jacobson, who is ‘journeying’ through Debussy’s two books of Preludes in preparation for his concert on Thursday June 6th, 7.30 pm, at the 1901 Arts Club in London (pictured in the featured image at the top of this post). In this article, he muses on fingering, pedalling, and the most suitable scores or editions for his task. Read Julian’s introductory post by clicking here. And so to the wondrous Preludes themselves. Two books of 12, and since Debussy published the first 12 as “Premier livre” we can ..read more