Art of Teaching project sees music teachers gather to share best practices

The Musicians Union and MusicTeachers.co.uk have launched the Art of Teaching project.
Music teachers from across the UK are being encouraged to share their best teaching practices as part of a new project.
The Art of Teaching is a scheme run by the Musicians’ Union (MU) and MusicTeachers.co.uk and will provide a valuable resource for instrumental and vocal teachers to find new ways of teaching students.
It is an online resource, with videos uploaded and shared on YouTube. So far there are 46 videos on the channel. They cover everything from guitar skills to how to teach students styles on the piano like broken chords and phrasing.
Even advice on taking a recorder lesson with a group of primary children is included, as well as best practices with breathing exercises for singing students.
“We are thrilled to launch the first phase of this exciting initiative to promote inspirational teaching practice,” commented Crispin Woodhead, director of MusicTeachers.co.uk.
“Today we are opening our dedicated YouTube channel which hosts a wide range of films in which distinguished teachers can be seen working with their pupils and exploring a wide variety of musical ideas.”
The resource is also open for music students to watch for help outside their dedicated lesson time.
Each video is approximately five minutes long and they include clips by dance teacher Nina Atkinson, whose tips on posture and spine alignment can help instrumentalists be aware of how they stand or sit while playing, particularly for hours at a time.
Now in its tenth year, Musicteachers.co.uk recently announced its new partnership with the MU, which represents professional musicians of all genres in the UK.
Using online resources is becoming more popular among teachers. Musicteachers.co.uk itself has a number of guides for teaching students of all ages and school curriculums, but there has also been a notable rise in the number of music teachers taking their classes online via Skype to taking their teaching further afield.
What are your thoughts on the Art Of Teaching project and its potential benefits to students and teachers? How does the current state of music tuition and education look to you?