Yoga – Pianodao

Supporting Your Piano Playing Journey
Written by ANDREW EALES

Summer schools and courses for (especially) adult piano enthusiasts have become an embedded feature of the music education landscape in recent years, and last year saw the launch of the latest.

The Thinking Pianist is the brainchild of David Jones, an established pianist, educator, and presently Head of Keyboard Studies at Cheltenham Ladies’ College.

I am delighted to announce that for this, the course’s second year, I will be joining the faculty. Here in advance, I talk to Jones about what it is that makes this particular course special, and distinct from other successful summer schools…

PATHWAYS FOR WELLBEING

Playing and Living • Beyond the Notes
Written by ANDREW EALES

As I write this, I am in India on a yoga retreat. Each day here begins sat on the floor together, listening to a reflective discourse on the ethics outlined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the classic text that provides the start point from which all yoga theory subsequently developed.

The first, foundational ethic presented by Patanjali was ahimsa, which can be literally translated no harm, and essentially means be kind.

Without kindness, there can be no true yoga. And yet, as our teacher wryly and rather decisively noted:

“There are plenty of people in this world who can touch their toes, but who are still basically arseholes!”

As usual, what is true in one field can equally apply in another, and certainly from my own observations of pianists, both in online forums and the ‘real world’, there are plenty of very fine piano players and teachers who seem to be somewhat lacking in kindness towards others.

So how can we encourage the piano community to be a kinder one? Let’s sit together and reflect on the meaning of ahimsa…

Tag: Yoga

“The Thinking Pianist” Summer Course

The Pianist’s Kindness