At the start of the new academic year it’s always interesting to see what new music and resources are available. Whether you are a novice or an experienced teacher this is the opportunity to add to your teaching library, even it is only one piece! An increasing amount of publishers are starting to offer digital […] The post Piano repertoire, digital downloads and studio licenses appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more

Did you teach Double, double using the active listening strategies outlined in the last blog? In this final post in our short series, the focus is on how to use active listening to pre-frame a new piece of music. PRE-FRAMING NEW PIECES You’ll have noticed that children like to play something that they have listened […] The post Encouraging Active Listening in Piano Lessons – Part 3 appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more

Compose Yourself! – the online piano composition festival is back for a second year, providing an opportunity for all UK-based young pianists to be creative. We’re delighted to welcome composer Alison Matthews as our guest blog writer to introduce the festival.  COMPOSE YOURSELF! Alison writes… When the festival was co-founded by myself and Lindsey Berwin, […] The post Compose Yourself! 2022 appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more

Did you play the honesty game after reading the previous blog post on active listening? In this second part we are continuing to think about the benefits of active listening and I share a practical activity that you can use. THE LISTENING FUNNEL Imagine a funnel – the top is broad and wide but as […] The post Encouraging Active Listening in Piano Lessons – part 2 appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more

The act of listening, deep, active listening, is crucial to developing musical sensitivity. It is at the heart of all that we do as musicians. Helping our students to listen more actively and attentively is a particularly important job for piano teachers. We’ve all experienced how easy it is to switch off our ears and […] The post Active Listening in Piano Lessons – Part 1 Teacher Talk appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more

When were you last curious about something? As a PhD student, brimming over with curiosity and with a burning question to answer, one of the first things you get told is that there are no answers, only more questions! ABOUT CURIOSITY According to the author, Ian Leslie, the right sort of curiosity nourishes us [1]. […] The post Engaging Curiosity appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more

I wonder how many piano teachers currently have a student learning the minuet? They are found everywhere in piano tutor books and elementary piano anthologies so the chances are fairly high I think. In this blog I am exploring a few teaching ideas for a Classical minuet, using Reinagle’s Minuet in C as my example. […] The post The Minuet – Piano Teaching Ideas appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more

Have you ever come across students who have been taught using the ‘three pieces a year’ model? The approach is closely connected to the exam cycle: start the year with three new piano exam pieces and repeat them until the exam is taken nine months later.  Dr Sally Cathcart, founder and director of The Curious […] The post 3 PIANO EXAM PIECES A YEAR? ENCOURAGING STUDENTS TO LEARN A BROADER RANGE OF REPERTOIRE appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more

One of the new categories to be added the updated edition of the Piano Framework is how to develop co-ordination at the piano. Ilga Pitkevica, tutor on the Piano Teachers’ Course, shares her top tips for teaching co-ordination to our youngest students, right through to the most advanced. The full video is available to watch […] The post Co-ordination at the piano: 7 tips from Ilga Pitkevica appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more

The Piano Framework© 2021 provides a comprehensive overview of the many different and often overlapping elements that learning to play the piano involves. It provides teachers, students and parents with a new, fresh approach to teaching and learning the piano. It has a concept and skills led approach at its heart. The 2021 edition of […] The post INTRODUCING THE PIANO FRAMEWORK© appeared first on The Curious Piano Teachers ..read more