It might be natural to assume that a starting point to playing a piece of music is to play all the notes as they are written. In this article, the question why composers might write notes that cannot be played

How on earth do you remember all those melodies, all those little turns of phrase and all that invention by all those composers? We know from brain studies that combining words and music is a positive way to combine both

I have been asked to write about how my learning of a musical instrument as a child had influenced me in life. As a mother, I have also asked myself this question when thinking about my daughter’s education. I would

Among the compositions by Maurice Ravel that are highly regarded in the piano repertoire is the suite Gaspard de la Nuit. It is based on three poems by Aloysius Bertrand and is known for its technical difficulties. In this article,

The business of designing and building musical instruments was long in the exclusive domain of men. Or so we have been led to believe! But there was at least one woman who kicked ass in this male dominated world. Her

My parents were both musicians. There was never any doubt in our household. Music lessons were essential. I took lessons both on cello and piano with the requisite theory lessons, and that was that. No instructor, no teaching style, no

Giacomo Puccini’s final opera was Turandot, set in exotic Peking. The story of a Chinese princess who keeps herself unattainable by the perplexing riddles she sets her prospective suitors, only to be brought down by a riddle that she, herself,

It’s easy to forget that the creation of a new piece usually involves a substantial amount of money changing hands to ensure that the composer is paid fairly. Trusts and foundations, organisations such as the BBC, or private donations have