Category Archives: Aural


Moon Day


Monday 20th July marks International Moon Day- the date of the first Lunar Landing in 1969. Here’s a an amazing piece of music to listen to that depicts moonlight- one of my favourites to play.  It’s Clair de Lune by the French composer Claude Debussy.  It’s such a well-love, atmospheric piece of piano music that […]

read more

Valentine’s Day 2020 activities


This year Valentines Day falls on a Friday (and the last day of half term at local schools)- so all my pupils get to have fun with Valentines-themed activities!  I’m really excited to see their reactions and hope they have a special time this week 🙂 The home studio is bedecked in pink and loveliness […]

read more

Chinese New Year activities


Here in Manchester, Chinese New Year is a big celebration, with a big, colourful Dragon Parade through town and lots of noise!  Perfect for inspiring a splash of colour and imagination into our piano lessons during the misty, grey month of January.  So here are some ways we explored Chinese sounds in our piano lessons […]

read more

Beat lollipops


Here is a bright and simple way I help beginner musicians embed pulse and beat in their first year of learning. My piano pupils do lots of aural activities during lessons. They learn through a ‘sound before symbol’ approach. One way my pupils internalise beat and pulse is with a quick challenge where we swap […]

read more