Pianist & teacher
"Daniel Law Ba (Hons) * MMus * DipABRSM : Prize-winning pianist & Masters graduate Daniel studied with pianist Nigel Clayton at the Royal College of Music & conductor Sharon Shoa at the University of East Anglia, where he received distinction for his performance of Shostakovich’s 2nd Piano Concerto, given at Norwich Cathedral. Whilst studying piano, accompaniment & composition as an undergraduate at the Colchester Institute Centre for Music & Performing Arts, Daniel performed in masterclasses for Alexander Ardakov..."
Daniel has a thriving private teaching practice based in Woodbridge (Suffolk). He has established a reputation for having a fresh & enthusiastic approach to piano teaching & has held positions teaching advancing piano students throughout Suffolk & Essex. He currently holds teaching positions at :​ Eyke CE Primary School , Farlingaye High School , Kesgrave High School & Stradbroke High School.
At his home he engages in teaching a number of students of mixed abilities & ages, a number of which are studying towards ABRSM & Trinity music graded & diploma exams. Daniel welcomes enquiries regarding teaching across the year & is available to teach beginner, intermediate & advancing pianists.
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He is DBS registered & a member of the Musicians' Union.
Advice from Daniel
How to get started (for Beginner Pianists)...
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Instrument - to get started purchase a medium-sized keyboard (aim for 50 keys or more)
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Tutor Book - ‘Piano Time 1’ by Pauline Hall is a good entry level book to start learning from. You will learn about the building blocks of note reading & developing a basic understanding of co-ordination.
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Practice - the key to success is to practice! Start by aiming to sit at your instrument 3 times every week for around 10 minutes to practice through your tasks set for the week ahead … as you progress you’ll want to increase both the amount of days & time you are practicing.
Intermediate Pianist...
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Instrument - now you are progressing you’ll need more keys to play … it’s time to purchase a full-sized instrument (a digital piano would be fine at this stage)
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Focussed Practice - the repertoire you are playing & the skill needed has likely increased your practice time up to 5 days a week for 30 minutes. Now that you are regularly applying reading techniques it is important to learn notes ready for your next lesson so that you can work on developing techniques of balancing the music & co-ordinating using the pedals.
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ABRSM Grade 5 Theory - as a long-standing prerequisite task to accomplish before advancing your skills further it is good to understand how your music scores work from the page. If you haven’t already started looking at this you may have already learned theory without knowing & be able to start from the Grade 3 workbook.
Advancing Pianists…
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Instrument - now you are committed to learning more about piano repertoire it would be a good time to consider purchasing an acoustic piano (if you have the space ... think of it as a piece of furniture, it needs a place to live & be heard).
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Technical Practice - regular practice will now be in place & you will be able to control some of the fundamental skills needed to be a pianist … don’t neglect your technical work too (scales & exercises are the way forward to develop further).
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Repertoire - you should now feel confident enough to explore repertoire outside of your piano lessons … don’t forget to use what you have learned as part of your Grade 5 Theory exam work & make sure to trust your eyes & ears.
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Aural - as part of learning through the ABRSM graded exams you have been developing your listening skills as well as being able to converse about music … now is the time to make sure you are practicing these skills regularly as the requirements intensify towards Grade 8.
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Post Grade 8 - it doesn’t stop there … this is where the real fun begins as you get to explore standard repertoire & learn about their composers’ nuances. You may wish to consider further study towards the ABRSM or Trinity Diploma syllabuses.