We stumbled across this wonderful video earlier of 16 year old pianist Martin Bartlett. He is playing Sonata in F Major by the Italian composer, Scarlatti. We were struck by his lyrical, mature playing and were totally shocked to read that he is only 16 years old. This sort of composition is really difficult to play well without be obviously challenging. It is much more difficult to bring your own personality in this sort of work so when one...

We are heading back to the jazz standards this week at Piano Pieces. On the Sunny Side of the Street just happens to be one of our favourite songs over here and so the chance to showcase it could not be missed. Composed by Jimmy McHugh in 1930 the tune has been played and recorded but pretty much every notable jazz musician that we can think of. The reason for this, we suspect, is that the chords for this song are so much fun to solo over. Of...

Understanding rhythm is as important as knowing scales, harmony and everything else associated with becoming a competent musician. Rhythm is often overlooked for students of classical music and it is not uncommon to hear music college students clapping along to a metronome to improve an obvious weakness in their playing. There is a simple reason that drummers and percussionists have a better grasp of rhythm and timing than most...