Robbie is one of my pupils. He is learning electronic keyboard and is currently working for Grade 7. Robbie struggles with his mental health. Last year, to his great credit, he graduated from university with a degree in mathematics. Throughout his three years at university he continued learning and playing keyboard, moving to online lessons …
Repertoire Week begins on Monday 20th July! Are you ready for it? At the start of your lesson during that week, you’ll play your own programme of music. As before, if you are Grade 5 or below you should play four items of music (could be just a short section of a piece, if you …
Click on VIEW THE POST at the bottom of the email if you want to listen to the audio! Did you enjoy working on “Cycling Home” for the competition two weeks ago? Kit and I hope you found it both enjoyable and challenging. The aim was for you to prepare the piece in your own …
The Summer Solstice is the moment when the sun reaches its most northerly point in the sky. It’s the longest day of the year, and the start of astronomical summer. This year, the Summer Solstice was last Sunday – 21st June 2026, which also happened to be Father’s Day. As you’re about to read, I …
Thank you to all students, parents, colleagues and others who have responded to my request for views and opinions on the various music exam boards, in particular ABRSM and Trinity College London (TCL), in relation to the lack of examiner’s name or identification number on recent feedback reports fromTCL. Some of you want to stay …
What type of lesson do you prefer? And which is of greater benefit to you? On the one hand, your teacher can push forward into new work. The next piece. Or the next page of a long piece. Or a new scale. Or adding the left hand to a passage you’ve (so far) only done …
Hello everyone! For some reason, several of you thought Competition Week was this week. No! It’s the week beginning Monday 15th June. Be ready to play “Cycling Home” in your lesson during that week. I will be recording you (audio only) so that Kit and I can listen to all the performances and choose our …
If you are between 11 and 25 years old, you may well be involved in public exams of one sort or another. SATs, 11-Plus, Common Entrance, GCSEs, A-Levels, T-Levels, University Exams, Entrance Exams, UKCAT, Finals, Dissertations, Post-Graduate Qualifications… Perhaps you’re lucky, and they’re all over now. Perhaps you’re waiting nervously for them to start. Or …
Last term’s Repertoire Week was a huge success, and everyone told me how much they enjoyed choosing what to play and polishing up “old” pieces to give them another airing. I would like give a perspective from the other side: it was wonderful to hear all the performances! Some people played music they’d learnt by …
… when afar and asunder, parted are those who are singing today… These are the opening words of the most famous public school song in England. It’s the song of Harrow School, founded in 1572 under a Royal Charter granted by Elizabeth I. The school was established through the efforts and endowment of a local …