Today has been spent watching others play and being taught. Chets operates an “open door” policy which means you can go and observe other people’s lessons and attend workshops with any of the teaching faculty. From a teaching point of view, watching others being taught is highly informative; equally, as a player one gains useful […]
Another full day at Chets and a late night! My second day at Chets has been all about conversations with pianists – and specifically adult amateur pianists. Get people talking about why they are here and the personal stories come flooding out: people who learnt the piano as children but gave up and are now […]
I’m up in Manchester at Chetham’s International Summer School and Festival for Pianists – or “Chets” as it’s affectionately called – for the weekend. It’s my first visit, though I have of course known about the summer school for some years and certain piano friends of mine are regulars here, some returning year after year […]
There is a general (and much overstated) adage that behind every successful child prodigy stands (at least) one Tiger parent – an overbearing individual who sets the highest standard of achievement for their children by authoritarian means
We all have a common interest and we know that no one is going to roll their eyes or yawn if you start enthusing about Beethoven’s last sonatas or the beauties and intricacies of Chopin’s Fourth Ballade. This sense of a “piano community” with a shared passion is incredibly important
I have been on enough piano courses myself to know why I attend them and what I want to get out of them, and I thought it would be helpful for those considering a piano course, especially one of the scale of Chets, to have some additional tips from people who are regular attendees at Chets on how to get the best out of a piano course.
