
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 1, 2022 • 37min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.68 - Ollie Tunmer, Suzzie Vango & Lucy Hollins, Simon Purcell
Send us a textIn Episode 68, Patrick chats to Ollie Tunmer about Beat Goes On's Body Percussion Scheme of Work for key stages 1–4;And to Suzzie Vango & Lucy Hollins about their new book, "How to Make Your Choir Sound Awesome", focusing on warm-ups.In the final interview, Patrick discusses the role of improvisation within the classroom, and the role that Jazz pedagogy can play, with the co-chair of Jazz in Education UK, and International Chair in Improvisation at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama: Simon Purcell.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying www.beatgoeson.co.uk/body-percussion-scheme-of-work/ www.howtomakeyourchoirsoundawesome.com www.abdn.ac.uk/music/jazz-in-education/index.php© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Nov 18, 2022 • 41min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.67 - Alex Parsons, Christopher Stevens
Send us a textIn Episode 67, Alex Parsons talks to Patrick about approaches to melodic dictation at KS3 and KS4, as well as ways to develop greater aural awareness; And Ofsted’s National Lead for Music, and Senior HMI, Christopher Stevens, answers questions about curriculum design, and assessment in KS3 Music.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying https://trebleteaching.wordpress.com© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Nov 3, 2022 • 33min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.66 - Rebecca Ledgard & Sarah Batten (Ex Cathedra), and Paul McCreesh
Send us a textRebecca Ledgard and Sarah Batten from Ex Cathedra, tell Patrick all about their various educational resources, including Choir Maker, designed to embed a love of singing with Year 7s.And legendary conductor Paul McCreesh gives some tips for running choir rehearsals, discusses Early Music in schools, and current and future Gabrieli Roar projects.https://www.singingplaygrounds.co.uk/choirmaker/https://excathedra.co.ukhttps://www.gabrieli.com/roar/about-gabrieli-roar/#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Oct 20, 2022 • 41min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.65 - Marie Bessant, Rachel Leach, Bridget Whyte
Send us a textIn episode 65, OCR’s Lead Subject Advisor for music, Marie Bessant, tells Patrick about the processes an exam board goes through to create GCSE Music exams; And from a recent Hibbins Series webinar, Rachel Leach offers some ways to kick-start classroom compositions, and relate them to orchestral music; Finally, Chief Executive of Music Mark, Bridget Whyte, gives details of their annual conference in cities across the UK and online.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns #CanDoMusic #GetPlayinghttps://www.musicmark.org.uk/events/talk-into-action-conference-series-2022/© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Oct 6, 2022 • 26min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.64 - Shivani Rattan, Haim Kairy and the Arcana Strum
Send us a textPatrick chats to Shivani Rattan about her new Indian Celebration Songs, designed to help young singers incorporate Indian celebrations into their choral experience. Shivani shares extracts from each of them, and explains their background.And Haim Kairy, CEO of Arcana Instruments, introduces the Arcana Strum, an musical instrument especially designed for musicians with limited mobility and disability.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying www.musicteachers.org www.shivanirattan.comarcanainstruments.com© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Sep 22, 2022 • 37min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.63 - Nate Holder, Matt Lawson, Emma Wild
Send us a textIn Episode 63, Patrick chats to Prof. Nate Holder about the music of West Africa, and Nate's new book, "Where Are All The Instruments? West Africa". Dr Matt Lawson, Senior Lecturer in Music, Oxford Brookes University, tells Patrick about his passion for Film Music, and his schools workshops to pass this on to the next generation.And Emma Wild, Associate Director, Standards for Design, Development and Evaluation of General Qualifications for Ofqual, answers questions about GCSE exams, and Ofqual's role.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying https://www.nateholdermusic.com/product-page/where-are-all-the-instruments-european-orchestrahttps://mattlawson.co.uk© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Sep 8, 2022 • 38min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.62 - Chris Hoban, Music Teacher Mondays, Dr Jennie Henley
Send us a textIn Episode 62, Chris Hoban chats to Patrick about Folk Music in the curriculum, with some useful ideas and tips. There's an extract from a recent Music Teacher Monday webinar, in which Don Gillthorpe talks about ways to make KS4 Music more accessible.And Dr Jennie Henley, Director of Programmes at the RNCM, discusses recurrent barriers to music education.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying © Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Jul 21, 2022 • 27min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.61 - MTA Connect, Alex Parsons, Don Gillthorpe
Send us a textPatrick reports on the recent MTA Connect day, with Lewis Edney and Alicia Johnson, and Alex Parsons introduces a great homework activity for KS3 students. Plus, Don Gillthorpe reflects on the academic year.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns.#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Jul 4, 2022 • 24min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.60 - National Plan for Music Education - Jamie Njoku-Goodwin, Catherine Barker
Send us a textIn the wake of the National Plan for Music Education, "The Power of Music to Change Lives", Patrick talks to two of the panel of experts who helped to shape the Plan: Jamie Njoku-Goodwin and Catherine Barker.They chat about the background to the Plan, and about various points raised in the Plan, and expectations for schools, and music departments.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns#CanDoMusic #GetPlaying© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org

Jun 16, 2022 • 34min
Teaching Notes - MTA podcast - Ep.59 - Ukraine Music Hub, Music Teacher Mondays, Bridget Whyte (Music Mark)
Send us a textIn Episode 59, Stephen O’Regan from the Ukraine Music Hub tells Patrick about the great work they’re doing to provide free music tuition to Ukrainians, recently arrived in the UK;We hear an extract from a recent Music Teacher Mondays, led by James Manwaring and Liz Dunbar discussing classroom singing;And Bridget Whyte introduces Music Mark’s ‘Talk into Action’ movement, supporting music education organisations in their EDI journey.Presented and produced by Patrick Johns #CanDoMusic #GetPlaying© Music Teachers' Association www.musicteachers.org
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