Author: VMTA

by Jeremy Woolhouse
Instrumental technique may be considered as the interface between concept and sound. Our technical prowess determines how effectively our ideas flow from imagination, through the instrument, to the listener. The definitions we create of technique, guide our practice and teaching. They may be a liberating or limiting factor. We inevitably acquire a set of judgements around what is appropriate technique, and what is not.

by Helen Kasztelan Chapman
MMus (Uni Melb), Graduate Diploma in Music Performance (VCA), BA Mus (VCA), LMusA, AMusA, MVMTA
As an AMEB piano examiner with over twenty-five years’ experience in teaching, examining and adjudicating in eisteddfods, I have observed that Bartók’s piano music is often overlooked by instrumental studio teachers. I wanted to find out why this is the case as well as look at the technical aspects of teaching this music.

By Drew Schweppe
Founder and Managing Director of Informusic, the first all-in-one music history resource for smart phones and tablets.
An informed performance lies in the historical context of a musical composition. A few weeks back I was catching up with a colleague of mine who is currently the Director of Bands at a public high school in the U.S. During our conversation he said something that struck us both as rather troubling – “My students don’t know much about the composers whose music they play.”