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.
Episodes
In Episode 141, Patrick chats to Michael Wright about approaches to teaching improvisation in the classroom and with ensembles (0:33).
Dr Liz Stafford introduces the forthcoming Curriculum Music Conference from Music Education Solutions, and chats about unrealistic expectations in Primary Music Education (23:37).
And award-wining music teacher Zac Moxon explains how he has doubled his schools’ numbers at K...
In Episode 140, Patrick kicks off the new academic year with a look at A Level Music, with guest, Vanessa Wilson-Best. As numbers decline for A Level Music, Vanessa and Patrick discuss whether the qualification is fit for purpose in its current form.
The MTA’s new season of online CPD is here, and Patrick plays a short extract from music teachers Katie Sollars and Chelsey Bamford from a recent session.
And Rob R...
In Episode 139, Patrick discovers The Rapturous Romantics in the third book of The ABC of Opera, written by Mark Llewelyn Evans. Mark explains about the power of children discovering their ABC (Any Body Can) through opera.
The MTA’s own Laura Bendy encourages listeners to respond to the Call for Content, to hear from as wide a range of voices as possible.
And the CEO of the Cathedral Music Trust, Jonathan Mayes,...
In Episode 138, Patrick chats to David Gray (aka ‘Music with Mr Gray’) about The Big Strum, a new ukulele event to be held in July in Devon, in association with Octopus Ukuleles and Devon Music Hub (0:57).
Geoff Pearce introduces Music Scholars, a new online resource with hundreds of lessons for KS3–KS5, plus composition tools, marksheets, and much more (9:54).
And award-winning author, speaker, teac...
In Episode 137, Patrick meets Tessa Armstrong, founder and director of Voices for Life, who provide free singing workshops and concerts for primary children, with a focus on well-being.
MTA President James Manwaring updates listeners about A Choir in Every School, including the latest newsletter.
And Natalie Wild and Christopher Tarrant chat about their latest book, The Composer’s Toolkit, in which students are ...
2026 MTA CONFERENCE SPECIAL
In Episode 136, Patrick visits the 2026 MTA Conference, held at Warwick Schools Foundation, in Leamington Spa.
He chats to Sir John Rutter about John’s own musical education, the power of singing, the compositional process, and what happens to the fragments of his music that don’t get published (30:40).
Liz Dunbar and Simon Toyne chat about their CPD session, ‘C...
MTA CONFERENCE PREVIEW
In Episode 135, Patrick looks ahead to the 2026 MTA Conference, and meets two of the speakers leading CPD sessions.
James McEvoy-Stevenson gives an overview of his session, ‘GCSE Music: Planning for success’ (1:15), and music teacher and DJ James Stevenson makes the case for authentic dance music education, in his session ‘Don't call it EDM’ (29:18).
Plus...
In Episode 134, Patrick meets Dafydd Williams, the Music Lead at Rushmore Primary School in Hackney, winner of the Outstanding School Music Department award at the recent Music and Drama Education Awards, to find out about the music-making at the school (0:46).
Plus, Anna van Veldhuisen and Issy McMichael tell Patrick all about their use of the Kodály Method in the classroom, across different Key Stages, with outstan...
In Episode 133, Tim Gray tells Patrick all about the new app 'Pitch Pals', designed to allow young children to practise their aural skills in a fun, game-based way (0:59).
And Alex Aitken discusses A Level Music, with all its challenges: the importance of research as part of the composing process, the value of pastiche, why being Grade 8 Distinction does not guarantee you success at for A Level performance, and appro...
2026 MUSC & DRAMA EXPO SPECIAL
In Episode 132, Patrick visits the 2026 Music & Drama Expo, to chat to leaders of CDP sessions, and chat to exhibitors about new Music Education products.
Sebastian Murgul from Klang.io introduces their software, that uses AI to transcribe audio to stave notation (0:48);
Composer, author and educator Paul Harris discusses the importance of Rhythm, how it is too often taught ...
In Episode 131, Patrick finds out more about the new campaign, ‘A Choir in Every School’, led by MTA president, James Manwaring (0:57).
Professor Derek Aviss chats about his forthcoming webinar, ‘Transformational Teaching’, for instrumental and vocal teachers to come together to share those special moments in their practice (19:18).
And CEO of youth music charity Kinetika Bloco, Tamzyn Mar...
In Episode 130, Patrick chats to Mark Aitchison about his PhD, which focuses on Key Stage 3 music, and Mark asks for teachers’ assistance with a Year 8 Research Project.
Plus, music education academics Anthony Anderson, Carolyn Cooke, Victoria Kinsella and Elizabeth MacGregor introduce the new edition of the seminal book, ‘Learning to Teach Music in the Secondary School’, discussing the huge a...
In Episode 129, Patrick chats to music educator, technological innovator and coach, Alan Cameron, about his long career, including setting up the world's first ever live weekly instrumental music learning programme via video conference for school children in 2005, and now head of Cameron International Coaching.
Plus, Director of the National Gospel Music Centre, Anu Omideyi discusses Gospel Music: its influence on al...
In Episode 128, Patrick meets James B Partridge to talk about his shows, Primary School Bangers and The Big Christmas Assembly, which revivify children’s hymns of the 70s and 80s. James and Patrick reflect on what makes these simple pieces so popular, and what they can still offer us.
Publisher and Commercial Director of Music Teacher Magazine, Amy Driscoll, tells Patrick about the inner workings of the m...
In Episode 127, Patrick chats to the Aurora Orchestra’s Creative Director, Jane Mitchell, about their free resources as part of Aurora Classroom, covering Key Stages 1–5. Plus, the launch of their Life-Changing Music Campaign, aiming to raise £500,000 across its 20th anniversary season, to support their work nationwide (01:09).
Plus, Executive Director of Music at the David Ross Education Trust (DRET), Si...
In Episode 126, Patrick chats to Mark Aitchison about Year 8 Music, with potential pitfalls and suggestions, incorporating research from Mark’s recently published paper, ‘A study into musician identity in year 8 students in England’.
Plus, The National Children’s Choir of Great Britain’s musical director, Dan Ludford-Thomas, discusses singing amongst young people, and the excellent...
In Episode 125, Patrick meets Jazz pianist, educator, author and Instagram sensation Quentin Walston, to discuss accessible ways into Jazz for non-specialist teachers, from his new book, ‘How to Teach Jazz and Improvisation’ (0:52).
Head of Growth and Operations at the MTA, Caroline Robinson introduces many of the speakers for the 2026 MTA conference, as tickets go on sale (24:15).
And Dr Delphine Mordey f...
In Episode 124, Patrick chats to Ed Watkins about his recent article, shining a light on disproportionately low grades for otherwise high-achieving music students at A Level (1:02).
Laura Bendy and Julian Whittaker introduce the new Members’ Area of the MTA website, and the first webinar of the academic year (13:38);
And Grammy- and Brit-nominated singer-songwriter RuthAnne discusses the song-writing proce...
In Episode 123, Patrick chats to Dr Kirsty Devaney and Dr Ed McKeon about the project Time Loops, run by the Science Museum Group, using old music technology in new and innovative ways, with Key Stage 3 resources to bring it into the classroom (0:57).
Alys Wilding introduces a new ECT Secondary Music Network, being set up by Birmingham City University, to support ECTs nationwide (17:13).
And Elliot Broadbent-Jones and...
In Episode 122, Patrick meets Dr Elizabeth Stafford and Dan Francis, to talk about their new book, 'The Secondary Music Leader's Handbook' (0:48).
Classic FM presenter Ritula Shah introduces the Classic FM Music Teacher of the Year Awards (deadline for entries is 20th July 2025!) (15:54).
And Jazz musician, author and educator Buster Birch chats about methods of teaching improvisation, why he doesn't use lead sheets, ...
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