Thoughts about pianos, pianists and weddings.
Music boosts your IQ! Taking up a musical instrument during lockdown increases your IQ by almost ten percent, according to a new study. More than four and a half thousand volunteers who chose a new hobby to take up during Covid lockdown. These included knitting, exercising and learning an instrument. The thousands of volunteers took an
The gorgeous Maison Talbooth in Essex is one of my favourite venues. It’s a long drive away from my base in High Wycombe, but it’s worth it – because of the always-can-do positive attitude of the staff, the beautiful grand Bluthner grand piano they keep in gorgeous working order, and the spotlessly clean and relaxing
Pianist Daniel Beliavsky, a Steinway artist, musician and film maker, was given a pair of eye-tracking glasses, along with his student Charlotte Bennett. The results confirm that the best pianists stay ahead of the game: we do not follow our hands, more look ahead to where the next move – or challenge – lies. It’s
Register signing photos: one of those classic wedding shots, bride and groom signing the register of marriages, once the deed is done. Yet a growing number of wedding photographers now don’t include it in their portfolio of shots. I suppose it is strange to want pictures signing a bit of paper – but for many
Are piano players’ brains different from everyone else’s? Scientists in Stockholm scanned the brains of 39 musicians – from both classical and jazz backgrounds – students and professionals, while they improvised on a keyboard. The keyboard was specially made to work inside a brain scanner – as the high magnetic fields in a magnetic resonance
So as a working pianist and musician (and a former film journalist) I was delighted to get an invite to a preview screening of La-La Land and to hear the long-awaited La-La Land soundtrack. I had been anticipating this movie for months, since reading previews in the trade press and hearing about it from fellow
Once upon a time, an interactive piano that played itself was something people would travel to the opposite ends of the country to see. Now they’re little more than antiques….. Twitter, and Stanley, might just change that. Tweet a request to @StanleyPiano and your chosen song will queue up for performance on an interactive player-piano.