What I'm Listening To

Three very different pieces of piano music feature on my playlist this week. All extremely technically demanding!


This week includes a baroque piece, a romantic piece and a modern classical piece:

Bach - Fugue no. 10 in E minor

Liszt - La Campanella

Bartok - Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm no. 1

For beginner students I ask them simply to rate how much they like (or don't like!) each piece. They can use a simple symbol system with smiley or sad faces.

As my students progress I ask them to say whether the music is mostly fast or slow, loud or quiet, smooth or detached. Depending on the student I would use the Italian / French / German terms often used in music here.

For more advanced students I'm expecting a bit more! They should track down the sheet music (imslp.org is an amazing resource for this) and answer questions about texture, key, modulations, how the composer achieves a particular effect...

Learning about and listening out for different features in music from different periods should serve to fuel a love of music in my students! Listening to lots of music should enable students to better interpret music when they are playing. It will also help them in the aural section of practical exams and in theory exams.

Let me know in the comments or by email what YOU are listening to this week!