Learn Piano – Pianodao

Why do we play the piano?

Expression • Fluency • Understanding
Written by Andrew Eales

The question of why we play the piano would seem to be both an obvious one to ask and an easy one to answer. And yet it rarely is.

In this article I consider four “types” of player, while recognising that many of us combine aspects of most or all of them.

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Melanie Spanswick’s Play it Again: Piano series launched with two books published by Schott Music back in 2017. Now, with a third book joining the series, it’s time for another look.

This new review covers all three books in the series, so let’s dig in…

Parents, Partners & Supporters

PATHWAYS FOR TEACHING

Supporting teachers • Promoting learning
Written by Andrew Eales

When I started teaching a quarter of a century ago, the bulk of my students were children. They and I depended on their parents for payment and support, which sometimes also meant direction.

And the crucial (if at times complex) triangle relationship between teacher, pupil and parent was a fundamental in almost every private lesson context.

Today the world has changed considerably, and one of the many differences for teachers is that the network of relationships around the private lesson context has become a far more complex and diverse one.

Why Bother with Scales?

PATHWAYS FOR PLAYING

Expression • Fluency • Understanding
Written by Andrew Eales

“For many, scales and arpeggios are an academic, dry and soulless part of learning the piano, and have to be practised because, like cod liver oil, they are ‘good for you’.”

Anthony Williams, The Piano Teacher’s Survival Guide (Faber Music, 2017)

Why bother with scales? (by which, for the purposes of this article, I also mean arpeggios and broken chords) …

In order to properly answer this question, this article will consider these related questions, of vital importance to students and teachers concerned to know about the purpose and value of teaching and learning scales:

What are the benefits of learning scales?
Is it important to use consistent fingering?
Why is cumulative learning better than exam cramming?
How can scales practice and creativity go hand-in-hand?

Let’s get started by considering the core benefits of learning scales…