How to practise weekend with Andrew Eales – mixed ability

We’re really excited to be welcoming piano educator Andrew Eales to lead his first course at Finchcocks and start 2025 off with an interactive dive into his highly acclaimed practice guide How to practise.

On How to practise by Andrew Eales

“The essential, pocket-sized companion for every musician. Accessible and authoritative, How to Practise Music is an ideal guide for anyone learning to play music. Suitable for instrumentalists and vocalists of any genre, this comprehensive handbook will give you a better idea of how to practise music, good reasons for doing so, and the confidence to succeed.”

There will be plenty of opportunities to try these ideas out in private practice sessions as well and interactive workshops during your stay.

On this mixed ability weekend course, Andrew will help freshen up stale practice sessions and give some inspiration for your year ahead with the following interactive workshops:

• Strategies for practice
• Developing an active repertoire

There will also be time to implement new practice techniques on one of our beautiful grand pianos. During these practice sessions, Andrew will either drop by to offer encouragment or some tips to keep you on track, or schedule a more formal one-to-one lesson on our new Steinway.

At 7pm on Saturday, Andrew will give a recital-talk on Embellishing classical repertoire in the main hall of the family home. This is a chance for guests can sit back and relax with a glass of wine: After a full day’s concentration, nothing beats hearing the course tutor inspiring guests with some current repertoire on the family Bosendorfer!

Guests will also:

• Have the chance to play in and observe two performance masterclasses.
• Will receive a one-to-one lesson with Andrew.
• Enjoy access to play on our 9 grand pianos anytime between 7am and 8pm. (There are enough pianos to go round that everyone can play a piano at any given time.)
• Experience a private accompanied talk for course participants in the main hall of the family home, performed by Andrew.
• Join and socialise with a group 8 fellow piano enthusiasts during lunch and dinner.
• Dine in style with lunches and three course dinners prepared by our fabulous chef.
• Experience the Finchcocks bubble, hailed as a “paradise for pianists” by BBC Music Magazine and stay in a grade 1 listed country manor.

Andrew Eales

One of the UK’s most influential piano educators, Andrew Eales is based in Milton Keynes, where he runs a successful piano-teaching studio. He is a published composer and author, and his compositions and recordings have been streamed well over a million times worldwide.

Andrew’s acclaimed book How to Practise Music is published by Hal Leonard, and he has compiled Graded Gillock and Naoko Ikeda: The Graded Collection for The Willis Music Company. For 2024 he compiled and edited the first five volumes of The Joy of Graded Piano for Yorktown Music Press, relaunching one of the most successful and iconic music series ever published, and he is presently working on further music publishing projects.

Andrew is also renowned for his piano education website pianodao.com, which includes hundreds of free articles and reviews to support piano players and teachers worldwide.

Andrew has worked as a consultant for several leading educational organisations and examination boards. He has trained and worked alongside teachers across the UK, North America, and Africa. His video feedback service now provides affordable, expert support for piano players the world over.

So if any of these apply to you, book on without delay!

“I wish I had more time to practise.”

“I did practise but you wouldn’t know it. It never translates to my performance!”

“I’ve fallen off the Practice Wagon.”

“I’m stuck in a practice rut.”

For booking enquiries, please contact us on 01580 428080 or fill in the form below.