Working in partnership: November 2023 Editorial

This is a busy time for music education, with curriculum conferences, the reintroduction of the teacher training bursary, a political party making policy commitments, and the publication of Ofsted's music subject report.

The Music for Youth Proms is also this month (14–15 Nov, featuring over a hundred schools), and this year it carries the theme of a ‘Thank you note’ to music teachers up and down the land, supported by a #ThankYourMusicTeacher campaign. I hope many will grasp the opportunity and some party-poppers. You deserve it.

The focus of this month's MT is piano and keyboard, with thought-provoking articles on pedagogy, collaboration, playing by ear, and overcoming barriers. I'm grateful to Nicholas McCarthy for taking time away from the concert platform to discuss his experience of music education and his extraordinary career as a one-handed pianist (p. 62). I'm equally pleased to welcome Penelope Roskell, author of The Complete Pianist, and to have her view on teaching pianists with small hands (p. 60) – a challenge most teachers will recognise.

Articles by other esteemed keyboard pedagogues – Murray McLauchlan, Charlotte Way and Tim Topham – investigate team work, whether notation holds students back, and an integrated approach that promotes curiosity and ownership.

Team work (or partnerships) is, in fact, a theme running throughout the issue. One of our regular contributors trades views with Hannah Fouracre of Arts Council England on music hubs and how funding for musical instruments is managed (p. 6), and Music Mark provides a recap of where we're up to with the NPME (p. 43). For that Ofsted report, MT brings you HMI Christopher Stevens (p. 13), so that we can hear, first hand, what it all means for schools. We also have an inspirational story of a partnership between a leading orchestra and a north London comprehensive (p. 37).

Also topically, Gary Spruce provides an authoritative assessment of music teacher training and recruitment (p. 32), providing context for DfE's recent announcement, and in terms of balancing the workload (and books), Lauren Elliott advises on how to keep a private teaching business ticking over (p. 31). Tech expert Tim Hallas, meanwhile, shares his experience of turning AI to our advantage in the classroom (p. 51), from using it as a teaching resource to producing seating plans or even emails to parents.

If you get the chance, say ‘hi’ to our new assistant editor on the magazine, Michael Pearce, who's had his feet under the desk while working on the programme for next year's MDEE. Michael is a seasoned wind player and teacher as well as editor, and can spot (I'm finding) a dangling modifier from 300 yards. Amrit Virdi, a graduate trainee, also joins us, and has been tweeting, posting news and recounting her days as a flautist and harmonium player. The office is buzzing.

- Phil Croydon, editor