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Grieg - Nocturne (No. 4 from Lyric Pieces, Op. 54)

A step-by-step walkthrough for mastering right hand double notes

Grieg wrote his famous Nocturne (Night Piece) in the summer of 1891 during his annual country retreat to the Norwegian mountains and fjords. Along with five other pieces, he included the Nocturne in Book V of his Lyric Pieces, Op. 54. In 1894, Anton Seidl, the conductor of the New York Philharmonic, orchestrated the Nocturne. Grieg was not altogether happy with it, so he made his own version. Grieg's Nocturne is a deservedly popular piece, and one that shows up in my studio fairly frequently. As a result, I plan to work through this piece with you bar by bar... Read >>

How and When to Use Slow Practice

I have noticed some folk think they are beyond slow practice – that’s something only beginners do. Far from it! One of the twentieth century’s great pianists, Sergei Rachmaninov practised so slowly that even his colleagues didn’t recognise the piece. This was not music he was learning from scratch, but something he had performed many times and was practising slowly in order to keep it in good shape. If you’re serious about playing the piano, there’s no getting away from slow practice. It is a cornerstone of our work from the beginner stages right through to the advanced level, and... Read >>

Jailbreaking Hanon

Should the exercises of Charles-Louis Hanon be consigned to the dustbins of history or can they be useful if done mindfully, with choreography based on modern thinking about piano technique? In this lecture series, Graham Fitch shows many applications for Hanon's exercises, including how they can be used as a... Read >>

Anyone Can Improvise!

Dedicated to helping everyone play the music they love and long to play, Lucinda Mackworth-Young introduces her step-by-step system for learning to play by ear and improvise, so that even classically trained piano players can play spontaneously, anywhere, anytime - and say “Yes!” when asked to play Happy Birthday!... Read >>

The Art of Piano Fingering

A thorough understanding of the principles of good fingering is a vital basis for good piano playing. Without comfortable, musically appropriate fingerings, we can waste hours of practice time trying to remedy a problem which could have been averted much earlier. In this series of articles, author Penelope Roskell... Read >>

Schubert - Impromptu in E-Flat Major D899 (Op. 90, No. 2)

This section contains walk-throughs and lessons on Schubert’s Impromptus Op 90, starting with No. 2 in E-Flat Major.... Read >>

The Art of Pedalling

This series of videos provides a comprehensive treatise on the subject of pedalling, starting with a brief history of the sustaining pedal and a video on finger pedalling. This is then followed by an indepth look at various aspects of pedal technique and types of pedalling, including: direct, legato, fractional... Read >>

An Overview of the Practice Tools

This series of articles serves as an introduction to Graham Fitch’s practice tools, including how to approach a new piece and the Three Ss.... Read >>

JS Bach - Prelude & Fugue in C Minor, BWV 847

This section contains walk-throughs and lessons on Preludes and Fugues from Book I of J.S. Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.... Read >>