Mypianoteacher

ABRSM 2027-2028 new syllabus is out! Students can look forward to playing pieces by Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish. For those who are still using the current syllabus, it will only expire by the end of 2027 with many of the non-ABRSM publication pieces being brought forward into the new syllabus.

🎹 Summer Scales & Arpeggios Challenge 2026 🌞
Practice • Persevere • Perform!

This school holiday, take your scales to the next level!
Whether you’re a beginner or preparing for higher grades, join the challenge and show your best technique, tone, and musical shape.

✨ Attractive prizes to be won!
📅 Runs until 31 August — perfect for students heading off on holidays too.

🎯 Tested on accuracy, speed, evenness, shape, and quick response — all in line with ABRSM standards.

💪 Make scales your superpower this summer!

*Details of this challenge will be sent to all eligible students

“Do I really need to practise scales?” If I had a dollar for every time a student asked this, I’d probably have enough to buy another piano. Scales are often seen as the “boring” part of piano lessons — repetitive, mechanical, and nowhere near as exciting as playing favourite pieces. But skipping scales is a little like trying to become a good athlete without basic conditioning. Here are the reasons why.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/musical-instrument-learning-concentration-brain-rot-study-b2984592.html?fbclid=IwdGRjcASHUJpjbGNrBIdQfGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDDM1MDY4NTUzMTcyOAABHmCQpt9Z-2IpDWZP6br_x1nZY1FpNZ-z8UNeAXjeXnNRwj6HzIFWP1kutzK4_aem_YWdncwATy4z4rFSUmZ-c7Z_MsdPa&brid=YWdncwF37GUmIOq43C-PpUmU7Yjr

Why learning a musical instrument could stave off ‘brain rot’ and help concentration Musical training may help young people have ‘superior attention and vigilance’, study suggests

🎹 From Frustration to Freedom: My Scale Journey

Like many students, I used to hate scales. They felt boring, repetitive, and disconnected from the joy of playing real pieces. Scales seemed like drills without music, and I couldn’t see their purpose beyond exam requirements.

In the lower grades (1–4), I managed to learn and pass my scales well enough. But when I reached Grade 5 and above, the struggle began. From Grade 6 onwards, scales became increasingly difficult: melodic minor scales were no longer optional, and staccato scales demanded far more technique than legato ones. My teacher tried hard to help me, but he couldn’t understand why I could learn pieces so quickly yet faltered so much with scales.

It didn’t help that I skipped exams for some grades. By the time I reached Grade 8, the sheer volume of scales was overwhelming. The syllabus 20 years ago was no joke: all 12 major, harmonic minor, and melodic minor scales in octaves, thirds, and sixths; arpeggios in root, first, and second inversions; dominant sevenths and diminished sevenths in every key. Compared to today, it was at least three times heavier. This was a wake-up call for me. As my sight-reading at that time was also not good, I cannot afford to let another supporting test pull down my overall marks.

Faced with this mountain, I drafted a checklist and timetable during my university summer holiday. I committed to learning every single scale and arpeggio slowly and mindfully, with correct fi*****ng to avoid ingrained mistakes, and then relearning and revising them again for at least 2 more rounds. I practiced scales more than my three exam pieces combined. Over time, the shapes of the scales became deeply ingrained in my mind—like how chess players memorize long, specific sequences of opening moves.

The result? I earned 17/21 marks—a merit—for my Grade 8 scales. It wasn’t a distinction, but it was a huge achievement considering I had once been failing. To go from struggling to securing a merit in such a demanding syllabus was proof of how persistence and structured practice can transform weaknesses into strengths.

When I first began learning violin at six years old, my mum often nagged at me to 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨. At that age, I was too young to understand her intentions, and the advice felt more like a distraction than a help.

Years later, when I started piano at eleven, she repeated the same reminder. This time, I confidently replied that 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘪𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺. While technically true, I completely missed the point. Concert pianists already possess strong sight reading skills—they can afford to play without the score because they’ve internalized the music. Their freedom comes from mastery, not avoidance.

Throughout my piano learning journey, my sight reading remained weak. I had a good ear and could learn pieces quickly, but my teachers didn’t emphasize sight reading, so I leaned heavily on listening and memorization. When I reached higher grades, the pieces grew more complex, and my lack of sight reading ability caught up with me. I managed to prepare for Grade 8 by listening repeatedly to recordings and piecing the notes together bar by bar, but ingrained errors crept in—mistakes that came from not truly reading the score.

It wasn’t until I began teaching that my sight reading started to improve. Guiding students forced me to confront my own gaps, and over many years, I gradually built the skill I had once neglected. Today, I recognize sight reading as one of the most essential abilities for pianists—not just for ensemble playing, but for independence, accuracy, and musical fluency.

🎉 Congratulations on a Distinction! 🎶

We’re celebrating one of our transfer students who has just achieved a Distinction in the ABRSM Grade 6 Performance Exam! What makes this accomplishment especially commendable is the way he turned a challenge into strength.

Sight reading has always been a weak area for him, and this left some ingrained blemishes in his pieces. But instead of letting that hold him back, he leaned into his strengths—memorizing his entire programme. This dedication paid off with full marks in the “performance as a whole” section, where the examiners reward how convincingly and confidently the music is presented.

His success is a powerful reminder that:

Good sight reading is essential for versatility and long-term growth.

But memorization can also be a valuable practice tool, helping students play with freedom, confidence, and artistry.

We’re so proud of his resilience and creativity in finding his own path to success. May this inspire all our students to balance strong sight reading with the power of memorization—two skills that together unlock truly outstanding performances.

Almost every piano student dreams of playing fast.

Watching advanced pianists fly across the keyboard can feel almost superhuman — effortless scales, lightning-fast passages, and fingers moving faster than the eye can follow. But many students become frustrated because no one really explains how speed is actually developed.

Is it talent?
Fast fingers?
Natural ability?

What if the secret to playing fast… is actually learning to slow down?

Here’s a different way to think about piano speed — through the superpower of the Flash!