On the Record: Reflections on Using Recordings as a Learning Tool
Ruth Carlyle is an adult student, studying singing with David Barton. She reflects here on her experience of making recordings of her singing as part of her learning. You can…
Age-Appropriate: Why Instrumental Teachers Should Be Honest About Their Skillset
When I started teaching, as I'm sure a lot of us did, I'd teach anyone who came my way, who was interested and who was willing to pay. My first…
Review: ABRSM Theory Works App
This is an entirely independent review. I purchased the app myself and have not been asked by ABRSM to review it. For more information, you can read my Reviews Policy…
Instrumental Teaching: The Critical Art of Choice
As instrumental teachers, we are overwhelmed by choice when it comes to teaching resources and materials. New books, websites and subscription sites appear on an almost daily basis. There is…
Review: ABRSM Teacher Conference 2018
Since 1889, ABRSM have held over 40 million exams, and currently, more than 700 examiners conduct over 600,000 exams a year in over 90 countries. It was a pleasure to…
Work and Music: Music Lessons, Practice and Full-Time Employment
When adults learn an instrument or study singing, they have to juggle music lessons and practice time with other commitments, notably full-time employment. In this guest blog post, David Barton…
“When Can I Do Grade 9?”
Please remember to check the current edition of the syllabus as these change regularly, and marking allocations can be amended. You've passed Grade 8. What next? As we well know,…
“Where’s my Walkman?”
Today, one of my pupils posed an interesting, and somewhat unexpected question: What music did you listen to when you were my age? I was stumped. The awful thing is,…
June 2018 New Discoveries
The More The Merrier! 13 duets for 4-hand piano & everybody else... (Barbara Arens) Perhaps the most effective publications on the educational market, are those written in response to the…
Progress in Instrumental Learning: Embracing Foundations
I know that many of us have found both confidence and solace in yoga, me especially over the past six months. Each Sunday, I wait in anticipation of the arrival…
ABRSM Piano Syllabus 2019/20: an overview
I shall preface this overview by saying that I wholeheartedly believe that learning an instrument is not solely about taking exams, and indeed only a small number of my pupils…
May 2018 New Discoveries
My apologies that with one thing and another, I never quite got round to writing a New Discoveries post for April, but nevertheless, here's a bumper edition for May! Graded…