Collaboration – Pianodao

Contradiction and Connection

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

In her acclaimed novel Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus cleverly puts into words the observations of the character ‘Six Thirty’, who happens to be the main protagonist’s dog. Here’s an example of Six Thirty’s canine wisdom:

“Humans were strange, Six Thirty thought, the way they constantly battled dirt in their aboveground world, but after death willingly entombed themselves in it.”

A fair point! But perhaps it is our contradictions that both define us, and prove the quality of our connections with one another…

A Piano Teacher’s Foibles

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

Which of the incredible teachers in this picture would you like to sign up to have piano lessons with?

Finding the “right” match can certainly prove challenging for some. Writing in a recent issue of Pianist Magazine, Warwick Thompson sagely advises:

“A teacher is actually a human being, surprising as that fact may sound, with foibles, prejudices, blind spots, strengths, and wonders within them.
If those foibles and wonders don’t align with yours, it doesn’t mean you’ll never progress at the piano. It simply means you’ve had the wrong teacher (or rather, to spin the mirror, it means your unfortunate teacher had the wrong student).”

Relief all around, then!

The Wisdom of Trust

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

As I return to the Fermata Series after a summer break, some readers will be aware that in the last month I received eye surgery.

The removal of a cataract (even a large, dense one) is usually regarded as a relatively straightforward procedure, and this latest operation was certainly less traumatic than my previous retinal surgeries, even though those added to the risk this time.

Two weeks of rest were recommended, but I opted for just one, only then wondering at the intensity of the ensuing headaches and fatigue. I eventually realised that capping my early return to work with a day trip to speak at a conference in Birmingham would be rather foolish, a point that had already been repeatedly stressed by my ever-patient wife Louise and others.

A sensible colleague reassuringly and rather conclusively suggested,

“Given the surgeon’s advice, it seems wise to consider whether attending the event is the best decision for you right now.”

A Fresh Perspective

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

We often hear self-help gurus encouraging us to stop worrying about what others think of our choices, opinions, abilities, behaviour, or work.

And they have a point: many of us become trapped in the mindset of the “people-pleaser”. If we allow ourselves to be manipulated or bullied by others, we can easily lose sight of our own worth and core values. A decision not to care what others think about us can be emancipating.

But wait. If we stop caring about what others think, how long before we stop caring about them at all?

Mutual understanding of each other’s ideas, feelings and perspectives is a crucial foundation for building empathetic, honest relationships. If we limit ourselves to our own perspective, ignoring the opinions, ideas, insights and beliefs of others, we can quickly become arrogant and indifferent.

As the Chinese saying goes,

“However good your eye-sight, you still can’t see the back of your own head.”

We may not always agree with the opinions of others, but shutting them out fundamentally isolates us, and can limit our potential for growth. Clearly a balance is needed, along with an ability to accept the perspectives of others without feeling belittled.

Wisdom and Expertise

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

How do you feel when so-called “experts” say things that just don’t match your experience? Is their academic learning superior to your practical experience? Does their input leave you feeling more, or less confident than before?

Practical experience and academic learning ideally go hand in hand, the one neither replacing nor outbalancing the other. But it’s helpful to consider how the right balance between the two is best achieved.

Piano Paradigms

Fermata • Pause and Reflect

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Reflection by Andrew Eales

Have you ever observed a conversation in which two, though using familiar words, might as well have been speaking a completely different language?

The way in which we package and communicate our ideas is always based on our underlying world view, or as it is sometimes called, “paradigm”.

I am quite struck by this explanation:

”You probably would not consider living in a house made of mud or grass to be a measure of great success. Yet, in some part of China and the cultures of the South Seas, such a dwelling is indeed highly esteemed. Similarly, one person may see a certain plant as a weed, while others honour it as an important medicine or nutritious food. These contrasts represent different ways of seeing, different ways of being, different paradigms.”

Roger Jahnke, OMD (The Healing Promise of Qi, 2001)

It is too easy to believe that our perspective is the right, or even the only way of seeing things. Jahnke reminds us that it is not. The logic, experiences, interpretation, and senses that inform our paradigm are ours alone, and even when values and mores are collectively held, they are still far from having unique authority.

As I reflect on discussions between piano players and teachers online and at gatherings, I am often struck by the difficulty some have in bridging the gap between their paradigm and others. To an extent, we can identify tribes within our larger community, separated by the language, educational pathways and different playing styles favoured.

Who needs piano lessons anyway?

Pianodao Articles • Full Archive

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

As Chair of the European Piano Teachers’ Association, Mark Tanner seems an unlikely cheerleader for shunning expert tuition in favour of “teaching” oneself to play the piano. And yet in his new teach-yourself-book for older beginners, The Piano in Black and White (Faber Music, 2021), this is the path he advocates, enthusing:

“Learning to teach ourselves gives us the advantage of becoming masters of our own universe.”

Tanner ignores the obvious point that our own universe, without the guidance and insights of those more experienced and knowledgeable than us, might well prove to be a rather limited, small universe…

Chetham’s Summer School for Pianists

Pianodao Articles • Full Archive

Supporting Your Piano Pathway
Written by Andrew Eales

The International Summer School and Festival for Pianists held each summer at the Chetham’s School of Music in Manchester UK is now in its 19th year, and has established itself as one of the major annual events in the piano calendar.

Incorporating a series of nightly public recitals as well as (this year) the sixth Manchester International Concerto Competition for Young Pianists, this extraordinary (if not exhausting!) event benefits from the stunning setting that is Chetham’s School of Music, which includes the new Stoller Hall, several recital and ensemble rooms, a huge fleet of pianos (the school’s impressive collection supplemented by additional pianos on loan from nearby Forsyth’s music store) and the enlarged premises opened in 2012.

The Summer School for Pianists provides the opportunity for players of all ages to have one-to-one lessons with the dozens of internationally respected pianists and pedagogues on site, who comprise a formidable faculty list that reads like a “who’s who” of the international piano scene.

With more than 250 participants in each of the two weeks, the event combines several projects initiated and led by the inspiring and indefatigable husband-and-wife team of Murray McLachlan and Kathryn Page, both of whom are themselves hugely successful pianists, teachers and communicators.

I was delighted to receive an invitation from Murray and Kathryn to visit this uniquely all-encompassing event and see for myself how its strengths combine to add up to more than the sum of its parts, offering a fusion of inspiration, education and creativity for pianists and lovers of the piano of all ages and at all stages of their lives.

In this article I will explain more about how the course works, be a fly on the wall observing some lessons, talk to participants, enjoy the array of concerts, and offer my overall view of the week.