Rethink Technique
Piano Portals Founder, Stephen Marquiss, transformed his technique in his 30s and 40s, inspired by the pioneering American teacher, Abby Whiteside (1881-1956).
Whiteside woke up one morning and humbly acknowledged that her most 'talented' students - those that played instinctively with a sense of facility and flow - were progressing and the others weren't.
Whiteside dedicated her life to calling out pervasive blunt tools for technique (5-finger exercises, scales, arpeggios, etc.) and spotlighting fresh, revolutionary points of focus for enjoyable, efficient practice.
In particular, she spotlighted the value of fixing the centre of the coordination before moving outwards to the periphery.
This Mini-Course offers a taste of the kinds of practice priorities and activities embodied by the truly holistic, joyful Piano Portals approach, featured in International Piano and Music Teacher and on BBC Radio 3:
- Begin to think critically about received opinion on technique
- Start to evaluate the effectiveness of your whole-body coordination
- Take away empowering Tools for fluent, expressive playing with exquisite control and without excess tension
*NEW* Open-minded, respectful Discussion Forum open to all school enrollees
Example Curriculum
Your Instructor
Piano Portals Founder, Stephen Marquiss, journeyed from frustration to facility in playing in his 30s and 40s.
In the late 1990s, he left music school frustrated by recurring injury and a ceiling on technique.
Stephen spent 25 years refining a groundbreaking, holistic approach to piano technique that empowers Elementary to Advanced pianists to play to their potential.
Inspired by Abby Whiteside (1881-1956) and featured in International Piano and Music Teacher and on BBC Radio 3, Piano Portals is an accessible, joyful online school for technique and radical substitute for conventional exercises.
Stephen is an experienced pianist, tutor and speaker. He's been a piano tutor for the prestigious Jackdaws Music Education Trust since 2017, twice a speaker at the UK Music and Drama Education Expo and lecturer at Scutopia summer school.
@pianoportals on YouTube for free tutorials
@stephenmarquisspiano on YouTube for playing videos
