Pianoforte Teaching

Teaching is not about telling the pupil what to do: it should involve attuning him/her to perceive his/her own strengths and weaknesses, and to appreciate the demands of the music. In practice, this means that the teacher must resist the temptation to simply point out errors and immediately cite the "correct" solution instead, the teacher must draw to the pupil`s attention the erroneous matter at hand and guide him/her (with a few carefully chosen words and gestures) towards understanding for himself/herself what he/she needs to do, and why. It is my belief that a pupil learns far more by spending two minutes scrutinising an issue that the teacher has brought to his/her attention, than by being told in two seconds, "X was wrong it should be Y".

Discipline and thorough planning are vital to making progress as a pianist. However, this should neither be taken to entail interminable scales, nor depriving performances of spontaneity. On the contrary, it is my belief that equipping a pupil with a robust technique is ultimately a means to an end: achieving a security and certitude that will enable him or her to give confident and spirited performances (which may well be paratactic in nature), unhampered by nerves.

Another vital attribute I try to cultivate is restraint. The overwhelming majority of pianists, myself included, will, at some point, manifest a propensity to play excessively loud and/or excessively fast surmounting these temptations will always be an ongoing struggle, so they need to be addressed early.

I expect my students to practise between lessons, on a decent instrument. I am prepared to advise on how to go about purchasing or hiring a pianoforte for the home, or, if that were impracticable, obtaining regular access to an instrument in non-domestic premises.