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Piano lessons • Michael Hegarty
My Top Tips and Advice for Improving Piano Technique and Performance, acquired over years of giving piano lessons.


Michael Hegarty
Dec 31, 20244 min read
Top Equipment for Online Piano Lessons
In this article I will discuss the best equipment and software to use for online piano lessons. While the ability to take piano lessons...
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Michael Hegarty
Dec 16, 20244 min read
Review: Faber Accelerated Piano Adventures for the Older Beginner
This is a review of Faber Accelerated Piano Adventures: for the Older Beginner. I am not generally a fan of Faber's Piano Adventures...
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Michael Hegarty
Dec 6, 20245 min read
Exploring the Basics: How Do Piano Scales and Chords Work?
There is a common trope in contemporary piano teaching where one is constantly exhorted to 'teach chords', sometimes by other teachers...
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Michael Hegarty
Nov 27, 20244 min read
Review: Teaching Little Fingers to Play, by John Thompson
John Thompson's series of piano methods, encompassing the Modern Piano Course for Piano , Easiest Piano Course and Teaching Little...
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Michael Hegarty
Nov 16, 20246 min read
What Constitutes a Holistic Approach to Piano Tuition?
The question that presents itself to us when we first begin to teach a new piano student is: how do we ensure that we produce a musician...
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Michael Hegarty
Sep 26, 20242 min read
Review: Practising the Piano by Frank Merrick
It can hardly be an exaggeration to say that this little-known volume, contemporaneously at least, is quite possibly the best summary of...
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Michael Hegarty
Sep 5, 20242 min read
Effective Techniques for Mastering Scale Practice
Playing scales is one of the most fundamental skills that we, as pianist, must develop. Yet a complete, unadulterated scale will hardly...
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Michael Hegarty
Aug 22, 20241 min read
Congratulations to Victoria on a brilliant Distinction at grade 1 piano
This post is a congratulations to my student, Victoria, on her first rate distinction in her grade 1 piano. She attained excellent marks....
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Michael Hegarty
Mar 12, 20243 min read
Beginner's Guide: Choosing the Right Piano or Keyboard for You
When we first begin to study the piano, one of the biggest questions we have is: Which piano or keyboard should I choose? In the first...
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Michael Hegarty
Mar 5, 20244 min read
Exploring Piano Methodologies: An Alternative to Piano Adventures
I wrote an essay detailing why I believe, on the one hand, that Piano Adventures and similar modern pedagogies are not conducive in...
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Michael Hegarty
Feb 28, 20246 min read
The Problem with Modern Piano Methods: Why Traditional Piano Teaching Works
If you are thinking about learning to play the piano or are a piano teacher yourself, you will at some point come across someone singing...
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Michael Hegarty
Feb 19, 20244 min read
What should you expect when you begin piano lessons as an adult? Tips for beginner pianists.
Starting private piano lessons for the first time can be daunting. You don't know the teacher; this will, most likely, be someone you...
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Michael Hegarty
Jan 22, 20242 min read
Are Finger Exercises Worth It? A Brief Defence of the Value of Hanon in Piano Studies.
The value of finger exercises for students of the piano, such as C-L. Hanon's The Virtuoso Pianist in Sixty Exercises, has been greatly...
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Michael Hegarty
Jan 10, 20243 min read
Top Reasons to Study Music Theory alongside Piano Lessons
Those of us who have completed the series of ABRSM examinations in piano will have had the experience, most likely, of cramming enough...
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Michael Hegarty
Dec 5, 20233 min read
Review: Me and My Piano, by Dame Fanny Waterman and Marion Harewood
As this is the piano method which I use most frequently in my own piano lessons, and on which I was initially taught myself, I cannot...
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Michael Hegarty
Nov 15, 20233 min read
Tips for Improving Sight-reading at the Piano
Having established in an earlier post the central importance of sight-reading in the training of the musician, what concrete steps might...
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Michael Hegarty
Nov 13, 20235 min read
Why is Sight-reading Important and how can we improve?
When we begin learning a musical instrument for the first time, we have to overcome the initial difficulty of reading music. All tyro...
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Michael Hegarty
Aug 5, 20232 min read
Taking on New Piano Students for September
Looking for something new to enrich your child's life and future? Try private piano lessons. Music not only practices skills, such as...
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Michael Hegarty
May 18, 20232 min read
Why Learn Piano Online?
In recent years, the availability of online learning platforms has revolutionized various industries, including music education. Online...
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Michael Hegarty
May 18, 20233 min read
10 Reasons to Learn Piano
The piano, with its elegant keys and melodious sound, has captured the hearts of music lovers for centuries. Learning to play the piano...
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