ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Gearry is an accomplished pianist, teacher, and composer with over 15 years of musical experience. After graduating at the University of Hull with 1st-class honours he has dedicated himself to the Piano Skills resource.
In 2006, he was awarded the Andrew Brown Memorial Prize in Music for distinction in solo piano performance, and is also on the judging panel for the Nottinghamshire Young Pianist of the Year.
Having received tuition from 1st-class Moscow Conservatoire graduate, Irina Glushenkova, he has since appeared in masterclasses with established artists such as Neil Immelman, Richard Meyrick, and Sarah Briggs.
What inspired you to write the Piano Skills resource?
The stimulus for writing the books came from my need to address a range of niches in the current market. Firstly, many beginners are discouraged by the varying quality of musical material available at present so I devised a system with which to write sophisticated music which could then be presented to beginners in a user-friendly format. Secondly, I wanted to create a flexible resource (as opposed to a linear method) for teachers and students as everyone teaches and learns in a different way. And finally, I wanted to contribute something inventive and uncomplicated, as I believe these two things to be quite important to beginners of any subject.
How do you know the format works?
As a piano teacher myself, I owe many thanks to my students who have used the books and provided invaluable feedback over the course of the three years it has taken me to finish Piano Skills. All of my students have been extremely supportive and it makes all the hard work worthwhile seeing them enjoy and progress through the musical exercises I have written.
What is unique about Piano Skills?
Each book is an exploration of its own because they each focus on one of five important skills: Theory, Sight-reading, Dexterity, Interpretation, and Practice. Everything is then structured accordingly, allowing the user to locate anything they wish with ease. This is particularly helpful when students enquire about how to overcome certain technical problems because any relevant exercises are conveniently indexed. It would be difficult to explain briefly how each book is unique because there are so many different elements and ideas to talk about!
What gives you credibility as an author?
In terms of my work in this field, I have been complimented on my minimal presentation and no-nonsense, informative writing-style. In the musical field, Im on the judging panel for the Nottinghamshire Young Pianist of the Year, and academically speaking, I have a 1st-class degree in Music. I have worked intensively on this resource, and I just hope that young people and adults can credit my work and benefit from it in their own way.
READ AN INTERVIEW WITH THE NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST
Contact!
Visit www.sgearry.co.uk for further information!
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