Sharp Music Academy in Beverly Hills, New South Wales, Australia | School

Sharp Music Academy

Locality: Beverly Hills, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 2 9586 3600

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25.01.2022 Teachers have been asking me lately when I will be releasing Technique Trainer 2. The answer is that it is still a work in progress, but getting there. I writ...e my books based on the techniques I use to fix the problems of my own students. As we all do, I learn both with and from my students, always trying to figure out new ways to help them to overcome the challenges they face with increasingly demanding repertoire. To demonstrate one of the topics to be covered in Technique Trainer 2, here are two videos from Savannahs lesson yesterday. The first video deals with playing melody lines with the thumb, and the second deals with playing melody lines with the fifth finger (this one is too cute!) I just added one more video on aligning the hand for a thrusting motion. Enjoy! See more

25.01.2022 I loved loved loved recording the 2nd movement of Peskanov concerto no. 1 with Savannah today. It was really special!

23.01.2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giyve5sycxg

22.01.2022 Hi, my name is Jackie Sharp. I am a Sydney based piano teacher with over 20 years of experience teaching piano and music theory at all levels. In 2009, I was awarded the AMEB Shield for having achieved the highest student results in the state of NSW in AMEB examinations. My philosophy of teaching is to work with my students and their families as a team to produce the best possible outcome for each student. This includes developing technical and artistic skills, building co...nfidence and a deep love of music, and teaching students to become independent thinkers by encouraging problem solving skills, thinking outside of the the box, and allowing each students individuality to shine. You can learn more about my students and my teaching at www.sharpmusicacademy.com. As the author of a growing number of Piano Pedagogy books, which you can find at www.purrfectpractice.com.au, I have a strong interest in developing Piano Technique and Artistry in my students, along with a solid foundation of strong Sight Reading skills and thorough understanding of musical concepts. If you would like to contact me regarding Piano or Music Theory/Musicianship lessons at my studio in Beverly Hills, NSW, please email [email protected]. See more

21.01.2022 OMG! AMEB results are in, and they are the best I've ever seen. Congratulations from the bottom of my heart to all my wonderful students and their supportive families.

20.01.2022 2018 is off to a great start with all my students back and working hard! Congratulations everyone for an amazing year in 2017, ending with our unforgettable marathon Alexander Peskanov concert and another set of very successful AMEB exams. February is a huge month for many of you, with Savannah and Johnny off to Hamburg at the end of the month to perform at Stage4kids, and Ivy, Jennifer, Carolyn and Harry all preparing for Scholarship Tests / Scholarship auditions and or Se...lective Tests. Best of luck to one and all! Here are some upcoming events - please let me know if you are interested in participating in any of the following: Grand Prize Virtuoso - deadline for video submissions is February 18 https://www.grandprizevirtuosointernationalmusiccompetition SutherlandShire Eisteddfod - held in the April holidays - (a lovely little eisteddfod - I highly recommend it! (no website though) Sydney Eisteddfod - held around August https://sydneyeisteddfod.com.au/ Bangkok Young Pianists Concerto Competition - deadline for video audition is April 30 - concerto performance in Bangkok is early August https://www.bypcc.com/ St George Eisteddfod - held around August https://www.stgie.org/ AMEB midyear Piano exams - 1st week of June Con Brio Examinations - online piano exams held any day of the year - I highly recommend these as supplementary exams https://www.conbrioexams.com/

20.01.2022 Here is Savannahs Semifinal performance at Carmel Klavier! Based on this, and her performance of Chopins Waltz in A minor, she was selected to move onto the Finals, and was later awarded 2nd Prize! Congratulations Savannah!

18.01.2022 Feeling enormously proud of my little student, Savannah Li, who has made such excellent progress this week with the Cat and the Mouse, by Aaron Copland. She will be performing this tomorrow at Sydney Eisteddfod.

17.01.2022 Still messy, still needs work, but getting there! Little Savannah practice the Cat and the Mouse by Aaron Copland.

16.01.2022 OMG! AMEB results are in, and they are the best Ive ever seen. Congratulations from the bottom of my heart to all my wonderful students and their supportive families.

15.01.2022 This is Savannah working on the 1st movement of Khachaturian sonatina (Certificate of Performance for the whole work and I think grade 8 for the single movement). I recently have taken to getting my students to record themselves playing pieces, with me yelling out guidance as they play. Very exhausting for me when we record a few pieces in a row like this, but it really seems to help them a lot.

15.01.2022 I will be running masterclasses at my studio in Beverly HIlls, Sydney, in the 2nd week of the school holidays. The main focus of the masterclasses will be on increasing musical sensitivity in conjunction with exploring the impact of piano technique on tone production. (Sounds very formal, but dont worry, its fun!) Selected students will present one or more pieces at the masterclass, with an allocated time per student of 30 minutes. If you are interested in any of your students participating in a masterclass, please pm me, or leave a message here. In order to ensure that students are placed in a class which will be most beneficial to them, I will need a to see a video recording of each student prior to accepting them to perform in the masterclass.

13.01.2022 I will be running Performance Classes in the first week of the April school holidays. Students will attend classes in small groups of 4 to 6 performers. Each child will perform a prepared piece in a concert manner in front of an audience of peers of a similar standard, parents and myself. Students should bring a copy of the music for each attending participant. After this, each student shall return to the piano as we analyze his/her performance as a group. Students will ac...tively participate in helping their peers to achieve the best possible performance by listening with the score and then offering constructive criticism in an interactive masterclass type setting.. Students shall identify any technical and musical challenges which the performer may be facing, and make hands on suggestions as to how these problems can be fixed. Benefits for students participating in this class include: Performance experience A relaxed, but focused, attitude to performing Developing critical listening skills Expanding problem solving skills Reinforcement of the importance of quality practicing The ability to perceive a piece of music both in terms of detail and the big picture Understanding that the problems they may encounter are not unique to them - they are experienced by others, and can be overcome Accelerated improvement with heightened concentration in front of peers. Classes will last between 1 and 2 hours, depending on the level of the participants. Cost of classes will be $30 per hour

13.01.2022 Savannah plays Heller Etude op 46 no 11 - 1st Prize at St George Eisteddfod, 2nd Prize at Sydney Eisteddfod.

13.01.2022 Congratulations to my students on their midyear AMEB exam results! Certificate of Performance A+ Grade 8 A, B+, B Grade 3 A times 2 Grade 1 A+, A... Preliminary A+ See more

13.01.2022 Excerpt from the piano lesson of 10 year old Megan. We are talking about the relationship between body movements and tone production at the piano, using Heller op 46 no 11 as our example.

12.01.2022 This is little 7 year old Johnny playing Alexander Peskanovs concerto no 2 - 2nd movement with me today. He has been learning this piece for 3 weeks and is doing extremely well for such a short time.

12.01.2022 Savannah practising Kabalevsky Sonatina Op 13 - getting quite impressive!

12.01.2022 Congratulations to my student Ethan for receiving A+ in his 8th grade exam last Saturday. I am very proud of you, Ethan!

11.01.2022 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-ZAAgJ7F2s

11.01.2022 This video is one of the many highlights from our recent student concert - Sharp Music Academy presents - the Music of Alexander Peskanov, November 8, 2017, hel...d at the the Australian Institute of Music. 8 year old Johnny Shen performed Passacaglia, after which the composer himself joined Johnny with an unrehearsed, improvised accompaniment on a 2nd piano. It was truly a magical moment which we will never forget!!!! See more

11.01.2022 I dont usually open my student concerts to the general public, but on November 8th, we will be having a concert that I am so excited about and that I think is ...so relevant to teachers wishing to explore new, beautiful student-friendly repertoire, that I thought Id let you know about it and see if anyone is interested in coming. Renowned composer, Alexander Peskanov will be visiting Sydney on 8th November for 1 day only. He will be holding a workshop during the daytime at my studio. In the evening, we will be off to the city for a student recital of his works. The recital will include solos, duets and many concertos, which will be accompanied on the second piano by the composer himself. We are all so thrilled about this and working hard to do justice to his beautiful music. if you are interested in attending the Worksop, the concert or both, please let me know. See more

10.01.2022 I even got something in Carmel, too!

10.01.2022 I was asked, in a group, about teaching points for this piece, so I thought I would share them here, with a description of how Savannah learned this piece: Working on this piece with Savannah has required surprisingly little effort on my part. She is currently preparing a number of pieces which are quite difficult for her, but she has not found this piece challenging at all. She learned the piece section by section, starting with melodic line only, with fingering that made th...e melody flow easily, so that she could understand the phrasing. Then the bass notes and pedal were added. Then we changed the fingering of the melodic line to 4th and 5th fingers only, focusing on relaxed movements of the arm, and maintaining the flow of the phrases. Next was to add the remaining left hand of the accompaniment, with a focus on softness and evenness. Then right hand accompaniment notes were added, starting with RH only practice. This was followed by some very slow practice of hands together, ghosting the accompaniment. Finally, we worked on playing all notes fluidly with beautiful, relaxed arms and hands, one beat at a time, then two beats at a time, 4 beats at a time, etc, until each phrase was played with ease. After that, I didnt really have to do anything more, other than one lesson on talking about the piece as a whole, how the phrases relate to each other. See more

09.01.2022 Have you ever been asked to record a program of music with only a couple of hours notice? Well, thats what my students Johnny and Savannah did just yesterday.... I read about the London International Music Competition yesterday morning. I was not sure whether or not I could submit entries, so I sent off an email in the morning out of curiosity. In the late afternoon, just before Johnnys lesson, I saw that I had received an email from them just a couple of minutes before Johnnys lesson telling me that I could indeed submit entries if they were submitted that day. So when Johnny arrived, I asked him whether he had been practicing his old pieces as we have been busily learning new repertoire. He said no. I asked him to play me two of his pieces from our early November Alexander Peskanov concert. He couldnt remember them. Even with the music, he struggled, as it had been a while. Over two hours, he relearned the pieces, memorised them, played a bit of outdoor games with his mum to relax, came back in and we recorded them. Meanwhile, I contacted Savannah, who is also busy learning new repertoire, and asked whether she could practice and record two of her old pieces which we have not had a lesson on for many months. She worked and worked at it at home and did it! I am so incredibly proud of both of them for this undeniable display of grit. They both showed remarkable strength of character and I take my hat off to them both, irrespective of the outcome!!!! Here is Savannahs entry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3gqdPL391w and Johnnys https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O33WLbntMds&feature=share See more

09.01.2022 Here is a series of videos I made today on developing a relaxed, yet powerful technique in scale playing. I hope that some of you find it useful and interesting!

06.01.2022 Feeling super excited about todays competition results at the Sutherlandshire eisteddfod. My heartfelt congratulations to each and every one of my wonderful s...tudents who worked hard to prepare for this competition. You have all done yourselves, your families and me very proud!!!!! 7 years and under - Johnny 1st Prize 8 years and under - Savannah 1st prize Johnny 2nd prize 9 years and under - Savannah 2nd prize 10 years and under championship - Savannah 1st prize 10 years and under own choice - Jennifer 2nd prize 10 years and under Australian - Jennifer 2nd prize 10 years and under Modern - Jennifer 1st prize 14 years and under Modern - Marilyn 1st prize Elementary Ryan 1st prize Johnny 2nd prize Early Intermediate - Tyrone 2nd prize Late Intermediate Jerry 1st prize Jennifer 2nd prize Advanced - Marilyn 2nd prize

04.01.2022 Im feeling quite happy with this recording- 8 year old Johnny playing Peskanov concerto 2 2nd movement.

03.01.2022 I enjoyed so much preparing my students for our recent marathon Alexander Peskanov concert. One of the highlights in preparation for me was the 2nd movement of... concerto 7, performed by my beautifully sensitive 10 year old student, Carolyn. I cant wait to get the videos of the concert, performing with the composer himself - what an honor! See more

02.01.2022 Savannah Li - a piano journey I put together this video of some of the highlights of my student, savannahs, 3 year piano journey. It is a present to Savannah,... as well as a video to let all my students know how much progress can be made for those who work hard, listen carefully and continually try their best. In this video, Savannah plays: A Little Hush-song - Dunhill (age 5) Gavotta - James Hook (age 5) Poseidons Throne - Poe (age 6) Ghost Story - Gurlitt (age 6) Une Larme - Moszkowski (age 6) 2 Part Invention in B flat major - Bach (age 7) Etude Op 46 no 11 - Heller - (age 7) The Hummingbird - Gillock (age 7) Sonatina op 13 - Kabalevski (age 8) Well done, Savannah. You should be very proud of yourself as your piano journey continues! See more

02.01.2022 This is 8 year old Savannah playing a practice run-through of The Cat and the Mouse by Aaron Copland, beautifully introduced by her sister, Ivy. Too cute!

02.01.2022 Fantasy Impromptu practice tips for early stage of learning this piece -

02.01.2022 This is Savannah practising Kabalevsky Sonatina op 13. It still needs a lot of fine tuning, but she made so much progress with it today. She is cute as a button!

01.01.2022 I recorded this video for a student today. It is All I ask of you, from AMEB Piano for Leisure Grade 7. I included the lyrics on the video, as I find them to be very helpful for interpretation.