“After several weeks I didn’t need to wear splints anymore and within a few more weeks I no longer had to limit my piano practice” 

I decided to give Helen Aun’s course a go after giving up on the hand therapists I had been seeing in the past year for wrist tendinopathy. The tendinopathy was impacting my ability to both play and teach piano, as well as my day to day life, and it just was not improving any further. 

Helen’s courses approached these injuries from a whole body perspective and in a completely different way to any hand therapists I had seen. After several weeks I no longer needed to wear splints when teaching, and within a few more weeks I no longer needed a time limit on my piano practise to avoid pain from ‘overdoing’ it. I have also had a significant reduction in both neck and shoulder tension. 

Everything I have learnt has not only helped me play with more ease on the piano, but has completely changed how I approach teaching piano. My students are already seeing lots of positive results! 

I will admit that I had some scepticism initially (could she really succeed where countless physiotherapists had failed?), but I feel so fortunate to have bumped into this learning opportunity! The knowledge and skills taught in these courses are rarely taught by piano teachers (they weren't even taught during my BMus or MMus degrees!), but these are going to benefit my students and I for life.

I would definitely recommend Helen Aun’s courses to pianists and piano teachers, particularly if you have any injuries, pain, or tension.

“I have noticed a significant improvement in my playing and teaching!”

Since the beginning of my professional piano studies, the combination of a long torso and short arms has always caused me a lot of trouble. I could never find a comfortable way to play the piano. I often sit extremely low and hunch over to compensate for this. However, this diminished my control over the instrument, and I needed to work harder to produce a louder sound.

 Through Helen’s coaching, I have learned how to optimize my body and play the piano with a natural posture. My playing has become much easier, and I have developed an awareness to recognize when I return to some of my bad habits. This awareness allows me to retrain my playing on my own. The change in my posture is not limited to piano playing; it extends to my daily life as well. Returning to a natural posture has made me appear more confident without exerting extra effort to hold my body up. I feel much calmer than before, less impulsive, and I spend more time thinking. 

Regarding performances, I now know how to mentally prepare myself to play with a clear mind without losing passion and awareness. Additionally, I have noticed a significant improvement in my teaching. The awareness of my own playing has helped me identify the problems my students are facing, enabling me to devise solutions quickly and efficiently.

“In the past performing has been the “horrible”, nervous thing I had to survive, but now, surprisingly, I am able to focus almost the entire time on the music and feel excited, but not nervous!”

This course has given me a lot of inspiration for both my playing and teaching. It has completely transformed how I perform.

I have gained knowledge about how my body is actually designed to move and how this knowledge can help me to play more freely and effortlessly. Practical exercises have made me aware of my body on a new level and that has helped me not only in my piano playing but also in my everyday life. The group has been an amazing support and a safe place to share thoughts, questions, and feelings with other musicians on the same journey. I can now recognize how some piano techniques that I have previously learned are causing me tension and with Helen’s help, I have learned better and more natural ways of playing. I have learned to look at some traditional aspects of technique from a new tension-free perspective and this also helps me to teach my own students to play with less tension. My piano practicing is more focused and clear, and I have learned strategies to stay focused also on the stage. My goal has been to perform with joy, not fear, and I have already had some encouraging experiences where I feel calmer and happy while performing!

Helen is a wonderful teacher, she has a talent for explaining and summing up even complex matters into a clear and understandable form. She is empathic, and inspiring and has a lot of creative exercises to help learning.

“Helen has a genuine instinct for spotting issues and offering the exact right solutions!” 

I've noticed huge differences in my body and both my piano and violin playing since starting. My shoulders have been really tight for years, but I noticed significant improvements after just the first couple of sessions. This has led to me feeling much more relaxed and being able to play much more freely, something I haven't been able to do in a long time. My hands don't tire so quickly and my wrists are much more flexible. 

My whole mindset has changed and not just in relation to piano playing. Helen's constant and gentle encouragement really does help us to feel that we can achieve so much more. Take, for example, performing. I have never liked playing solos and actively avoid doing it. When Helen told us in session one of level 2 that we would be performing to each other at the end of the course, my first reaction was dread and wondering if I could somehow get out of doing it. Jump to the week before the performance, having worked through level 2 and Helen talking us through some extra tools to approach and manage our performance anxiety, I found myself actually looking forward to it. The old me would have lost sleep and over analysed the performance, but this time it was completely different. The nerves were still there, but my old ways of thinking were not. Having a safe space to voice our thoughts is invaluable - as musicians we feel the expectation to just be able to perform at the drop of a hat, but being in a class with others who feel the same way really helps and creates a wonderfully supportive atmosphere. 

If you've been thinking about joining and aren't sure if it is for you, I can highly recommend it. You'll notice huge differences almost immediately. Helen's teaching is so insightful and she really cares about her students. She has a genuine instinct for spotting any issues and offering exactly the right solution. Her classes weave some kind of magic that has a huge impact on our bodies and mindsets, which then feeds into both our playing and our everyday lives.