Caroline’s Keys

Wednesday, July 10, 2019 by Caroline Tudge | Uncategorized

The end of term is approaching fast and I know people are wondering about lessons over the summer holidays.  While all the students (and quite honestly, myself) are ready for a well earned break, what impact would a 6 week break from piano lessons have on their learning journey?

Skill fade is a very real thing, without conscious attempts to commit new learnings to memory, within days, the knowledge can have dropped by up to 50%......regular lessons and maintaining a good practice routine through the holidays will dramatically reduce this effect.  Skill fade is also the reason why regular practice between lessons is so vital to good progression.

With this in mind I am going to open up several lesson slots over the holiday (where my own childcare will allow) and I hope that many of you will try to make as many sessions as possible over the summer holidays.  These slots will be visible as open lesson slots on the My Music Staff portal and you are able to just attach your name to any available slots.  If you have any issues, please let me know.

Monday, June 10, 2019 by Caroline Tudge | Uncategorized

If you are lucky enough to have an acoustic piano at home, it is vitally important to keep it well maintained and tuned regularly.  Today was the day for my regular tuning and I had been experiencing a few issues with my damper pedal (as had some of my pupils) so I asked Suzanne to take a look for me.  I also regularly get asked about how the piano works, and whether we can take it apart and see inside - so I thought I would take the opportunity to take some pictures.  

All began as normal - and Suzanne did her usual fantastic job with tuning - all done by ear - she constantly amazes me with her talent!

Once it was all done (and a nice new piece of felt on my pedal mechanism) we both had a play and all was well........until - bump! A metal piece in my damper mechanism snapped and my damper stopped working! So - apart came the piano again, except this time, the action came out........

And then my poor piano lost some of its keys.......

So for anyone who would like to see the inside of a piano - here is mine - in (hopefully) as many pieces as it is ever going to get.  And thank goodness for my Clavinova which we will be using for lessons this week!