This is an excellent and much needed book, addressing an obvious and significant gap in the training and understanding of many instrumental teachers. Answering many of the questions we typically have, it offers a wealth of insight, and solid practical strategies to improve our teaching… ⬇️

The summer months provide plenty of shared opportunity to celebrate our Active Repertoire pieces with others. Join the Project here...

In case you missed this important article earlier this week: The desire to share images and videos of piano students young and old is understandable from a number of angles. But there are importantly legal, ethical, and professional concerns to consider with care before sharing media online ⬇️

Discover how ADHD can impact piano practice, lessons, and performance events. In this authoritative article, you’ll read expert clinical advice about the condition, and discover effective educational strategies that can really help… ⬇️

Reviewing this excellent publication last January, I wrote: ‘Musical Vegetable Patch’ is fresh, original, and really quite brilliant. I can neither fault it, nor think of any… https://pianodao.com/2026/01/11/kristina-arakelyans-musical-vegetable-patch/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Anyone for Anime? This new collection will undoubtedly prove hugely popular! With 19 accessible solo piano pieces in arrangements which are true to the originals, and can even be played along to the… https://pianodao.com/2026/04/22/piano-player-anime/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

I have been a fan of Angeline Bell's music since her first publications appeared, so it is a particular joy to welcome this more advanced collection, which so absorbingly brings to life the… https://pianodao.com/2026/04/03/echoes-of-the-orient/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

The desire to share images and videos of piano students young and old is understandable from a number of angles. But there are importantly legal, ethical, and professional concerns to consider with care before sharing media online ⬇️

LCME's 2026 syllabus is out today, and I’ll not hesitate to declare this one of the most educationally rewarding and musically inspiring piano syllabuses I’ve ever seen, which is high praise indeed! Find out more here… ⬇️

Of the many gifted composers of intermediate piano music today, Naoko Ikeda remains a favourite, and it's great to welcome this new collection of solo pieces, particularly as it is one of her most… https://pianodao.com/2026/04/02/naoko-ikeda-kanade/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

I have previously recommended a number of Phillip Keveren's books, and those who learn with me seem to consistently love them. I am sure that his brilliant 'Jazz Preludes for Piano' will be equally well received... Read my full review here ⬇️

What part do the Grade exams play in fostering positive motivation? Do they provide the impetus and framework needed for musical achievement, or do they distract from more important goals? Might… https://pianodao.com/2025/07/06/do-grade-exams-motivate/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Who really needs mnemonics? Are note-naming rhymes useful, and if so for whom? Many piano teachers suggest they aren't, but multiple studies say otherwise. Perhaps a balanced reassessment of the topic, grounded in neuroscience, cognitive psychology, and academic research, is overdue...

For those interested in academic insight into instrumental teaching trends, this is a wide-ranging and thought-provoking book sporting 19 chapters, each a distinct article covering an area of… https://pianodao.com/2026/03/14/instrumental-music-education/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

'Piano Tales for Winnie-the-Pooh' is the latest title from best-selling jazz composer Nikki Iles, brought to us in a superbly presented publication from EVC Music. And it is sure to be treasured by players of all ages. Here's the Pianodao review ⬇️

Anyone for Anime? These accessible solo piano versions are fundamentally true to the originals, presented in full and in key, so can be played along to the original soundtracks. Teachers will certainly want this collection, while I suspect that many intermediate pianists will rush to buy it too! ⬇️

It was a joy to share this book with pianists at last week’s Thinking Pianist course! Have you explored these pieces yet? 👇 https://pianodao.com/2025/10/29/music-we-might-have-played/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Following the success of his first 'Piano Book', piano superstar Lang Lang returns with a second collection, this time including a rich blend of playable classics alongside neoclassical pieces and music from film, pop and video games... Here's the Pianodao review 👇

I'm bringing this 2017 review back from the vault, because these two books are packed with memorable, and in many cases highly distinctive new compositions. This is superior music, in no way just another batch of pastiches ⬇️

The rudimentary facets of our pianism, our musical understanding, technical accomplishment, and creative personality, are ultimately no more than a means to an end... ⬇️

The ‘Graded Gillock’ series is proving hugely popular - #piano learners from Grade 1-6 progress in leaps and bounds with this brilliant and engaging music! Good to see they are now back in stock at Sheet Music Plus. You can read all about them here: ⬇️

Here's an easy publication to recommend, combining classic hit songs, solid progressive arrangements at five levels (Grade 1-5), with educational insight and helpful practice tips by Christopher… https://pianodao.com/2026/02/19/the-beatles-graded-pieces/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

I have been a fan of Angeline Bell's music since her first publications appeared, so it is a particular joy to welcome this more advanced collection, which so absorbingly brings to life the composer's memories, and paints such a gorgeous musical picture of the East Asian landscape... ⬇️

Of the many gifted composers of intermediate piano music today, Naoko Ikeda remains a favourite, and it's great to welcome this new collection of solo pieces, particularly as it is one of her most consistent and enjoyable yet! ⬇️

If piano teachers don't enthusiastically communicate the many glories of our repertoire, who on earth will? 👇 https://pianodao.com/2024/07/07/why-the-classics-still-matter/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Teachers: are you feeling uncertain about how your teaching can develop, and whether your studio can continue to grow in the future? Here’s some encouragement 👇 https://pianodao.com/2026/02/22/piano-teaching-an-uncertain-future/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Darragh Gilleece is an Irish pianist, composer and educator, whose pieces in these collections are traditional with a modern twist, imaginative, highly appealing, and packed with valuable learning content 👇

What part do the Grade exams play in fostering positive motivation? Do they provide the impetus and framework needed for musical achievement, or do they distract from more important goals? Might they put some learners off continuing to play? Some answers to these questions here 👇

There's perhaps no better time than the Spring 🌼 months for embarking on exciting new piprojects, but let's also remember to give our perennial 'Active Repertoire' a timely spring clean... 👇

For those interested in academic insight into instrumental teaching trends, this is a wide-ranging and thought-provoking book sporting 19 chapters, each a distinct article covering an area of special interest. I highly recommend it...👇

Louise has significantly improved as a potter since making this, but the sentiments of this old blog post remain true: let's be kinder to ourselves and each other, and we'll find that our pursuit… https://pianodao.com/2024/07/21/beauty-in-imperfection/?utm_source=bluesky&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Much is made of the benefits of learning to play a musical instrument, and rightly so. But perhaps the greatest of all these is this: the pinnacle of developing patience. Are those eager to progress as quickly as possible in danger of missing the point? Read more here 👇

As musicians, "making a name” for ourselves can very easily become an unhealthy preoccupation, whether through competition in its many forms, or through self-promotion. Perhaps we need to stop and consider whether we are truly content with the path we are on...👇

Here's a series which can be highly recommended, and which brings an important body of little-known piano education repertoire to a wider global audience...👇

Effective studio policies, clearly communicated, fence off our personal and professional lives, and are especially important for those of us whose studios are based within our homes. Boundaries help us devote ourselves to our shared objective of pupil progress 👇

Most piano educators would balk at the suggestion that we would ever humiliate a student. But realistically, many of us will have inadvertently done so, and will likely also have experienced humiliation ourselves… 👇

Teachers: are you feeling uncertain about how your teaching can develop, and whether your studio can continue to grow in the future? Here’s some encouragement 👇

Here's an easy publication to recommend, combining classic hit songs, solid progressive arrangements at five levels (Grade 1-5), with educational insight and helpful practice tips...👇

Happy #ChineseNewYear to all who celebrate this evening and tomorrow around the world, and best wishes for Spring Festival. Wishing you a prosperous, happy and productive Year of the Fire Horse! pianodao.com/2026/02/08/t...

Written in partnership with the brilliant musician, composer, broadcaster, and writer Jack Pepper, and with a Foreword by Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, 'Music We Might Have Played' brings together nineteen stunning solo piano pieces for early advanced players 👇

With their 'Winter Piano Anthology', Faber Music have again hit the bullseye, offering an essential collection that gathers an impressively diverse and inspiring array of evocative pieces to satisfy all tastes, including many that pianists are unlikely to already have elsewhere... 👇

As he enjoys his 80th birthday year, John Rutter is rightly considered a national treasure, and his publishers OUP Music are celebrating with (among other things) a new compilation of his two recent solo piano albums in one superb book of 16 pieces 👇

House of Ghosts - I’m enjoying these piano pieces by British composer Francis Pott, performed by Duncan Honeybourne. They’re perfect for a read of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

I cannot think of a better gift for the young kiddos in your life this Christmas. Beyond the wonderful book itself, the 'Bluey First Ever Piano Book' offers the gift of music, which is one to cherish for a lifetime. How brilliant! 👇

With their 'Winter Piano Anthology', Faber Music have again hit the bullseye, offering an essential collection that gathers an impressively diverse and inspiring array of evocative pieces to satisfy all tastes, including many that pianists are unlikely to already have elsewhere... 👇

This selection of arrangements written by composers with very contrasting styles proves to be a collection with genuine educational and musical value, and one to which I expect to return as a teacher, and for my own personal pleasure, for many years to come... Truly superb! 👇

Musicians have always had a significant part to play in the feasts and festivals of community life, and for piano players this is a time of the year in which our Active Repertoire can play a particularly significant role in our music-making... 👇

For advanced players with a penchant for boogie and jazz piano, here's where the Christmas party starts!

We are delighted that Ivana Gavrić will be performing at the MK Piano Celebration 2025, and on the eve of the release of her new album 'Throwback to Dance' it has been a pleasure to catch up with her for a chat about her piano journey so far... 👇

Educator and best-selling author Paul Harris explains how deep subject knowledge promotes spontaneity, and how a connected "simultaneous learning" approach can enhance teaching... 👇