A piano is a significant investment and in order to retain its value and quality, the instrument needs to be well looked after. Many people believe that tuning is all that is required to maintain a piano, but while regular

The following article came about after the comment on social media of a contemporary composer regretting the focus of many current musicians on the release of small scale recorded projects — in this case, singles — against bigger and what

They say that goodbye is one of the hardest things to say, and saying goodbye to your piano teacher can be a difficult decision, especially if you have been taking lessons with that teacher for some time. There are many

A while ago, I read an interesting story about the evolution of the performance dress code for musicians. It stated that the tradition of black-tie formal wear in classical music harks back to the Victorian era, where manservants and butlers

How often a listener returning from a recital by an important performer remains unsatisfied. Not because of the imperfection of the artist’s playing but because of lack of penetration into the composer’s ideas – ideas that the amateur has cultivated

Writers, artists and musicians all understand this dilemma – when do we “let go” of that article or book manuscript, painting or piece of music? Given half the chance, most of us would happily continue tinkering and refining ad infinitum,

Looking at the history of music, it hasn’t always been the most democratic art form in the world. Religion and royalty held sway over music-making and music performance for a long time. Joseph Haydn had his employer, Prince Esterhazy. Beethoven

I have always thought that music was inclusive. If you didn’t like a certain type of music, it was because you didn’t like the style, not what its creator represented to you. But that was not always the case. For