Blog
I’ve been writing this blog since 2009, but there still seem to be plenty of interesting topics to mull over. You can subscribe (it’s free) to follow the blog by email – each new post will pop into your inbox.
Playing music in a cherry tree
An old friend of mine, a fellow musician, wrote to tell me about a lovely dream he had had. He, I and another musician friend were sitting in the branches of a cherry tree playing music together. 'The cherries were the notes!' he said. He didn't say what instrument I...
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Look, no hands
I've been remembering a little conversation which happened years ago when a fellow musician was giving me a lift to the Tube station in London. I was on my way to play a concert. As I was getting out of the car, he said to me: 'Have you got your music?' 'Yes.' 'Have...
Different audiences, different reactions
I have been going to events at the Edinburgh Jazz Festival. There seems to be a lot of overlap between the audiences, because I keep seeing the same faces. It's interesting to observe the effects that different performers have on the audiences. Some performers banter...
Musicians still in the dark about Brexit
As the Brexit story accelerates, musicians are still in the dark about what will happen to their freedom of movement after we leave the EU. For two and a half years now I have been listening to colleagues and students worrying about whether they will still be able to...
Donald Tovey’s piano playing is brought to life
One of my Christmas presents was a memoir, 'Divided Loyalties - a Scotswoman in occupied France' by Janet Teissier du Cros. It was written by an Edinburgh-born woman who married a Frenchman and spent the years of the Second World War in the Cévennes region of France...
TLS review of ‘Speaking the Piano’
The Times Literary Supplement of January 4 has a lovely review of my book 'Speaking the Piano'. Because of the subscriber paywall, only a snippet of the review is publicly accessible online, but here's a photo of the review as it appears in print. And here's an...
Scotsman preview of 2019’s concerts
The year got off to a flying start with a mention of Winterplay in The Scotsman's preview of concerts to look forward to in 2019. After talking about the Edinburgh International Festival, it goes on to say: 'On a far smaller scale, though just as rewarding, is pianist...
A New Year wish for musicians everywhere
The last live music I heard in 2018, outside my home, was some excellent jazz in a city bar (pianist Brian Kellock and bassist Kenny Ellis). The bar was buzzing with people enjoying long lunches and toasting the end of the year. Crockery clattered and the coffee...
Limelight review of Speaking the Piano
Australia's leading arts magazine, Limelight, carries a review of my book Speaking the Piano 'Tomes offers warm, thoughtful insights into the art of teaching' 'Speaking the Piano explores more than simply the nuts and bolts of mastering an instrument - it tries to...
Scotsman review of Bob’s book
Rave review of Bob's book today in The Scotsman. I can't find it online yet, so here it is: Stocking filler of musical scholarship is far more inspiring than a Google search ‘These days it’s as easy as pie, when listening to a random piece of music on the radio or...
American Music Teacher review
My first American review of Speaking the Piano has just appeared in American Music Teacher (December 2018/Jan 2019). It's a relief to me to have the approval of professional teachers, for as I explain in the book my own experience of teaching has evolved slowly and...
San Francisco Chronicle recommends Robert’s book
This website continues to be a bulletin board for news about my husband Robert Philip's book, 'The Classical Music Lover's Companion to Orchestral Music'. [Yes, I know - the author could have his own website. But, having seen how much work it takes to feed a hungry...
Front-of-house book display in Blackwell’s
I'm not sure my books have ever before made it into the display at the front of a major bookstore, so it was a thrill to find Speaking the Piano just inside the main door of Blackwell's Bookshop in Edinburgh (see photo) when we were there to do some Christmas...
My own favourite reads of the year
Inspired by the idea of 'Books of the Year' (see blog post below this one), I have been making my own selection of the books I most enjoyed during the year. Short Stories: Anything is Possible, by Elizabeth Strout. The first book I read in 2018 and one of the finest....
Speaking the Piano is a ‘Books of the Year’ choice
Good news at the weekend about my book 'Speaking the Piano': it has been chosen as one of the Books of the Year by the Financial Times and by the Sunday Times. 'An all-embracing exploration of how to make music come alive' (Financial Times, 24 Nov 2018) 'Studded with...