It always comes as a surprise to non–musicians – and, indeed, to many musicians – when they’re told that approximately 90% of the time, orchestral trumpeters are not actually playing the notes written...
Edward Maxwell Teaching MaterialsIn an ideal world, our students would bound up to the practice room door exactly two minutes before their allotted lesson time, instruments and books in hand, keen as mustard to demonstrate the fruits...
Georgina Leach Teaching MaterialsBy the time an average ten-year-old first enters my teaching room, they will have taken around 150 million breaths in their lifetime. After 150 million repetitions of something, you’d think you’d be...
Richard Steggall Teaching MaterialsThe revised National Plan for Music Education’s stipulation that students in all schools – including special education schools. This resource begins by grounding our work within the social model of...
Ben Sellers Teaching MaterialsIn the first two resources of this three-part series on self-employment (Music Teacher, July 2023 and August 2023), we considered the main issues we need to think about when running a business as a...
Edward Maxwell Teaching MaterialsCommunication is a much-cited criterion for formal assessment and informal judgments of performers and performances. All examination boards have clear criteria to work from, and communication forms...
Helen Reid Teaching MaterialsI love to improvise. It’s the most inventive, liberating and empowering form of musical self-expression I’ve ever experienced.
Nathaniel Dye Teaching MaterialsIn 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...
Edward Maxwell Teaching MaterialsBeing 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...
Edward Maxwell Teaching MaterialsI’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...
Richard Steggall Teaching MaterialsLearning 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...
Edward Maxwell Teaching MaterialsThere was a time when many professional brass players would have been multi-instrumentalists, but these days we tend to have only one main instrument that we study to a professional level. Any...
Richard Steggall Teaching Materials