Pianist

For the passionate players, or early beginners, Pianist magazine will teach you the art of piano playing through professional advice, sheet music and lessons for all levels. Your piano playing journey starts here with the magazine that doubles as an entertaining read and the ultimate interactive piano teacher. Read, learn and play the piano with Pianist magazine every issue. Improve your piano playing and perfect your tone with 40 pages of specially selected sheet music. Whether it’s reading fascinating industry articles or putting your fingers to work with beautiful sheet music, you’ll be playing like an expert in no time with a digital subscription to Pianist magazine!

Piano goals for 2026

Pianist

Makes and models in 2026 • From limited-edition grands to elegant and affordable digitals, there are many instruments to discover and test-drive in 2026

Malcolm BINNS at 90 • To coincide with a birthday tribute release on APR Records, Jessica Duchen spends precious time in the company of an artist whose distinguished career marks him as one of the finest British pianists of this century

An accomplished TREASURE -by name and by nature- • After his 2015 Chopin Competition win, Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho played the great Pole’s music everywhere. Then he took a breather, turning to Ravel and Debussy, among others. Now he returns once again to Chopin, and performs the Second Concerto at the Barbican in London. He tells Warwick Thompson about his artistic journey, Radu Lupu’s secret stash of recordings and how he learned to complain like a true Frenchman

LESS IS MORE ECONOMY OF MOVEMENT • Body swaying and hand rotation is absolutely fine, says Mark Tanner, if done in moderation – but there are reasons why most of today’s top pianists play with poise and elegance

SIGNS AND SYMBOLS MARKINGS ON THE SCORE, PART 2 • In this second article, Graham Fitch hones in on the different types of staccato, dotted rhythms and rests that you will find on a composer’s score

ARNOLDO SARTORIO WHO IS THERE? FROM OP 783 NO 9 • A firm pulse is of the utmost importance in this thinly-textured miniature – so have your metronome on standby, says Melanie Spanswick

GEORGES BIZET LES RÊVES, NO 3 FROM CHANTS DU RHIN • Composed in 1865, Bizet’s ‘Songs of the Rhine’ were inspired by poems about the river and its inhabitants. In No 3, ‘Dreams’, Matthew Mills shows you how to create shimmering waves

CLAUDE DEBUSSY LA PUERTA DEL VINO FROM PRÉLUDES BOOK 2 • In order to bring this sensual prélude to life, work on the Habanera rhythm first, says Ann Martin-Davis. Then, it’s all about colour, shaping and a huge dose of confidence

Hans-Günter HEUMANN • Warm-up Exercise No 1

Cornelius GURLITT (1820-1901) • Warm-up Exercise No 2

Félix LE COUPPEY (1811-1887) • Warm-up Exercise No 3

Ludwig SCHYTTE (1848-1909) • Warm-up Exercise No 4

Hans-Günter HEUMANN • Warm-up Exercise No 5

Hans-Günter HEUMANN • Warm-up Exercise No 6

Hans-Günter HEUMANN • Warm-up Exercise No 7

Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750) • Minuet No 1 from Suite in G minor BWV 822

Melanie SPANSWICK • Chapelle Royale

Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791) • Rondo in D KV15d from The London Sketchbook

Arnoldo SARTORIO (1853-1936) • Who is there? Op 783 No 9

Domenico SCARLATTI (1685-1757) • Sonata in G K391

Theodor KIRCHNER (1823-1903) • New Scenes from Childhood Op 55 No 12

Pyotr Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840-1893) • Waltz from Album for the Young Op 39 No 8

Joseph WIHTOL (1863-1948) • Prelude from Four Pieces Op 20 No 4

Fanny HENSEL (1805-1847) • Largo, No 4 from Klavierbuch in E minor H214

Georges BIZET (1838-1875)...