Teaching Materials

Classroom and youth band improvisation

I love to improvise. It’s the most inventive, liberating and empowering form of musical self-expression I’ve ever experienced.

Teaching Materials

Edexcel AoS1: wider listening, part 1

Each of Pearson Edexcel’s four areas of study (AoS) for its GCSE Appraising component contains two set works, but the exam paper for this component also requires students to have listened to a wider...

Teaching Materials

Self-employment part 2: pay

In the first resource of this three-part series on self-employment (Music Teacher, July 2023), I gave an overview of the main issues we need to consider when running a business as a self-employed...

Teaching Materials

OCR AoS1 Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 4: wider listening

The first movement of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 is the prescribed work in OCR’s Area of Study 1 (Instrumental Music of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven) for 2024 (and covered in its own Music...

Teaching Materials

Composing activities at KS3

It’s crucial for any non-experienced composer to understand specific steps to navigate their way to a finished composition.

Teaching Materials

Sound recording: pre-production

In the first of this three-part resource on recording music in schools, we looked at options for setting up a studio (Music Teacher, April 2023). In this second resource, we’ll move on to the...

Teaching Materials

Self-employment part 1: rights and responsibilities

Being self-employed gives you the freedom to dictate how you work, when you work and where you work. (Well, that’s at least in theory – if you’re working for a school, they may well treat you as a de...

Teaching Materials

Preparing students for playing in ensembles

I’m certain that every person reading this article can list the benefits of playing in an ensemble. We all want our students to thrive, and I’m sure that many of us have got a kick out of hearing them...

Teaching Materials

AQA AoS4: orchestral music of Bartók and Kodály

Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály met as young men in 1905 in Budapest, and formed a lifelong friendship. They shared a passionate interest in the folk music of Hungary and wanted to incorporate it into...

Teaching Materials

Developing wider listening: blues

It’s no overstatement to say that the biggest influence on 20th-century popular music is probably the blues.

Teaching Materials

Making your music room inspiring

Every music department is different, in terms of staffing, rooms, resources and budgets.

Teaching Materials

Early development for trumpet students

Learning a musical instrument requires a high level of multitasking. In addition to the often peculiar and unnatural physical actions that need to be synchronised in order to produce a sound, there...

Teaching Materials