Journal
Writing from the studio.
Practical pieces on learning music, choosing a teacher, practising properly, and living with an instrument, written by the people who teach here.
Lead article: Piano maintenance and care for beginners: an upright piano with its lid open, hammers and strings in soft light
Photography to come
Latest · Piano care
Piano maintenance and care for beginners
Placement, humidity, tuning intervals and cleaning: the habits that keep an instrument healthy for generations.
27 October 2023 · 3 min read
Read the piece →A child’s hands on the keys, with a songbook open on the stand
Photography to come
Repertoire25 October 2023 · 4 min read
Ten easy Disney songs to learn on the piano
The songs that made your childhood, arranged simply enough to play in your first year at the instrument.
Journal: How to sit properly at the piano
Photography to come
Technique20 October 2023 · 4 min read
How to sit properly at the piano
Posture is not about aesthetics. It decides how freely you can play, and whether you will still be playing in twenty years.
Journal: Con Brio: the festival of music
Photography to come
Performance20 October 2023 · 2 min read
Con Brio: the festival of music
India's most prominent piano festival-competition, and what it is like to compete in it.
Journal: How to decorate around a piano at home
Photography to come
Piano care18 October 2023 · 5 min read
How to decorate around a piano at home
Where to put it, what to put near it, and how to make a large black instrument look like it belongs in your room.
Journal: The five most expensive pianos ever sold
Photography to come
Curiosities18 October 2023 · 3 min read
The five most expensive pianos ever sold
From a Casablanca film prop to a Steinway painted by an artist: the instruments that fetched millions.
Journal: Six of the most unusual pianos in the world
Photography to come
Curiosities14 October 2023 · 3 min read
Six of the most unusual pianos in the world
Pianos that do not look like pianos, from a bed you can play to an instrument built for two.
Journal: The importance of sight-reading in piano
Photography to come
Technique4 October 2023 · 4 min read
The importance of sight-reading in piano
Why the ability to read at sight separates musicians who can play anything from musicians who can play their pieces.
Journal: How to choose the right instrument for you
Photography to come
Getting started25 September 2023 · 4 min read
How to choose the right instrument for you
There is no perfect instrument. There is, however, a right one for you right now. Here is how to find it.
Journal: How to choose the right piano teacher
Photography to come
Parents1 September 2023 · 7 min read
How to choose the right piano teacher
The questions worth asking before you commit: qualifications, method, temperament, and the things that matter more than fees.
Journal: Ten easy songs to learn on the piano as a beginner
Photography to come
Repertoire31 August 2023 · 5 min read
Ten easy songs to learn on the piano as a beginner
Pieces simple enough to play early, but musical enough to be worth playing, the ones that keep a new student at the instrument.
Journal: The benefits of early piano education
Photography to come
Parents25 August 2023 · 6 min read
The benefits of early piano education
What actually changes in a child who learns the piano young: memory, concentration, coordination, patience, and rather more besides.
Journal: Famous classical piano composers, and where a beginner should start
Photography to come
Repertoire14 August 2023 · 6 min read
Famous classical piano composers, and where a beginner should start
Ten composers whose music is within reach of a first- or second-year pianist, and the specific pieces worth learning first.
Trial lessons by appointment
Reading about it only gets you so far.
At some point the useful thing is to sit at an instrument with someone who can hear what you are doing. Trial lessons are by appointment.