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…
Setting the Tempo: Working With Accompanists When There Is No Rehearsal Time
David Barton Music student, Ruth Carlyle, has taken part in two local festivals and has also worked with many other accompanists on fairly limited rehearsal time. Thank you to Ruth…
The Exam-Life Balance
I'm aware that a number of students across the UK are now fast-approaching their GCSE, AS and A-Level summer exams. I know how important these exams are and how stressful…
Conflicting Wavelengths: Judgement By Listening
I’ve always been slightly alarmed by the attitudes which prevail when it comes to listening to classical music on the radio, especially when it comes to the two big national…
The Value of Making Musical Connections
Take two notes. Play the two notes. Played like that, those two notes might seem unremarkable, but what if those notes had some connection? You see, the relationships we have,…
When I Grow Up? Musical Journeys
Some of you may have seen this feature on BBC Breakfast today about 20,000 seven to 11-year-olds who'd been asked to draw pictures of the job they want to do…
Review: ABRSM Songbooks Plus
At the end of October 2017, ABRSM published its new Songbook Plus series, designed to complement the existing Songbook range. There is a new book for each of Grades 1-5,…
Review: ABRSM Singing Syllabus 2018
A few weeks ago, ABRSM released its revised singing syllabus for use from 2018. This is the first update to the syllabus since 2009. ABRSM state that they have ‘refreshed’…
Taking Part in a Local Music Festival: A Performer’s Experience
Thank you to Ruth Carlyle for allowing me to reproduce this article which she contributed to my end-of-term newsletter in December 2016: Have you thought about taking part in the…
Duets: Are We Missing the Point?
I don’t know about other teachers, but I try to make use of duets in my teaching at all levels. Indeed, I've written an article previously about the 'joy of…
Review: ABRSM Flute Syllabus 2018-2021
As many of you will know, ABRSM released it's new flute syllabus this week to cover the period 2018-2021. Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to play through many of…