Marie-Claire Warren Music Tuition

One of my pupils has just bought a book of Electronic Pop Hits, so I’ve bought a copy for myself and have been enjoying finding the right sounds and styles for them - happy days 😁

Fade To Grey from The Complete Keyboard Player Electronic Pop Hits Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

Today I am making bespoke practice sheets for one of my pupils who is working towards their Grade 6 Flute. This is a strategy I use in my own practice as I find it is so rewarding to be able to check off even just making one scale a bit faster. Progress can sometimes feel a little tedious, but if you regularly practice with a metronome you can track your progress and it feels so much more rewarding than simply repeating the same thing day in day out.

It’s a very simple concept to copy, I’d love to see your practice sheets. I’ve got one to share in the comments from a keyboard pupil called Holly.

P.s. please excuse the messy desk - this is why I love having a bureau style desk, so I can close it up out of sight while I’m teaching 😆

It’s definitely time to get the air con going in my teaching room, it’s currently 29 degrees in here 😮‍💨

Mental practice is still practice as far as I’m concerned.

I am currently sat in Costa killing time while my daughter is at a birthday party and I’ve brought my iPad and headphones. I’m listening to Shrek the Musical whilst following the score. I’m counting my bars rest and listening to marry up what I’m seeing with what I’m hearing. I’m also marking in some of the lyrics to save me having to count. In this case I’m also putting in time stamps for bits that I want to go back to and practice with my instruments. This is one of my favourite ways to practice because it means that when I do pick up my instruments I’m working efficiently on the areas that need the most attention. I’ve also found this to be a great way to learn a large number of songs in a short space of time for example when joining a new band and wanting to make a good first impression at band practice. (I’m also spending way too much time posting this to Facebook 🤦!)

It’s feels like cheating, but for me it’s another valuable practice strategy to complement the work I do with my instruments.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and see your pictures of practising away from your instrument.

Fantastic article on the benefits of practising slowly - a must read for all budding musicians.

Merits of Slow Practice Today, we communicate some of our thoughts on the merits of slow practice. This is one of the most difficult concepts for us, the instructors, to impart to students. First, we have to define these two terms, because we feel they are commonly misunderstood.

Please join me in saying a big congratulations to Maisie who has got a distinction in her Grade 2 Clarinet 🎉

The flyers worked!! After delivering approximately 2000 flyers in the autumn and feeling a little despondent at the lack of response, now we are into the new year the new pupils are coming through. I’m delighted to report that I’ve had five new pupils since the start of the year.

Here is Mark, who was back for his third keyboard lesson today and is enjoying a mixture of back to basics work on reading simple tunes and combined with learning the introduction of his favourite Joni Mitchell tune Blue.