“Eureka!” might be the phrase – or it might be a more gentle shift in your thinking. Either way, those lightbulb moments are as exciting for teacher as student.

During our summer schools, we took the opportunity for students to share their “Aha!” moments at the end of Finchcocks Director David Hall‘s courses. We thought we’d share them with you to compare notes – and give you an idea of what is important to other pianists’ learning…

“How to work out the melody: I had one piece where the melody was offbeat and I had to work out the melody in a better way. This morning, playing scales in one movement helped a lot. Also imagination, and thinking in bigger movements can help. And, of course, I am a newcomer to harmony and theory challenges. I gave it a second [chance] and it was nice to look at harmony in a very playful way.” ~ Anette

It was really good. This is my fourth time coming. I could hardly play a note when I first came a few years ago. I was really nice to know that I don’t need to be scared any more. There are still moments when I can’t play what I think I can play. The “Aha!” moment was when I picked up those Grade 1 pieces that I hadn’t looked at for over a year. I found I could play them OK after a morning.”~ ‘tricia

Musically, I think it’s been a huge help to me. A lot of it before I arrived, because it made me focus and stop being a lazy sight-reader and really try to get the bones out of the music. While here, David’s gentle guidance to really read what is on the score, do it the way it’s written, but play it musically. My “Aha!” moment was when I realised that Finchcocks is at least as good as I suspected and, in fact, substantially better.” ~ James

What has helped me is not precisely an “Aha!” moment but regular schedule with meal times and practice. Then, at night, I’m exhausted and I sleep. The sleep is beneficial as well. The companionship has made me feel more alive and because I feel more alive I am more motivated to practise and it’s not such a horrible chore to practise.” ~ Moira

My “Aha!” moment was these exercises using harmonies with the cycle of fifths. That was quite enlightening. And I enjoyed most the jazz concert and the piano museum and, of course, the company.” ~ Wolfgang

Backwards practice is a really good idea, which I did on Song for the Weald and it did work.” ~ Dave S

[I’ve] never dreamt of playing anything at the piano unless it’s written in black and white in front of me. I’m planning to go home and sit down and experiment. That would have been mind-boggling [before].” ~ Bernice

Understanding lead sheets.” ~ David B

Chord-tones, passing notes and neighbour notes – and how they affect the piece.” ~ Chris

Aural practice: I’d never done it before. Music starts with listening, so how come we start with playing, not listening? I started not being able to pitch 1 and 5, and ended the week hearing it in others’ pieces.” ~ Katja

You don’t just play the dynamics on the page, you bring your own interpretation into it.” ~ Gavin

Go to the relative minor when you’re improvising.” ~ Jo

Stacked fourth chords and quartal voicings.” ~ Keith

Well, as you can see, each student’s takeaways were as unique as they are. And that’s what we aim for here at Finchcocks: individual, tailored tuition that sends our guests home with as many “Aha” moments as possible!