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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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,…
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’…
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…
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…
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…
Instrumental teachers know how easy it is to become trapped on the exam treadmill, learning a few pieces, sitting an exam, then moving to the next grade. Encouraging pupils to…
We're just entering exam season here in the UK. The bulk of AS and A-Level exams begin this week, and GCSEs soon after. Virtually all 16-18 year olds are affected…