Individual teaching can be an important part of an organist’s work, and this Working Webinar outlines strategies for building and sustaining a teaching practice.

Ewan Murray is in his final year of organ studies at The Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, and recently organised and ran an organ outreach event for local schoolchildren, who enthusiastically engaged in organ-building, organ-playing, composing and singing over two days in St Peter’s Collegiate Church in Wolverhampton.

Drew Cantrill-Fenwick found enthusiastic students and much to admire on a recent organ playing and teaching trip to Hong Kong.

The majority of musicians will do some teaching at some point, and all teaching has safeguarding implications. This webinar, developed with our partners in the Musicians’ Union, covers the essential understanding of issues around safeguarding required by anyone working with children and vulnerable adults, whether in person or online.

In the summer of 2022, James Lloyd Thomas set off for Nigeria.  He was following in the footsteps of other RCO tutors over the years, to spend a week with the organists and choristers in the Lagos cathedrals and churches, coaching them in the English cathedral traditions of organ-playing and singing.

RCO Accredited Teacher, Anne Marsden Thomas, has curated a major new series of films for everyone involved in organ teaching. A summary of the series with links to all the films can be found here.

Drew Cantrill Fenwick presents a film discussing the variety of skills needed to get the best out of singers in a choir, from warm-up exercises, help with note learning and interval recognition, and conducting techniques. 

William Saunders explains how to set up and run a workshop to introduce the organ to new players, with hints on planning, organisation, publicity, funding, and finding an audience for organ outreach events.

In this film, number 12 in the Teach the Organ Series, Anne Marsden Thomas offers a method for teaching sight-reading especially to beginner and elementary students.