The Musical Home

07/20/2018

As I always tell my students, it's never about playing perfectly, it's about being prepared, doing your best when you're really nervous, and training yourself to move on when you make a mistake.

Their techniques can work for people in many fields, too.

04/21/2018

After being given a 13 page, nightmare accompaniment by Schumann 1 week before a concert, I'm thinking I might write a Soloist's Guide to Keeping your Accompanist from Killing You. It might look something like this (with the explanation that every yes is multiplied by at least x days of practice).

1. Is the piece by Debussy, Schumann or Schubert?
2. Is it an orchestral reduction?
3. Is it filled with triplets at a ridiculously fast tempo for more than 4 pages?
4. Are there so many notes and accidentals scattered everywhere that you have to squint to read the music?
5. Do your hands need to be the size of Rachmaninoff's to reach most of the chords?
6. If you find a recording of the piece, is the accompanist also named and takes a bow before or after the performance?

If the answer is yes to more than one of these, you should've given you accompanist the music weeks ago.

They get little credit and less pay than the singers they support. So why do accompanists do it? Tom Service finds out

11/11/2017

This is so true!

This blog will take a sharp turn for the serious, this subject has been churning around in me for a long time. My Dad heard me waxing on about this last week and he thought I ought to blog it, fun…

08/12/2017

This is such an important article for singers everywhere.

The long read: More and more singers are cancelling big shows and turning to surgery to fix their damaged vocal cords. But is the problem actually down to the way they sing?

07/08/2017

A wonderful article on the importance of vocal cross-training.

Vocal cross-training is extremely important for musical theatre singers today, and this goes far beyond ‘style’.

06/26/2017

Musical genius at work! This is something that even my youngest students start to learn: something big begins with a small, simple pattern and can be expanded and contracted from there. AMAZING!

01/16/2017

Love this!

Find out how the brain of a piano player is significantly different from other people, by virtue of the multi-tasking required to play the instrument.

09/16/2016

Yes!

09/12/2016

This is so cool. When people ask me what experience I had before taking on piano/voice students with disabilities, I would say "Not much, but I'm very creative and resourceful and equally as goal-oriented."

09/02/2016

If you want to know what parts of the body you are using when singing, here is a good little post about that.

Lead Vocals is a free of charge resource for aspiring vocalists, who are learning the craft of singing and who practice their art by singing along to playback recordings and to other selected musical performances on video.

08/27/2016

What an inspiration!

04/02/2016

I want to give a shout out to all of my students who performed last night. They did such a great job and I am so very proud of them all :)

12/17/2015

Happy birthday Beethoven! He is the composer that grabbed my heart as a child and inspired me to love and study music.

Ludwig Van Beethoven was baptised 245 years ago. Can you help him piece his greatest work together?

11/30/2015

I hope that the US will see the importance of bringing music and the arts back to schools :)

10/15/2015

This is a good and thoughtful look at the messages behind allowing a child to quit.

Children will never tell you later in life that they are angry at you for not letting them quit.

09/08/2015

This is always a good reminder for singers :)

As singers, we have to look after our instrument – our voice, but what does ‘vocal hygiene’ actually mean? Essentially this term tries to explain how we should use and care for the human voice, enabling it to always be healthy and in prime, working order. Of course there are many different ways in w…

07/30/2015

The first time I listened to all of these artists sing, I knew that they would have trouble with their vocal chords down the road. I'm sad, but not surprised that I was correct. It is popular to sing hard in the outer edges of the voice (or use a constant belt voice) or to create unique sorts of sounds through manipulating the larynx, but it is not healthy to be doing it constantly.

Back in February at the Grammys in L.A., Sam Smith joined Mary J. Blige on stage for a rousing performance of his smash hit “Stay With Me.” It was...

05/04/2015

Congratulations to my students on their superiors marks at this year's Piano Guild Audition :) I'm so proud of all of you and the hard work you've put into learning your pieces.

03/20/2015

Slowing down the tempo to "turtle speed" is one of the first concepts I try to teach my students. Good to know that research backs me up :)

We've all heard the phrase 'practice smarter, not harder,' but what does that really mean? What does 'smarter' practice actually look like? A study of collegiate piano majors suggests that the key lies in how we handle mistakes.

02/26/2015

These reasons are so very true and I see them all of the time.

Over 50% of students quit their musical instrument within the first two years of playing.

01/15/2015

:)

Practicing scales changed your life.

12/15/2014

Even more reasons to love music :)

The power of music is undeniable.

09/17/2014

A great example of why music matters.

From homeless parent to Ph.D., Margaret Martin has always believed in the power of music. She founded Harmony Project, which puts instruments into the hands of kids from LA's toughest neighborhoods.

07/29/2014

I just stumbled upon a lovely soprano voice.

A look back at all the wonderful versions of this famous air: 1961 - Janet Baker 1967 - Tatiana Troyanos 1981 - Emma Kirkby 1983 - Ann Murray 1985 - Jessye N...

05/14/2014

So proud of my students who completed their auditions before the Piano Guild judges! They all received Superior Plus marks! Great job!