Resources

David is an experienced piano teacher and one of the first teachers to help shape Pip. International Piano called the book “practical and thoughtful”, praising its “clarity, warmth and an unusually strong sense of perspective”. Pip agrees!

Parents and teachers supporting children near the beginning of their musical journey—no musical expertise required.

Some disclosure here: Alex Horne is Chip’s brother, while the band’s drummer, Ben Reynolds, was one of the first teachers to use Pip. Happily, the book earns its place anyway—because curiosity, silliness and making noise are excellent routes into music.

This is not a sensible or serious music reference book. That is very much the point.

Your child may not reach quite the same musical heights as the Kanneh-Masons—but there is still plenty here for any family supporting a young musician: encouragement, hard work and a home where music belongs to everyone.

Chip still has and uses the Wittner metronome he was given as a child. An app may be cheaper, but sometimes an old-fashioned, tactile object is exactly what you want beside your music. His has already survived nearly 40 years.

It isn’t cheap for something that goes tick, tick, tick. But it is accurate, well made and built to last. 

Our daughter Cleo uses this one. It may not have the heirloom charm or tactility of Chip’s Wittner, but it offers more functionality for less money and is easy to carry between home, lessons and rehearsals.

The battery lasts for up to eight hours, while the headphone socket is handy when everyone else has heard quite enough clicking.

We use this one at home. It’s sturdy, portable and remarkably good value, with extras that are genuinely useful rather than included merely to make the bundle look bigger.

We have two in daily use at home. One lives at the keyboard; the other has been quietly rebranded as a cello stool. Practical proof that “keyboard stool” is merely a suggestion.

It’s a straightforward, inexpensive seat rather than a luxurious piano bench—which is exactly why we like it.