Conversations Around The Piano, Episode 2: "Spotlight on Amateur Pianists" with guest Frances Wilson

Episode 2 of Eleonor Bindman's new series “Conversations Around The Piano” focuses on the experience of adult amateur pianists and features the award-winning British writer and blogger Frances Wilson, A.K.A. "The Cross-Eyed Pianist" — https://crosseyedpianist.com. #ConversationsAroundThePiano The discussion topics include: 3:00 Addressing the needs of amateur pianists 4:00 True definition of “Amateur:” a lover of something 5:10 Teaching adult amateur pianists 7:40 Finding more time to practice – unexpected bonus of Covid lockdowns 9:20 Practicing productively 13:50 Importance of high quality instruction: finding the “right” teacher. 15:20 Fingerings: the best perspective is that of a concert pianist, not a printed edition 20:10 Changing the hand position: key to finding new fingering possibilities 23:00 The correct sitting position demonstration – body weight 25:20 Tension-free playing 27:35 Analogies and metaphors are effective 31:30 Playing for new teachers: possible contradictions and takeaways 38:50 The award-winning “Cross-eyed Pianist” blog as a resource for amateur pianists 41:50 Picking repertoire: there are no requirements 43:50 Frances Wilson performs J.S. Bach Larghetto from Concerto in D BWV 972 48:50 Practicing efficiently: analysis, recording yourself, looking at the score, noticing patterns 52:50 Looking at a Bach fugue, color coding the voices 55:15 Sight reading prepares you for seeing the bigger picture 57:00 Memorization: systematic repetition is key 1:03:00 We need repertoire of all levels and re-visiting a piece is important 1:08:00 Recordings should not be used for “imitation” but as reference 1:10:30 It’s crucial to listen to other instrumental recordings of a given composer 1:12:20 Eleonor Bindman plays a selection from her “Stepping Stones to Bach” 1:13:50 More on “listening around the repertoire” for context