Minimalist piano fingering is the greatest undiscovered “fingering hack” in existence. But the first way of discovering clever shortcuts or “hacks” is by always trying out several possibilities. Too many pianists get stuck with one fingering and never venture out and explore new possibilities.

This article sets forth some of the main principles for playing the piano with ease and effortlessness, also known as “economy of motion.”

This article explains why playing major and minor scales the traditional way of four octaves at fast tempi is overrated and overvalued, and explains why piano teachers and students would be better off not spending so much time on them.

Most piano teachers and students are well aware of the value of practicing slowly. Moreover, countless high-profile pianists and instrumentalists have espoused the value of slow practice. The great pianist John Browning advocated that the best and most efficient practice speed is a slow tempo that is neither too slow nor too fast,

Learning to play classical piano well and to excel in the music of the great masters like Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791), Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) and others takes much desire, dedication, and practice.

In my opinion as a pianist and piano teacher, hymns and chorales are among the most neglected and overlooked musical style, which is unfortunate since they provide countless benefits and skills for pianists of all levels.

Listen to virtually any recording of a “French” style courante in Bach’s keyboard suites — namely, any courante in 3/2 or 6/4 time in the Six English Suites, Six French Suites, Six Partitas, Overture in the French Style — and you will be given the impression that courantes are fast and lively “show” pieces

This article introduces pianists to an exciting new body of piano music -- Cory Hall's own arrangements of Bach's chorales, titled BACH GOES ROMANTIC: 10 Four-Part Chorales Arranged, Volume 1.

This article introduces pianists to an exciting new body of piano music -- Cory Hall's own arrangements of Bach's chorales, titled BACH MEETS RAGTIME: 10 Four-Part Chorales Arranged, Volume 2.

Imagine this scenario: A young and highly gifted piano student can play all the major and minor scales and arpeggios four octaves at a fast tempo and can play Chopin's Fantaisie Impromptu well and up to speed. This young student, who is under the age of 15,

.S. Bach’s four-part (or four-voice) chorales are classical music’s ultimate masterpieces in harmony. Bach composed a total of over 400 chorales, which come from two sources, the C.P.E. Bach Collection and Bach’s approximately 200+ cantatas.

A "Hymn Tune" or “Chorale Tune” is the specific melody Bach used for his chorales, which may include chorales that bear different titles. Below are Bach's chorales categorized alphabetically according to their Hymn Tunes,

No scale system on scales would be complete without scales in double thirds and sixths. This is an often neglected technique among American students, although it has been the cornerstone of the “Russian Piano School” for nearly two centuries.

Most pianists inadvertantly fall into the “mob mentality” category of musicianship. The “mob mentality” system of logic runs like this:

J.S. Bach composed over 400 four-part chorales, which have recently been compiled and edited for piano by the author. This page presents a list of 60 of the musically finest chorales according to the author at the time of this writing.

This article summarizes BachScholar’s new groundbreaking edition of Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” which explains Bach’s symmetrical tempo plan indicated by the use of fermatas.

Sight-reading is perhaps the area in which students and teachers express the most concern and, students especially, confess the most weakness. In my 35 years of teaching piano,