Masterclass With Concert Pianist Philip Fowke - Practice Tips for Pianists

On Saturday 14th January  I had the priviledge of meeting the British Concert Pianist Philip Fowke at St Hilda's in Oxford.  Philip is respected and admired worldwide as one of Britain’s most distinguished pianists.


Can you imagine how nervous I was to play in front of such a genius on a concert Steinway at the Jaqueline Du Pre buildinhg auditorium.  I had chosen to play Oscar Petersons Jazz Exercise Number 3.  Fantastic piece but a bit challenging for my little hands.


Well I didn't disgrace myself, one bar fell apart (which never did at home) but overall I was pleased.  


There were 6 of us brave souls who played for him out of a class of 15 and I just wanted to record in this blog the general practice tips that were given to us.

1. Quote "There are 3 important factors to playing the piano well, fingering, fingering and fingering!"
2. When you make a mistake in practice or in front of your teacher, stop there and then and leave your hands on the keyboard!  That way you can see clearly how the mistake happened.  
3. When isolating bars to work on - memorise them with correct fingering - "Take the music away!".
4. When mistakes occur - why always go back to the beginning and try again? You will get a perfect beginning but not much else!
5. "When you do not know the piece inside out, the piano keys are playing your fingers, not your fingers playing the piano.
6. Don't circle problem notes on the score - Triangle them! Danger!

Philip was extremely witty with his advice.  Its such common sense, but how many of us just play through our music without engaging our brains and delivering a sub standard performance.  Our concert pianists spend 6-8 hours a day practising their craft.


So in conclusion, practice is practice not a performance.  It shouldn't sound pretty, infact it should sound blooming awful or your not doing it properly.  Like anything else in life its hard work, but the rewards can be amazing.


So off I go back to Oscar, to sort out my fingering in the bar that wasn't secure and let me down.  Instead of playing it swung im going to play some of it straight like Philip suggested to add some more colour.