Playing Together - Etiquette and Tips for Duet Playing

These videos, based on content from the Piano Teachers’ Course UK, provide a demonstration of the “do’s and don’ts” of duet playing. Using Mozart’s Five Variations K501 as a practical example, the videos illustrate the various challenges that arise, including pedalling, page turning and getting in each other’s way in addition to highlighting many facets of this fascinating genre.

Contents

Authors

Beate Toyka

Beate Toyka, from the Rhineland in Germany, was raised and trained in the heart of the German classical tradition. She is a committed performer and teacher, and active as a concerto soloist, solo recitalist, and accompanist. She appears regularly in the UK, Central and Eastern Europe. As an enthusiast for duet and 8-hands playing, she formed the ‘Derby Piano Quartet’. Her teaching is characterised by a lively empathy for both the music being taught, and for the pupil. She is a valued adjudicator at music festivals. Beate is a principal tutor at the Piano Teachers’ Course, UK.

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Masayuki Tayama

Masayuki Tayama has maintained a highly active schedule as both international recitalist and concerto soloist. Tayama’s Wigmore Hall debut early in his career was a sell-out, and he continues to appear regularly at eminent London venues, including Queen Elizabeth Hall, Cadogan Hall and St. John Smith’s Square. He has taught some of the country’s aspiring pianists as tutor at Chetham’s School of Music, and his teaching incorporates the method taught by Sumiko Mikimoto on tone production, muscle relaxation and training for pianists. In 2020, he was appointed Director of the Piano Teachers’ Course UK, the country’s leading professional development course for piano pedagogy. Tayama is also currently in the midst of a project to record Rachmaninov’s complete works for solo piano.

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