
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

Jul 20, 2023 • 33min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.82 - Rob Reich-Storer, Katy Thomson, Catherine Barker
Send us a textIn the final episode of the academic year, Patrick chats to Rob Reich-Storer about his music resource website, Rhythmstix, and to Katy Thomson about Ground:Ed, which offers workshops to help teachers and students harness their creativity, build awareness and self-confidence.Finally, Patrick signs off the year by chatting to MTA President Catherine Barker, about the 2022-23 academic year, current issues in music education, and what's in store from the MTA for 2023-24.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjectshttps://www.rhythmstix.co.uk/https://discovergrounded.com/© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Jul 6, 2023 • 39min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.81 - Ear Master, Mark Aitchison, Dr Rebecca Berkley
Send us a textIn Episode 82, Patrick talks to Niels Bastrup and Hans Jakobsen from aural training app Ear Master, about a new feature designed to help students with the aural tests in ABRSM exams and beyond; Mark Aitchison shares his planning for the next academic year, taken from a recent MTA ECT webinar;And Dr Rebecca Berkley, Associate Professor in Music Education, at the Institute of Education, at the University of Reading, discusses music training for primary school teachers, looking at specific problems and possible solutions, including training courses.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjectshttps://www.earmaster.com/shop/product/abrsm-aural-trainer.htmlhttps://www.abcd.org.uk/training/abcd-courseshttps://singforpleasure.org.uk/product/summer-school-2023/https://www.kodaly.org.uk/training-courseshttps://www.nycos.co.uk/learn/kodaly-summer-school/https://www.voices.org.uk/resourceshttps://www.singup.org/training© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Jun 22, 2023 • 43min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.80 - Nate Holder, Olivia Sparkhall, Chris Stevens
Send us a textIn episode 80, Patrick finds out about the Why Music Festival, curated by Nate Holder - a one-day online festival on 4th July 2023, aimed at pupils, and featuring a wide variety of speaker. (Link below.)Olivia Sparkhall tells Patrick all about her new book, “A Young Person's Guide to Vocal Health”, and talks about the importance of vocal health for young people, including the effects of bad habits. (Link below.)And Christopher Stevens HMI, subject lead for Music at Ofsted, joins Patrick to answer a few questions about what Ofsted are looking for on inspections, and to discuss the purpose of assessment in music education.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjects Why Music Festival: https://lnkd.in/ecYEvnpdYoung Persons's Guide to Vocal Health: https://oliviasparkhall.wixsite.com/sparkhallo/a-young-persons-guide© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

5 snips
Jun 8, 2023 • 41min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.79 - Melanie Spanswick, Cynthia Stephens-Himonides & Meggie Young, Darius Brubeck
Pianist Melanie Spanswick discusses her Women Composers anthology, while Cynthia Stephens-Himonides and Meggie Young explore music teachers' self-identity with technology. Jazz pianist Darius Brubeck shares insights on teaching jazz, improvisation, and composition, emphasizing the importance of making jazz relevant to young students and studying traditional jazz performances.

May 18, 2023 • 29min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.78 - MTA Conference 2023: Greg Coughlin, Sontronics, Rebecca Arnold, Charles Price, Don Gillthorpe, Catherine Barker
Send us a textMTA CONFERENCE SPECIALIn Episode 78, Patrick reports from the 2023 MTA Conference, held in the Loughborough Schools Foundation.Greg Coughlin discusses non-traditional routes to GCSE Music, Lisa Coley introduces the range of microphones available from Sontronics, Rebecca Arnold chats about her experiences at her first MTA Conference, and Charles Price explains how to demystify the composition process, especially at Key Stage 4.Finally, outgoing president Don Gillthorpe reflects on the last two years, and incoming president Catherine Barker looks ahead to the future.Presented and produced by Patrick JohnsLinks:www.sontronics.com© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

May 4, 2023 • 34min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.77 - Cynthia Stephens-Himonides, Maria Mendonça, Lucinda Geoghegan, Mark Wilderspin (MTA Conference Preview), Naomi McCarthy (ISM)
Send us a textIn Episode 77, Patrick chats to Cynthia Stephens-Himonides and Maria Mendonça about incorporating Gamelan into curricula, particularly as a way of including disengaged young people.Looking ahead to the 2023 MTA Conference, sneak previews of two of the sessions, with Mark Wilderspin ('How to take student compositions from good to great') and Lucinda Geoghegan ('The Kodály Approach').Plus, Naomi McCarthy from the ISM, discussing their new campaign Save Our Subjects, calling on the government to do three very important things.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying #SaveOurSubjectswww.saveoursubjects.org© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Apr 21, 2023 • 36min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.76 - Vanessa Wilson-Best, Gavin Higgins (BBC Young Composer Competition), Dr Anthony Anderson
Send us a textIn Episode 76, Patrick chats to Vanessa Wilson-Best about current matters in music education, and she gives an overview of the forthcoming Great Escape Festival’s Music Education Conference.Composer-in-association with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Gavin Higgins, introduces the BBC’s Young Composer Competition.And Dr Anthony Anderson explores his recent RiME presentation, looking at the ‘telescoping’ of KS3 curricula down from three years to two. Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.https://greatescapefestival.com/conference/music-education-2023/https://tinyurl.com/bbcyoungcomposercompetition23© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Mar 30, 2023 • 35min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.75 - Amelia Parker (BBC Radio 4), Rodolfus Foundation, Dr Anna Mariguddi
Send us a textIn Episode 75, Patrick chats to Amelia Parker, co-producer of BBC Radio 4’s “Rethinking Music” series on music education, about the making of the series.Simon Toyne, Sophie Taylor-Denton and Caius Lee talk about the Rodolfus Foundation’s Choral Courses for young singers; And Dr Anna Mariguddi gives a preview of her RiME presentation, looking at Prof. Lucy Green’s model of informal learning in the current music education landscape.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001jskchttps://rime-conference.orghttps://easychair.org/smart-program/RIME2023/https://www.therodolfusfoundation.org.uk/sing© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Mar 16, 2023 • 35min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.74 - Kwame Bakoji-Hume, Judith Weir, Mark Aitchison
Send us a textIn episode 74, Patrick chats to Kwame Bakoji-Hume from African Activites, about West African Drumming, and misconceptions about the music; the Master of the King's Music Judith Weir CBE offers some compositional tips (with James Manwaring and Liz Dunbar, from Music Teacher Mondays); and Mark Aitchison introduces his research project, looking at long-term changes to classroom practice following the pandemic.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns #CanDoMusic #GetPlaying africanactivities.org.ukwww.judithweir.comtinyurl.com/MarkAitchisonCovidResearch© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Mar 2, 2023 • 36min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.73 - Music Expo and Awards: Nathaniel Dye, Jessica Yuen, Richard Michael
Send us a text2023 MUSIC AND DRAMA EXPO AND AWARDS SPECIALIn Episode 73, Patrick visits the 2023 Music and Drama Expo, and chats to two of the speakers: Jessica Yuen on 'Exploring the Pentatonic', and Jazz pianist Richard Michael on 'Ingenious improvisation and arrangement techniques'. Plus, Patrick speaks to Music Leader, Nathaniel Dye, about the music provision at Nelson Primary School in East Ham, winners of the 2023 Music Department of the Year at the Awards.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying © Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org