Planning can be the most daunting aspect of teaching, particularly if you have many students with a diverse range of needs. Approached in the right way, however, understanding flexible and realistic...
Richard Barnard VMT
There are few things more excruciating than hearing a student stumbling through a performance without any sense of rhythmic flow. They may be playing all the correct notes, but if there’s no sense of...
Edward Maxwell VMT
This resource looks at why and how to include composing activities in instrumental lessons, regardless of your own composition experience.
Richard Barnard VMT
In this resource Maxwell will be looking at how learning literacy can provide a useful model for learning to read music: teaching music should take a holistic approach in which reading, listening and...
Edward Maxwell VMT
Most music teachers have little or no training in coping with and understanding various needs and how to adapt their teaching accordingly. In this resource, I will look at some of the common...
Edward Maxwell VMT
What factors do we need to consider when starting instrumental lessons? Is there a benefit to starting as early as possible, or can it be counterproductive? Rather than benefiting from an early start,...
Edward Maxwell Performance
This resource will cover aspects of teaching autistic students as a visiting music teacher or workshop leader. Autism is a wide spectrum and autistic people can, of course, be vastly different from...
Richard Barnard VMT
For some musicians, instrumental teaching in schools is a full-time vocation. For others, it provides a welcome element of relative stability in an otherwise volatile and unpredictable world of...
Edward Maxwell VMT
As pupils move through school and beyond, their progress on a musical instrument is rarely smooth. A common – and serious – stumbling block for many is performance anxiety. This can emerge at any...
Richard Steggall VMT
In part 2 of this two-part resource (Music Teacher, January 2021), I will look at further development of reading skills and musicianship, learning pieces with understanding, and amassing a bank of...
Edward Maxwell Extra-curricular music
In this resource, I’ll be looking at how we can reflect on our approach to teaching and stimulate ourselves to do better. However experienced we are, and however good a teacher we might think we are,...
Edward Maxwell Extra-curricular music
Establish a clear line of communication
When you take on a new student, it's essential to get off on the right foot: introduce yourself to parents or carers, either through a phone call or email. It's...
