It was wonderful to participate in the opening of this amazing new facility located right next to The Recital Centre and the VCA, and home to the new Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. The event opened with a traditional smoking ceremony and Welcome to Country in Linear Park, with Boon Wurrung Elder, N’arweet Carolyn Briggs accompanied by student performers from the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development. A fanfare composed by Mark Pollard invited all to enter the building.

Recently we caught up with VMTA member Emmet Brazil, who is the Founder and Director of Chasing Sound Music School in Footscray. Not only is this innovative music school providing great pathways for students and teachers, but it’s also opening up opportunities for local schools in the region.

When asked about school chairs, FM Alexander is quoted as saying “We need to educate our children, not our furniture.” The same can be said about the piano stool – it is far more profound and fundamental to learn to change one’s coordination than to learn where to put one’s stool. The former also informs the latter. We can look to Alexander Technique not for a prescribed position of piano stool, but for principles which can guide our decision making.

2 hours? 4 hours? 8 hours? 12 hours? How much is enough? Is there such a thing as practising too much? Is there an optimal number of hours that one should practice? Some of the great artists of the 20th century have shared their thoughts on these questions. I seem to recall reading an interview with Rubinstein years ago, in which he stated that nobody should have to practice more than four hours a day, explaining that if you needed to practice more than four hours a day, you probably weren’t doing it right.

Piano instruction books often depict ‘the right posture for playing piano.’ They may illustrate a pianist with a straight back, feet on the floor, and forearms parallel to the floor. There are advantages and disadvantages to presenting images like this. If a student were to hold this position, the holding may become very limiting for piano technique, not to mention tiring! Through an investigation into positive poise, we can explore some principles of coordination for playing.