Andrew Eales

Andrew Eales has a well-established reputation as one of the leading piano educators in the United Kingdom.

Andrew has run his successful teaching practice in Milton Keynes for three decades, working with adults and children, from beginners to diploma level. Many of his students have embraced a lifelong passion for piano playing, and several have pursued careers in music and education.

He now also shares his insight and advice with players internationally via his Online Feedback service.

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Widely known as a published composer and author, Andrew’s piano recordings have been streamed more than a million times. His original music has appeared in ABRSM and LCM syllabus publications, ABRSM’s Piano Star series, and Musica Ferrum’s Mosaic series.

Andrew was a member of the steering committee for A Common Approach, the instrumental curriculum widely adopted by instrumental teachers, schools, and Music Services since 2002. He has been a piano exam syllabus consultant, written for ABRSM, and contributed to their Music Medals.

Andrew has led courses, classes, and presented at events throughout the UK, including for ABRSM, EPTA, The Piano Teachers’ Course UK, The Thinking Pianist, Chetham’s International Piano Summer School, and Finchcocks. He has also worked with educators in Poland, Africa and the USA.

Andrew’s critically acclaimed bestseller How to Practise Music was published internationally by Hal Leonard in British and US English versions in 2021.

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Andrew has also curated and edited several piano anthologies for major publishers, including music for elementary to advanced level players:

• The Joy of Graded Piano series (Yorktown Music, 2024)
• Three volumes of Graded Gillock (Willis Music Company, 2022)
• Naoko Ikeda: The Graded Collection (Willis Music Company, 2023)
• The Willis Student Recital Collection (Willis Music Company, 2025)
• with Jack Pepper: Music We Might Have Played (Hal Leonard, 2025)

Further underpinning his commitment to excellence in music education publishing, he helped to establish The Art of Piano Education Awards in 2023, and was President and Chair of the Awards in 2024 and 2025.

Andrew’s award-winning website Pianodao welcomes a quarter of a million visits a year from around 190 countries, confirming him as one of the most influential voices in piano education today.

At the heart of all his work, Andrew’s thriving private teaching practice and care for his students’ musical development remains a continuing focus as he continues his exciting journey as writer, composer, pianist and educator.

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Andrew’s Story

Born in Surrey, UK in 1966, Andrew started piano lessons aged 9. Aged 11, he was awarded a music scholarship to Oakham School. He later completed his schooling at Bedford Modern School, simultaneously taking up a place as a Junior Exhibitioner at the Guildhall School of Music in London.

Andrew went on to read Music at the University of Birmingham where he gained his honours B.Mus degree and won the University’s esteemed Roland Gregory Music Prize. While in Birmingham, Andrew studied harpsichord with David Ponsford, developing an interest in authentic historical performance practice.

Andrew went on to complete his postgraduate professional training at the Royal College of Music in London, where he took lessons with the internationally acclaimed harpsichord and fortepianist Robert Woolley, gaining his ARCM Diploma as well as a Certificate in Advanced Study in Early Music. He was also the winner of the Raymond Russell Harpsichord Prize.

Andrew also studied piano for two years with the Hungarian concert pianist Joseph Weingarten, a former student of Dohnányi. Joseph’s profound and inspiring teaching had a huge impact on Andrew as a musician.

After completing his education, Andrew briefly worked in music retail, before accepting a position administering recording contracts for EMI Classics in London. After spending four years in the recording industry, he left in 1993 to pursue a career in piano teaching.

For several years, Andrew led the piano and keyboard faculty for the Milton Keynes Music Service. Alongside a busy schedule teaching in local schools, he became involved in curriculum development work, and provided training and leadership to a team of a dozen other teachers.

During this time, Andrew’s work began to gain national attention. His series of four Keyquest tuition books for electronic keyboard, written to support his group teaching programme in schools, were adopted by teachers more widely, and went on to sell more than 10,000 copies.

Andrew has subsequently focused on developing his private piano teaching practice, educational consultancy, and writing.

Building on his three decades of experience, and with his wealth of professional expertise, he has emerged as a leading voice in the piano education and music publishing world.

Andrew has been happily married to Louise for 33 years. She is an advanced nurse practitioner in mental health, specialising in neurodiversity, and a fully qualified acupuncturist. They have a son and a daughter, who are both adults.

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