Friday, 16 April, 2010

Congratulations to Aaron (10) and Serena (9) who have passed the ABRSM Grade 1 exam with flying colours, Aaron with Distinction and Serena with Merit. Both worked hard to achieve this standard and we are all very proud of them.

Friday, 2 April 2010

A survey carried out by the Incorporated Society of Musicians (ISM) in February 2010 by the University of Reading, reveals that in September 2009, instrumental and singing teachers were charging between £24 and £34 an hour for private lessons. The mid-point was £28 an hour - the fees that manchesterpianotutor.co.uk charges in 2010. Fees are highest in London, the south-east, southern England and East Anglia. The ISM is the UK's professional body for musicians and its members include performers, composers, teachers, music therapists, academics and advisers.

Thursday, 1 April 2010

The Spring exams at the ABRSM are now over and after months of practising the same three pieces relentlessly, along with scales and sight reading, not to mention learning to listen (for a change) to develop their aural skills, students can now relax. Serena and Aaron have just taken their first exams and both have worked hard enough (with the odd lapse) to get good passes or higher. Their self-confidence on exam days has been an inspiration; watch this space for the results.

Sunday, 30 August 2009

Comparing notes with colleagues sometimes reveals some classic sayings: Mother concerned that daughter wasn't moving forward in her piano studies, when asked 'is she doing enough practise, do you think?' replied 'Practise?' Apparently, the child had been going to lessons each week without any practise in between. After a slight hesitation, she continued 'Do you think it will help if I bought her a piano?' Duh!

My own favourite is the woman who wanted to learn some 'set pieces' without having to learn any notes. I've never been able to work that one out but it was probably something similar to the woman who wanted to learn to play some hymns without having to learn how to play the piano. She had been from teacher to teacher when she approached me and 'they had all messed me about' she declared. I was quickly added to her list when I said she would have to learn the notes first. 'That could take years', she said. Well, no it doesn't actually, my pupils learn that in a couple of lessons. It's putting them in the right order, as Eric Morecambe would say, that takes longer. It's a bit like saying you don't want to learn letters and words but you just want to read a book. No, I don't get it either!

Friday 19 June

Congratulations to both Aaron and Sarah, whose schools asked them to play the piano at morning assemblies. Aaron (aged 10) has been learning with me for about 18 months and is working on his first Grade 1 piece. He played the first movement of Sonatina Piccolina by Benedetti. Sarah (aged 7) has been learning for 9 months and she played Bach's Minuet in G. Neither of them displayed any signs of nervousness and took it in their strides.

Now I have the jazz teaching course/exam and Lowry Theatre workshop out of the way, I can get down to learning how to play my new ukulele, a beautiful little instrument that is hugely popular here and in the USA. There is even a UK ukulele orchestra. I just need to find a quiet corner with no interruptions.

Thursday 18 June

Congratulations to Felicity who has passed her audition to do a PGDip at MMU. The bad news is that she is moving to Crewe, and I'm very sorry to lose her. I wish her all the best for her future teaching career.  That leaves another space on Thursdays at 6pm. Email me for details at diane@manchesterpianotutor.co.uk

Students are bringing me their summer holiday dates now, which means between now and September, there will be plenty of odd dates for anyone who wants to come for a tryout or even to have a few weeks' tuition. Things change frequently and there may well be a permanent vacancy or two going as a result.

Friday, 12 June 2009

My jazz piano teaching course with ABRSM at Chetham's is over at last and this morning I received my certificate for the first jazz piano exam. As I was suffering from a virus for two of the days, not to mention an overload of work because of the High School Musical workshop I'd been rehearsing at the same time for the Lowry Theatre, I was amazed I'd passed at all but I even got a Merit. Now I need a rest before I decide whether to move on to the next stage, which is held at Benslow in Herts.

Sad to have to turn down the chance to accompany a violinist playing Beethoven's wonderful Spring Sonata at a university recital though but I can't do too many things at once.

Lost one of my most promising pupils yesterday as she changed shift patterns at work, a common occurrence for working adult students. We're hoping she'll return but in the meantime, if anyone wants to take her place at 3pm on Thursdays, please get in touch at diane@manchesterpianotutor.co.uk