I've been watching some of the Winter Olympics on TV and marvelling at the way that the top competitors all seem to achieve times which are within a fraction of a second of one another's. Time and again the commentators point out that the winning margin is...
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This morning I listened to a pleasing report on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, about a neuro-scientific experiment to observe a pianist's brain activity while he played the piano. The leader of the 'Glass Brain' study commented that playing the piano is one of the...
I was discussing 'Strictly' with a friend who's also a fan of the show. He asked me: 'How do you think it would work if celebrities were partnered with professional pianists, to learn to play the piano in a few weeks and then perform, say, a piano concerto in front of...
The autumn season of Strictly Come Dancing is under way and this year the judges seem inclined to give us a bit more insight into what they are looking for. I have enjoyed learning more about posture, weight, inside edges, head position, arm extensions, 'spotting' ( a...
One of the most depressing sights of lockdown in Edinburgh - for me, anyway - was the sight of the Usher Hall being turned into a Covid test centre. I know that test centres are important. But it seemed a sad change of fortune for the first big concert hall I got to...
Last week I was thinking of writing a blog post about knitting. What is the connection between knitting and pianism, you may ask? Well, I had been reading about the 19th-century pianist Clara Schumann, who continued to tour and earn money for the family after her...
This morning I heard a report about scientists who have made a list of recommendations for touring musicians to cut back on carbon emissions. Amongst other things it recommended that musicians should use instruments or equipment 'held by the venue'. Good luck with...
![No more bullfrogs […for now]](https://www.susantomes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/IMG_20210816_155540976-rotated-1-400x250.jpg)
My readers will know that I hate people coughing in concerts. I don't mean the sudden cough that the person can't help and does their best to stifle - I mean the self-indulgent barking cough which rings out across the hall and seems to be targeted at specially quiet...
Recently I've heard or coached a number of amateur pianists whose playing I haven't heard for 18 months, or before All This started. I had been afraid that everyone's playing would have fallen apart, but actually my impression was that lockdown has enhanced rather...
Update: if you've been trying to subscribe to my blog in the last day or two and have encountered problems, please note that the link is now working properly. I've just been writing to my subscribers to tell them that new blog posts, delivered to them by email, now...
I've been watching the Euro 2020 football matches on TV - to the surprise of some of my friends. But I find that things are always interesting once you start to know a bit about them, and as there is so much coverage of the championship, it makes sense to take an...
At the weekend a bunch of us, all pianists, got together to be sociable and listen to one another play some live music. One of us had realised that the layout of her house offered the opportunity for us to obey current rules while still enjoying some piano music. Her...
My poor old piano has not been tuned for almost a year because of the lockdown. As the tuning became less delightful, I have practised 'mind over matter' - a kind of 'fingers in ears, la la la! I don't hear anything wrong' approach. In fact, my piano has held up...
A year ago, when lockdown happened and all my work was cancelled, I spent a lot of time walking around the streets of my neighbourhood - partly for exercise, partly to pass the time, and partly because we were not supposed to be taking the bus so there was no other...
