The Vibrant Music Teaching Podcast | Proven and practical tips, strategies and ideas for music teachers

Have you considered teaching preschoolers but you’re just not sure which type of program would be right for you? In this episode, I’ll help you weigh up your options and decide between group and private lessons for your preschoolers.

Do you wish you could teach during the daytime so that you could have a better work-life balance? Preschool music lessons could do that and much more. Find out about the benefits of teaching preschoolers in this episode.

Summer...ugh. It should be a wonderful time for music teachers to be able to take a break and chill out, but you can’t do that if you’re struggling to pay the bills. In this show, I’ll talk you through your options to solve the summer music studio income issue.

Do you get nervous for your recital welcome speech? This is many music teachers’ least favourite part of running a studio concert. Get step-by-step tips for planning out your speech in this episode and relieve your nerves!

Music history can be super fun and engaging if approached the right way and taught on a regular basis. And learning about music history can help your students connect to the music they’re playing in a new way. Get some ideas to make it easy to incorporate into your music lessons in this episode.

Do you need a simple and effective process for planning your group workshops? Take a listen to this episode to find out how I do it.

Group workshops can be a wonderful addition to your studio to help your students learn together, play theory games, improvise and socialise. Find out how to bring them into your studio in this episode.

Ensemble improvisation is one of my favourite activities to do at group workshops. In this episode, I’ll teach you how to do this with the 12 bar blues, no matter what instruments you have available!

Do your students get the opportunity to play duets often enough? Find out how to fit in more duet playing and teaching tips to set your students up for success with duets in this episode.

Are you apprehensive of getting started with improvisation in your piano teaching? In this episode, I’ll give you 3 super easy improvisation exercise to get you started and help you make your lessons more creative.

Improvisation can be so much more than just another thing to fit into your packed lessons. In this episode, I’ll share with you how I use improvisation as a tool to teach other concepts and allow students to experience new things before labelling them.

In this episode, I’ll share the activities I do at a first lesson with a new piano student including games and improvisation. Listen in to find out more!  

What type of lesson plans can you use as a music teacher? How did you get started with this stuff if you’ve never planned your lessons before? I’ll help you with all that and more in this show.  

How do you know what your music teaching curriculum should look like? That’s what I’ll help you decide in this week’s episode with some simple and actionable exercises.

What is a music teaching curriculum and why would you want one? I believe this is one of the most powerful things you can do in your studio and today I want to talk you through why it’s so important.

Learn 3 fantastic rhythm exercises that you can use with your students, taken from my brand new book, Rhythm in 5 . These rhythm games are all really fun and take just a few minutes of lesson time – so what are you waiting for?

Have you ever had a student who just cannot seem to get the rhythm right in any of their pieces? Join me for today’s podcast and I’ll talk you through some strategies to help these struggling students.

Confused by all the different rhythm systems out there? Ta, ti, du and 1 2 3 4? Let me talk you through them in this episode so you can get them straight and figure out what might be best for your students.

So you’re on board with using solfa in your private music teaching studio...but how? All of the resources seem to be designed for classroom teachers! In this episode, I’ll share 5 simple exercises to get you going with solfa with minimal nervousness or planning on your part.

Are you a bit confused by Kodály and solfa? Can’t tell movable do from fixed do or Curwen hand signs from Kodály rhythm syllables? Tune in to this episode for a simple run-down on solfa and how you might use elements of Kodály methods in your studio.

Teachers are so giving, and they can sometimes be guilty of not taking time for themselves. Get my tips for disconnecting and recharging in this episode.

Goal setting is an important part of studying a music instrument. I believe goals should be set not just by the teacher, but by the student and teacher collaboratively too. Take a listen to find out how.

In this fantastic interview with Graham Fitch (first recorded in February 2018) we talked about practice strategies, and managing practice expectations with adult students.

What’s your biggest frustration as a music teacher? That’s a question I ask all readers of the Colourful Keys blog  and in this episode I want to help you with the most common one.

What takes a recital from alright to totally WOW? It’s the little things. Get inspiration and ideas for how to make your next recital sparkle in this episode.