23/10/2025
'My Favourite Things' - we rapped their favourite foods, wrote out the rhythm and then 'gobbled them up' one by one so eventually they only say 'and' and 'yum'.
This powerful little activity develops sense of pulse, connects sound to sight by notating their rhythms and highlights how effortless rhythms can feel when we use lyrics.
Plus they loved seeing everyone else's favourites!
13/07/2025
All set ready for our summer concerts today!
With 1 cool cat to close the show! 😎
A fab end to our year!
Thank you so much to all our wonderful performers and their lovely families 🤩🥳🎶🎹
04/07/2024
My 20th year of teaching piano is drawing to a close!🎉🎉 Some beginnings and endings:
This week - inaugural concert of our new Pianorama ensemble at Manchester High School for Girls - 9 young pianists 😁 They smashed it!
Today - final lesson with my 18 year old Alice, who I've taught since she was about 6 😭
Next week - final lessons with all my Yr 6s at West Didsbury CE Primary School West Didsbury CE Primary School - a very special year group to me, as we've grown up alongside them as as a family 😍
Sunday 14th July our end of year concerts at Christ Church, West Didsbury - the 22nd concert 🎶🎶🎶
A fab new Roland digital piano to complement the beautiful Schimmel acoustic I bought when I moved to Manchester 20 years ago. Thanks Jonathan at www.ucanplay.org.uk for fantastic service.
Looking forward to welcoming 12 new students in September! 🎹🎹
16/07/2023
2 end of year recitals done! Here's the before shot, me ready to welcome our 31 fabulous pianists and families today! 🎹🎵
Thank you to Rev Anne at Christ Church, West Didsbury for everything again, you are so welcoming every time!😊
We have also raised over £100 for Emmie’s kitchen to support their kindness to families with children staying at RMCH, by bringing Friday night takeaways🙏
19/05/2023
A simple velcro strip to display our boomwhackers and brighten up the music room at school.
Today we tapped out pentascales patterns and rhythms. Beginners see straight away how the tubes get shorter as the pitch goes up.
Also a good way for pupils to remember to fetch the next pupil- send them to pass on a boomwhacker and they don't forget about it the second they leave my room!
21/03/2023
Technique teaching tool - colour changing lights! Can you make Beethoven glow green with envy? Or will he be red with rage?
Then we switch roles - student operates the remote control and we see if they can spot when my hand shape goes wrong! Cue lots of giggles.
In today's technique focus with a year 5 pupil we focused on hand shape : keeping a level and loose wrist, well supported bridge of hand and natural curved fingers all whilst playing a bit further up the keys for when the thumb is on black keys.
Taking the yawns out of technique work with mood lighting!
16/03/2023
I'm definitely not the composer in the family, but I surprised 2 students today with a piece I wrote for them today. ❤️❤️ The look on their face to see their dedication.
They were more impressed it was typeset than anything - "wow, how do you get the notes to go on the page?" 🤣
04/07/2024
20/05/2024
16/07/2023
23/05/2023
19/05/2023
21/03/2023
16/03/2023