
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast
Teaching Notes, the Music Teachers' Association's podcast, covers all aspects of Music Education, both in the UK and beyond. Interviews with Music Teachers sit alongside chats with industry professionals and education experts. Plenty of CPD, discussion, and reports from conferences and Expos. A must-listen for every Music Teacher! Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.
Latest episodes

Dec 20, 2024 • 31min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.112 - Jenevora Williams, Nic Chalmers
Send us a textIn Episode 112, Patrick meets singer, teacher, and vocal health expert, Dr Jenevora Williams, to discuss ways to recognise, manage, and prevent any issues with students’ – or teachers’ – vocal health (0:34).Plus, conductor Nic Chalmers introduces ways of engaging young people with opera, including some of his work with the Royal Opera House, and chats about his marathon Christmas Carolling at the Royal Albert Hall with the National Youth Choir (12:11).Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.https://www.nicholaschalmers.com https://jenevorawilliams.comhttps://linktr.ee/jenevorawilliamshttps://www.musicanddramaeducationexpo.co.uk/speakers/jenevora-williams#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Dec 6, 2024 • 41min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.111 - Alex Aitken, Phil Croydon, Lissa Schneckenburger
Send us a textIn Episode 111, Patrick chats to Alex Aitken about GCSE and A Level composition and set works, including ways to teach them, their place within a course, and the barriers faced by teachers and students (00:53).Editor of Music Teacher magazine, Phil Croydon introduces the forthcoming Music & Drama Education Expo and Awards, to be held in January 2025 (17:19).And singer, song-writer and New England fiddler Lissa Schneckenburger discusses the importance of aural awareness, ways to teach it, and her online course ‘Learning By Ear’ (29:06).Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.https://alexaitken.co.ukhttps://masteringalevelmusic.co.ukhttps://www.musicanddramaeducationexpo.co.ukhttps://musicdramaedawards.comhttps://lissafiddle.com#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Nov 21, 2024 • 40min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.110 - Aileen Douthwaite, Alex Parsons & Liz Dunbar, Edward Caswell
Send us a textIn Episode 110, Patrick chats to Aileen Douthwaite from the Music Publishers’ Association, about the Every Copy Counts campaign, highlighting the legality of photocopying music in copyright, and logging it to help publishers, authors and composers (00:45).Alex Parsons and Liz Dunbar offer some Composition Hacks for students struggling to get going with a new piece, in extracts from their recent MTA webinar (11:35).And choral conductor and singer Edward Caswell chats to Patrick about rounds and canons, and SingCircle, a new book containing 111 of these perfect miniatures, which he has co-authored. He explains the book’s origins, how to teach rounds and canons effectively, and just why they are perfect for students of all ages and experience (19:59).Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.https://everycopycounts.co.ukhttps://mpaonline.org.ukhttps://www.musicteachers.org/online-events/oxford.ly/3AAnnvt #CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Nov 7, 2024 • 29min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.109 - Linton Stephens, Alex Parsons, Si Tew (Digit Learning)
Send us a textIn Episode 109, Patrick chats to BBC Radio 3 presenter Linton Stephens about the BBC’s new Ten Pieces, each of which has been written by a female composer (0:55).Alex Parsons introduces a new series of webinars from the MTA, providing crucial CPD for teachers (09:06).And Si Tew from Digit Learning explains the range of products they offer, including their joystick-driven instrument, CMPSR, their notation system Arrow Notes, plus Global Sound Culture (13:38).Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/ten-pieces https://www.musicteachers.org/online-events/https://digitlearning.co.uk#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Oct 18, 2024 • 35min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.108 - Michelle Robinson, Gary Spruce
Send us a textIn Episode 108, Patrick chats to Michelle Robinson from Loughborough University about the special relationship between student and teacher in instrumental and vocal lessons, also looking at ways to develop it (0:54).And Gary Spruce discusses the complexities of instrumental music teaching, as featured in his new book 'Instrumental Music Teaching: Perspectives and Challenges', the uniqueness of whole class instrumental tuition, and teacher retention (11:20).Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.Survey: https://tinyurl.com/MTMRQSurveyInstrumental Music Teaching: Perspectives and Challenges: https://tinyurl.com/GarySpruce#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Oct 4, 2024 • 35min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.107 - Helen Minshall, Dr Anthony Anderson
Send us a textIn episode 107, Patrick meets the Winner of Visiting Music Teacher 2024 (Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards 2024) Helen Minshall, to chat about her work, teaching brass instruments across Lancashire (1:08).Plus, Dr Anthony Anderson discusses curriculum design, looking at differences in how curricula are perceived by music teachers and SLTs (16:46).Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.https://www.bbe.org.uk/brass-foundationshttps://www.facebook.com/Minshallmusicltdhttps://musicteacherconference.com/curriculummusic2024/en/page/homehttps://www.bcu.ac.uk/health-education-and-life-sciences/staff/education-and-teacher-training/anthony-anderson#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Sep 19, 2024 • 46min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.106 - Ali Walker (Play Recorder), Dr George Waddell
Send us a textIn Episode 106, Patrick chats to recorder player Ali Walker about Sing Up's new complete scheme of learning for KS1 and KS2 recorder, 'Play Recorder' (0:52).And Dr George Waddell, from the Royal College of Music, discusses assessment in music, focusing on performance science, preparation for a performance assessment, and external factors that can affect assessors' opinions (18:20).Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.https://www.singup.org/music/play-recorder https://performancescience.ac.uk/team/waddell/© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Sep 5, 2024 • 45min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.105 - Rob Reich-Storer (Assessify), Rachel Topham (Faber Music), Maddy Barnes & Peter Tamblyn (English Touring Opera)
Send us a textIn Episode 105, Patrick finds out all about the new AI-driven assessment app, Assessify, created by Rob Reich-Storer from Rhythmstix (0:54).Rachel Topham from Faber Music chats about the new Faber Music Teachers’ Community, designed to help bring instrumental/vocal teachers and the publisher closer together (12:20).And Maddy Barnes and Peter Tamblyn talk about the great education work done by English Touring Opera (25:27).Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.Assessify: http://rhythmstix.co.uk/assessify/ Faber: https://www.facebook.com/share/VrWH5myoZX3PRR6D/English Touring Opera: https://englishtouringopera.org.uk/our-work/learning-participation#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Jul 19, 2024 • 25min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.104 - Mark Phillips, Catherine Barker
Send us a textIn Episode 104, Patrick chats to Music Education Consultant (and former National Lead for Music for Ofsted), Mark Phillips, about the start of Year 7, including the value (or lack of value) of baseline tests, questionnaires, and tests of aural perception, such as the Bentley Test.Plus, MTA President Catherine Barker reflects on the 2023–24 academic year, and looks to the future for Music Education.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.Mark Phillips: https://x.com/englishcadenceMusic Mark article: https://tinyurl.com/MarkPhillipsArticle#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Jul 5, 2024 • 37min
Teaching Notes - MTA Podcast - Ep.103 - Jane Mitchell (Aurora Orchestra), Hattie Fisk (Music & Drama Ed Awards), Dr Bushra El-Turk & Dr Joel Bell (The Alternative Conservatoire)
Send us a textIn Episode 103, Patrick chats to Jane Mitchell about the Aurora Orchestra’s latest resource, Discover Beethoven, which uses the Sixth Symphony as a way into orchestral music for young musicians.Hattie Fisk, co-chair of the Music and Drama Education Awards judging panel, gives an overview of the 2025 Awards, and encourages everyone to get voting.And Dr Bushra El-Turk and Dr Joel Bell introduce The Alternative Conservatoire, a new course for young musicians, post-18.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.https://auroraclassroom.co.ukhttps://musicdramaedawards.comhttps://www.fabermusic.com/freebooksforteachershttps://thealternativeconservatoire.org #CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org