Practice – Pianodao

Keeping Your Own Piano Journal

Supporting Your Piano Playing Journey
Written by ANDREW EALES

In my book How to Practise Music, I wrote the following to suggest adult learners keep a piano journal:

“Older learners often like to keep their own journal in which they write a more reflective account of their practice journey, which may or may not be shared with a teacher. These can be excellent tools for structuring practice sessions, probing for solutions, or looking back on previous work.”

It is a suggestion I unpack a little in the book, but in this post I want to explain the concept and potential benefits in more depth, as well as offering some practical tips to help you get started…

How to Practise Music: The Reviews

A highlight of 2022 has been the release and positive reception of my first book for Hal Leonard.

Published worldwide, How to Practise Music is a practical handbook for musicians of all stripes, described by the publishers as:

“The essential, pocket-sized companion for every musician. Accessible and authoritative, How to Practise Music is an ideal guide for anyone learning to play music. Suitable for instrumentalists and vocalists of any genre, this comprehensive handbook will give you a better idea of how to practise music, good reasons for doing so, and the confidence to succeed. “

The book is now available in both UK and US versions (Practice/Practise!):

U.K. EDITION • PURCHASE

U.S. EDITION • PURCHASE

Over the course of the last few months I have been truly thrilled and touched by the many wonderful comments I have received, and glowing reviews that have appeared in the press and online.

Here is an updated selection…

How to Practise Music: The Handbook

THE PIANODAO BOOKSHELF

Products featured on Pianodao are selected for review by ANDREW EALES.
PIANODAO REVIEWS POLICY

I am thrilled to announce my first publication with Hal Leonard, described by the publishers as:

“The essential, pocket-sized companion for every musician. Accessible and authoritative, How to Practise Music is an ideal guide for anyone learning to play music. Suitable for instrumentalists and vocalists of any genre, this comprehensive handbook will give you a better idea of how to practise music, good reasons for doing so, and the confidence to succeed. “

The book is now available in both UK and US versions (Practice/Practise!):

U.K. EDITION • PURCHASE

U.S. EDITION • PURCHASE

The book is also available digitally for Amazon Kindle and Apple Books.

The book is also now available from the RNIB Bookstore, which aims to open up the world of reading to those with a print disability, including dyslexia, partial sight, and blindness. Titles are made available via the RNIB Bookshare website in a range of accessible formats that can be read electronically or adapted to suit the personal needs of readers.

In this post I will give you an exclusive first look…

Practice in Perspective

PATHWAYS FOR PLAYING

Supporting Your Piano Playing Journey
Written by ANDREW EALES

“Life is amazing. And then it’s awful.
And then it’s amazing again.
And in between the amazing and the awful,
it’s ordinary and mundane and routine.
Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful,
and relax and exhale during the ordinary.
That’s just living: heartbreaking, soul-healing,
amazing, awful, ordinary life.”

L.R. Knost

Hands up if your first thought, reading this quote, is that Knost’s observations about life equally apply to piano practice? That was certainly my first thought when, having posted this quote three years ago on social media it reappeared as a “memory” this week.

And one of my friends similarly wasted no time before commenting, “this is an excellent description of my average practise session”.

So let’s revisit the quote, substituting practice for life:

“Practice is amazing. And then it’s awful.
And then it’s amazing again.
And in between the amazing and the awful,
it’s ordinary and mundane and routine.
Breathe in the amazing, hold on through the awful,
and relax and exhale during the ordinary.
That’s just practising: heartbreaking, soul-healing,
amazing, awful, ordinary practice.”

More Breathing at the Piano

QIGONG FOR PIANO PLAYERS

Breathing and stretching exercises for healthy practice and living
Compiled for Pianodao by ANDREW EALES

In my article about Breathing at the Piano, I shared some tips and simple exercises to help you reconnect with your breathing while playing.

That article was warmly received. I have heard from and worked with many players who found the simple exercises helpful, even revolutionary for their playing. If you’ve not already printed off and tried the FREE exercises, please check them out before going on.

The aim here is to help players easily check in with our breathing when at the piano. To understand the importance of this, please read about “Awareness in Breathing” in my article What is Qigong and Piano Playing and refer back to my article András Schiff and Natural Breathing for more background.

In this article, I will now build on the foundation of the exercises and ideas previously shared…

Is Mindfulness relevant to piano playing?

PATHWAYS FOR LIVING

Guest Post by Doug Hanvey

Doug Hanvey is a highly qualified and experienced educationalist and teacher of both piano pedagogy and mindfulness. Here he discusses the link between the two…