Do you struggle to finish a piece, losing motivation partway through? Have you been stuck playing the same repertoire for ages? Or do you wish you had more pieces that you felt confident performing?
Join our challenge with Graham Fitch and take a new piece from first read-through to confident performance in just two months! In this blended course, you’ll broaden your repertoire, sharpen your practice skills and bring a new piece to life – with expert guidance, support and encouragement every step of the way.
How it works
The course features a combination of content you can work through in your own time with interactive workshops and feedback sessions to give you hands-on assistance:
- Choose your piece – Select from our recommended repertoire, bonus From the Ground Up study editions or choose your own piece.
- Follow the guided lessons – Receive structured video lessons and notes covering foundations, practice strategies and performance preparation.
- Join the live workshops & studio sessions – Get hands-on guidance from Graham Fitch in interactive workshops plus join studio sessions for troubleshooting, advice and answers to questions!
- Performance opportunity – Perform live in the end-of-course performance workshop or submit a recording for private feedback (entirely optional!).
You’ll also be encouraged and supported by Graham and a community of fellow pianists sharing the same journey throughout the course!
Course structure & dates
- Pre-launch Event – Choosing the Right Pieces (13th Sep @ 15:00 BST) – Online presentation on selecting repertoire that inspires you and supports your development (click here for more information).
- Find Your Inspiration (1st Week Oct) – Ideas and inspiration for creating your own narrative or artistic image for your piece.
- Laying Strong Foundations (2nd Week Oct) – Video lessons and materials on how to start learning your piece.
- Interactive Workshop #1 (11th Oct @ 15:00 BST) – Online workshop showing you how to apply a selection of practice tools to the early stages of learning your piece.
- Studio Session #1 (23rd Oct @ 18:30 GMT) – Opportunity to ask questions, get hands-on assistance and advice on tackling trouble spots.
- Interactive Workshop #2 (8th Nov @ 15:00 GMT) – Online workshop featuring practice tools for building speed and finessing your piece.
- Studio Session #2 (20th Nov @ 18:30 GMT) – Opportunity to ask questions, get hands-on assistance and advice on tackling trouble spots.
- Preparing for Performance (Late Nov) – Video lessons and materials on how to approach practising for performance (or recording).
- Performance Workshops & Feedback (6th Dec @ 15:00 GMT) – Opportunity to participate in a live performance workshop or to send a recording of your piece for private feedback.
Can’t join live? Recordings for all the events listed above will be made available to you shortly afterwards. You will also have the opportunity to submit questions in advance of sessions to receive asynchronous feedback and input!
What you’ll gain
- Expert guidance from one of the world’s leading piano teachers
- Encouragement & accountability from a supportive community
- Bonus resources including video lessons and study editions
- A complete new piece learned …plus tools and skills you can use to learn future repertoire faster and more effectively!
Pricing
The full course fee is £200 or £120 for Online Academy subscribers. This includes all lessons, notes, live workshops, studio sessions, recordings, bonus materials and optional feedback / performance opportunities.
Ready to take the challenge?
Have questions?
The following are some answers to likely questions regarding the course (please feel free to contact us if your question isn’t addressed here or you’d like to discuss the course further!):
- Isn’t two months way too little time to learn a new piece? This depends on the level of the piece you’ve chosen! The purpose of this initiative is to go through the entire learning process in a short timeframe in order to build good habits for effective learning. If the timeframe feels too ambitious for you then we recommend choosing a less challenging piece!
- What if I can’t join all of the sessions live? No problem, you will have opportunities to submit questions or recordings in advance of sessions to obtain input and feedback if you can’t join live.
- What if I already have a teacher? This course is designed to complement your lessons – you can follow it alongside your lessons or independently.
- Do I have to perform or record myself? No, this is entirely optional – you will still gain valuable skills, insights and support from this course whether you choose to perform or not.
- I’ve participated in Graham’s Practice Tools workshops before, how is this different? Great! This course goes significantly further by applying Graham’s tools in the context of learning a new piece, from start through to finish. There is also additional supplementary material and opportunities for feedback and hands-on guidance throughout.
- I don’t use social media, will I miss out? The majority of the course will be delivered via online workshops, email and web links to video lessons. Participation in the Facebook group is entirely optional as an additional value-add, but you can interact with us in several other ways throughout the course.