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Piano music for boys > 10 of the best pieces by Jo Kotchie

by Tim Topham

I first met Perth-based teacher and composer Jo Kotchie at the APPC conference in 2011. In July this year, we reconnected in relation to the presentation I was giving at the APPC in Toowoomba titled “Fast and Furious: Techniques and Repertoire for Boys” which inspired this blog series. Jo has written a huge amount of music which ... Piano music for boys > 10 of the best pieces by Jo Kotchie

09/05/2013 Read more

Teaching Video: Students improvising backing tracks for scales

by Tim Topham

Most students find scale practice pretty dull. So do I. in fact, I find teaching scales pretty dull too! What’s more, starting lessons with the same old, “Well, let’s hear how your scales have gone this week”, is not likely to inspire students if it’s the same greeting every single lesson. With this in mind, ... Teaching Video: Students improvising backing tracks for scales

09/03/2013 Read more

Free recital pieces from InsideMusicTeaching.com

by Tim Topham

As you know, I’m always on the lookout for new repertoire for my students. On a recent visit to Philip Johnston’s InsideMusicTeaching website, which is a fantastic resource for all sorts of things piano-teaching-related, I came across his new “Repertoire Browser” page where he has uploaded nine of his own piano compositions which are great ... Free recital pieces from InsideMusicTeaching.com

08/25/2013 Read more

10 Must-Follow Blogs for Piano Teachers

by Tim Topham

As part of my own professional development, I keep a close eye on blogs from piano teachers around the world. You can learn so much and get great links to other resources by following a few key blogs. You don’t have to check these websites yourself every week as you can subscribe to receive emails ... 10 Must-Follow Blogs for Piano Teachers

08/20/2013 Read more

Adult piano students: 3 great online resources

by Tim Topham

Adult Piano Students’ Resources Just a short post today to share with you some links that your adult piano students might find useful. I suggest these more for adults than younger students as I’ve found that committed adult students tend to have more time and interest in doing extra background research into their study than, say, teenagers. The Raven’s ... Adult piano students: 3 great online resources

08/07/2013 Read more

10 of the Best Piano Pieces for Boys by… Geri Rea

by Tim Topham

This is the first in a new series of articles I’ll be writing featuring my favourite piano pieces for boys by a variety of Australian and International composers. I had the fortune to meet Geri Rea at a piano teachers’ PD day at the Convention Centre in Melbourne 2010. Geri is a talented teacher and ... 10 of the Best Piano Pieces for Boys by… Geri Rea

07/28/2013 Read more
 

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RENT Backing Tracks

by Tim Topham

If you or your production team are involved in the musical RENT, you will no doubt be looking for backing tracks for two of the more unusual numbers in the show: Contact Today 4U Both are dance-style tracks that aren’t really possible to perform live with the given orchestration. When I was involved in this ... RENT Backing Tracks

07/21/2013 Read more

Thoughts on the 11th APPC – Toowoomba

by Tim Topham

As I return from a much-needed week of holiday sun in Asia, I thought I’d put together my thoughts on the recent Australia Piano Pedagogy conference. Firstly, huge congratulations to Katy Pingell and the organising committee for what must have been months and months of hard slog to get everything so well organised. The conference ... Thoughts on the 11th APPC – Toowoomba

07/13/2013 Read more

Top 3 best note-learning apps for piano students

by Tim Topham

When students begin studying the piano, one of the things they need to learn quickly is what each note looks like and where it is placed in relation to the black keys. This stops them having to always count up from C. There are many ways of remembering the note locations and I use different ... Top 3 best note-learning apps for piano students

06/28/2013 Read more

Chopin Scherzo 3 in C# minor Op 39: 20 practice tips for 2nd theme

by Tim Topham

Chopin Scherzo 3 Tutorial I recently uploaded a YouTube giving 20 practice tips for the tricky rapid descending broken chord patterns in the second theme of Chopin’s 3rd Scherzo (about bar 155). Feel free to share with any students who might be interested!

06/20/2013 Read more

What’s rotation in piano technique?

by Tim Topham

I recently came across a useful video describing arm rotation in piano technique. For those of you who may be unsure what this term means, it’s the movement your arm makes when you turn your hand from palm down to palm up in front of your body. We’re actually quite lucky that our forearms contain ... What’s rotation in piano technique?

06/10/2013 Read more

Piano Music for Right Hand

by Tim Topham

One of my students broke his LH thumb the other week (footy accident!), so I began researching good music for Right Hand alone. As I was doing this, I thought a few links might be useful for other teachers or students who might come to this page via a google search for the same. I ... Piano Music for Right Hand

06/01/2013 Read more