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We think our Teacher Registry is great, even if we do say so ourselves. It’s easy to create a profile, and very straightforward to upload all the relevant information. Best of all, it’s a completely FREE way to advertise your teaching services to thousands of potential students across the UK.

As our Teacher Registry continues to grow, teachers face more competition to get their profile noticed. At RSL we thought it would be good to give you some handy tips to improve your profile, get noticed, and stand out to potential students in 2021!

1. Upload a good quality image that reflects your teaching business

Make sure you choose a good quality photo that reflects you and your teaching business when creating your profile. Your photo doesn’t have to be a shot of you teaching someone, or a photo from a crazy angle at a gig; a photo that clearly shows your face is suitable. Of course, you may wish to include a picture of you with your instrument – just ensure it’s good quality and clear!

2.Use testimonials

RSL doesn’t officially endorse or affiliate itself with anyone on the Teacher Registry, so it’s always good to have someone else’s opinions on your teaching publicly available for others to see. Testimonials can be only two or three sentences in length but they go a long way in giving your profile credibility to someone who is not familiar with you.

Make sure you choose a good quality photo that reflects you and your teaching business when creating your profile.

3. Only upload relevant socials…

Social media is a great tool for a musician. Visibility across several platforms can be really useful, but it can get difficult to keep them all up to date. So, when uploading your profile, only choose the ones you feel accurately reflect your teaching persona and busy schedule. Your Instagram may consist of music related posts, but if your personal Facebook profile is full of dog pics then feel free to omit it from your Teacher Registry profile to maintain professionalism!

4. …and don’t create socials just for the sake of it

Although there are social media profile fields on the sign-up form, they aren’t compulsory to sign up for the Teacher Registry. There’s no need to create accounts just to fill out the fields on our form. Your teaching business might be more suited to some platforms than others, so don’t worry if you’re not on Instagram or LinkedIn – just include the most pertinent social media accounts that you feel best represent you as a musician and teacher.

5. Choose appropriate rates

Musicians are highly trained specialists, so don’t sell yourself short when choosing how much you charge. Unlike other teacher registries and tutoring websites, we don’t charge a commission on how much you earn – you get to keep ALL of your hard-earned cash without a middle man interfering. Therefore, adjust your rates to whatever suits you and your workload. However, do bear in mind that if your fees are too steep you may deter potential students. Check out ISM’s advice here.

6. Include an accurate website link

As a musician, you can really benefit from having your own website. Your own personal space on the web is perfect for posting performance clips, gig dates, and appropriate contact details. In order to optimise access to your website for students, ensure that your website address is preceded by HTTPS when signing up to our Teacher Registry. Doing this makes your site secure to access and means that we can fast-track the moderation process to get you up and running in no time!

7. Use a full link to your Twitter profile

Another common mistake is that teachers who apply to us include their Twitter handle in their Twitter section. Unfortunately our website isn’t able to link directly to Twitter handles yet, so do be sure to include a full URL link to your profile to ensure there aren’t any hitches in the moderation process.

8. Use the Additional Information section

Filling out the additional info section is not compulsory when signing up, but doing so accurately and succinctly will set you apart from other teachers and give your profile a polished look. Keep it brief, but personal. Use this box as a chance to let potential students know which instruments, grades and areas of music you specialise in, as well as what your teaching methods are likely to involve.

9. Include which instruments you teach

Potential students can filter by instrument when looking through teachers, so in order to appear to as many students as possible, be sure to include the instruments you are comfortable teaching. Remember, you can also include Music Theory and Music Production as topics for you to teach, so there are plenty of avenues for you to pursue.

10. Take pride in your profile

RSL’s Teacher Registry is a great resource that puts you, quite literally, on the map. This list should help you make the most of advertising your services and put you in a great position to secure new students and spread your love of music. We can only take you so far – now it’s up to you to sign up and submit an awesome profile that shows you at your best!

CREATE YOUR TEACHER REGISTRY PROFILE TODAY!

Goal-focused learning is a fantastic way to motivate yourself. It’s always easier to remain positive when you’re hitting some regular targets and staying on top of your practice regime. We’re here to help you set your very best music practice goals before your graded music exam this winter.

Identify the parts of the exam that need the most attention!

It’s all too easy to play the parts you’re good at, right? We get a huge level of satisfaction when we play something through that we are proud of, and so it feels all too tempting to start every practice session with that. If this is how you (rock and) roll, then you need to set this target for your practice. Sadly, in the exam you can’t just play your favourite parts, and you’re going to need to get it all right. Set yourself a goals before you start practising: to nail that one section you’re afraid of, or smash the scale that’s been giving you nightmares. You’ll thank yourself later – we promise!

Create a practice schedule that works for you!

With all the good intentions in the world, we know how easy it is to get distracted, and how life has a habit of whisking you away! We also know that when an exam deadline is looming, it can be easy to cancel all your plans just so you can practice, practice, practice. However, you can avoid both of these scenarios by simply creating a good practice schedule. That way, you can make sure you get enough hours in, whilst still leaving you time to enjoy doing other things. Balance, people!

If you’re not sure where to start with a practice schedule, download our Six Step to Exam Success PDF today!

Regularly interact with your online resources!

This could not be more important now, especially with the world we are currently living in. Online resources are a great way to shake up your learning to keep it fresh and prevent it from becoming repetitive. Why not start using the RSL Replay program today?!

Listen to music from a similar era and style!

This one might seem less pressing when you’re preparing for an exam, but don’t forget the importance of context. To become a well-rounded musician, it is critical to understand the landscape in which your pieces were composed, played and performed, and figure out how they fit in to the wider context of the genre. Perhaps a music practice goal you could set here is to listen to one related song at the end of each session!

Complete a successful practice exam at home!

What is a list of music practice goals if you do not include a full run-through – the final showdown, if you will. It’s time for that complete performance of your exam pieces before your exam comes steaming around the corner. We like the idea of performing this in front of friends or family if you can. It’s a great way to get that performance adrenaline back, and to become familiar with a scenario where, if you make a mistake, you cannot start again! Keep going!

Here are some tips on exam preparation from a few of our senior examiners…

Reward yourself!

Yes, you’re allowed to include rewards on your goals list. What would all the hard work be for if you can’t have a little celebration afterwards?! A word of advice from us though, make sure you schedule the celebrations for AFTER your exam (and certainly not the night before it!).

The next UK & Ireland exam period is fast approaching, and the deadline of 14th March is only a few weeks away. This leaves you with just enough time to implement these goal practices into your schedule, to ensure the result that you’ve been hoping for!

Enter for your spring exam now, before time runs out!

ENTER NOW!

Introducing the newest RSL Honorary Fellow: Muyiwa Olarewaju OBE.

We are beyond excited to announce the awarding of an RSL Fellowship to the incredible and inspiring Muyiwa Olarewaju OBE – that’s right – O! B! E!

And if you are aware of Muyiwa’s fantastic career already (if you’re not, you soon will be!), then it will come as no surprise as to why we are so excited to be able to do this.

Gospel King!

Muyiwa is HUGE in the world of gospel music. An experienced performer, broadcaster and presenter, he is station director of the biggest gospel radio station in the UK, Premier Gospel, which gathers an impressive 180,000 listeners per month! For five years Muyiwa has also featured as a celebrity judge on BBC’s Songs of Praise Gospel Choir of the Year Competition.

Another string to Muyiwa’s extensive bow is his involvement as leader of Riversongz, a group whom as a collective have toured with Stevie Wonder, and worked with other fantastic artists such as Amy Winehouse, Pixie Lott and Emeli Sandé. The group have released five hugely successful albums, one of which held the top spot on the HMV Jazz & Blues chart for five months! In 2009 Riversongz made history by becoming the first international artists to appear on the American BET channel at the annual “Celebration of Gospel”, and in 2010 they became the first gospel group to sell out the Indigo O2 venue in London.

With all of this (and way more!) on his CV, Muyiwa is truly an exceptional example of how music education can lead towards an outstanding career.

Interview Honesty

Chairman of RSL, Norton York, presented this award to Muyiwa at Premier Gospel Radio (in a very socially distanced manner, of course!), and we had the pleasure of sitting down to chat for a while. We talked about the gift of access, finding your true voice and enjoying the moment. Oh, and of course about being the first gospel artist to be awarded an OBE!

There is so much more to learn about Muyiwa, so we’d encourage you to head to his website to see all of the wonderful things he is getting up to here.

We’re so honoured to have him as an RSL Fellow, and can’t wait to follow along with the incredible years that we know are ahead of him.

Check out the incredible line up of musicians and educators that Muyiwa will be joining here!

Florence Price was the first African-American woman to be recognised as a symphonic composer and have her composition played by a major orchestra. This was certainly an important moment in western classical music, and one that we should all be aware of – read on to learn more about her career, her forgotten manuscripts, and where you can find her on our Classical Piano syllabus!

Pushing On

Despite the horrendous racial problems that permeated society when she was born in 1887 Arkansas, Florence’s mixed-race family were building a successful life within their community. Her father was a dentist, the only black dentist in the entire city, and her mother was a music teacher. Clearly Price inherited the talents of her mother, as by the time she was 11 years old she had published her first composition!

And her early success did not stop there. Florence managed to bag her spot in the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, majoring in both piano and organ. However, as a black woman, entry to the conservatory was not a simple task. Florence initially passed as Mexican, stating her hometown as Pueblo, to avoid receiving racial discrimination at the college.

Symphony Success!

It was in the 1920s when Florence moved to Chicago and began a newly fulfilling period in her composition career. She moved in with friend and fellow pianist and composer, Margaret Bonds, and the two friends took the classical music world by storm – they received national recognition for their performances and compositions! Price won the first prize for her “Symphony in E Minor” for the Wanamaker Foundation Awards. It was after this enormous success that the Chicago Symphony Orchestra premiered the symphony in 1933, making our girl Florence Price the first African-American woman to have a composition played by a major orchestra. A truly fantastic achievement.

Lost and Found

Incredibly, a huge collection of her manuscripts were discovered in an old abandoned home in St Anne, Illinois, in 2009. We’re talking dozens of never-seen-(or heard)-before scores that would otherwise have been lost forever, including her two stunning violin concertos and the entire fourth symphony: extraordinary. Of course, they had already been missing since her death in 1953, and sadly we know that some of her works were never recovered.

It seems that this derelict house can serve as an important reminder of how a country can forget its cultural history, but a certain Dr. Karen Walwyn is determined to not let Florence Price and her creations be forgotten. A pianist, composer and Steinway Artist herself, Karen has continued the necessary work in collecting and recording the lost and found music, and was even invited by the Center of Black Music Research in Chicago to perform and record the premiere of Price’s Concerto for Piano in One Movement. The world certainly needs people like Karen Walwyn. Check out her website where you can follow along with her journey here!

And the best part? You can find Florence in our new Classical Piano syllabus, in Grade 4 with “Ticklin’ Toes”, and Grade 6 with “Silk Hat and Walking Cane”. These pieces will give you a superb marriage of traditions, steeped in her particularly European training but with the flavour of the African idiom throughout. Think blues inspired melodies with Romantic techniques, and you’ll be some of the way there!

If you’re loving the Classical in Conversation series, then we’d love to hear about it! Who has been your fave so far? We’ve had Germaine Tailleferre, Claude Debussy, Alexis Ffrench and Béla Bartok!

No classical piano syllabus would be complete without an appearance from this influential Frenchman.

Yes, Claude Debussy is undoubtedly a key classical figure of the late 18th and early 19th century. Ever inspired by the poets and painters around him, his orchestral works and piano pieces are born from the colours and textures of Monet’s lillies, Hokusai’s “Great Wave” and the evoking words and phrases of Paul Verlaine and Charles Baudelaire.

Sweet Suite Bergamasque

Undoubtedly one of Debussy’s most well-known and iconic compositions for piano is “Clair de Lune”. If you’ve never heard it before, WHERE have you been? You probably haven’t been back to 1905 for the publication of the Suite Bergamasque, of which Clair de Lune is the third movement (he began composing the suite 15 years earlier, in 1890!).

“Clair de Lune”, French for “Moonlight”, is another piece in which Debussy leans in to his characteristic sound – a dreamlike, whimsical exploration of light, colour and sound. With inspiration drawn again from poetry, this time Paul Verlaine’s “Clair de Lune”, Debussy took his somewhat scandalous approach to harmony (remember, this was the early 1900s!) and created this meditative, calm and ethereal composition.

The piece is in D flat major but, in true Debussy style, is extremely tonally ambiguous, and never lets the listener relax into this key at all. The beginning section gives us harp-like flourishes, the middle section demands a little more of the player in terms of speed and technicality, and the third section brings us back to the initial theme, but this time in a more mysterious light. The listener does get the satisfaction of a perfect cadence right at the end (that V-I that we all know and love!), which feels like a relief to say the least.

We have the pleasure of bringing this usually more challenging piece into the realm of the Debut grade. “Clair de Lune” is a true classic for piano, and to have the opportunity to grasp this in the earlier days of learning is nothing short of wonderful!

Harmony in Motion

We couldn’t go into those upper grades without some truly demanding Debussy amongst the ranks, and so, we’ve brought the “Arabesque No.1 in E” to our Grade 8 syllabus. Another perfect example of Debussy ripping up the harmonic rule book, this piece feels atmospheric and magical. He frequently makes use of the whole-tone and pentatonic scales throughout all of his works, and this is no exception. The scales embedded within the melodies lend themselves to a light and airy feel, simply because there’s a lot of space between the notes.

It must be said that the technical difficulty in “Arabesque No.1 in E” lies not in the harmonic function, but the rhythmic complexities. Debussy uses lots of two against three polyrhythms which can be tricky to get your head around, but the end result is filled with buoyancy, with the melody sounding as though it’s floating on waves of sound.

We really hope this has inspired you to pick up some Debussy and give it a go. There is arguably nothing more rewarding than completing one of his beautiful musical “sketches” or “poems”, and basking in the glorious artistry of it all.

A Scottish success story who rose to prominence on Chipmunk’s “Diamond Rings”, and whose biggest influence is Nina Simone, Emeli Sandé’s soulful and spine-tingling songs are unmistakeable.

She’s written songs for some huge artists: Alesha Dixon, Professor Green, Devlin, Cheryl Cole and Tinie Tempah to name but a few. And this was in the early days of her career! Adele Emily Sandé had studied to become a neuroscientist, but the pull of music was too great (we’re pretty glad the music industry got her instead!).

Olympic-Excellence

Sandé’s success peaked at an incredible moment when the country was in true Olympic fever. Yes, 2012 was the year that Emeli landed herself one of the best possible gigs out there – the Olympic opening and closing ceremonies. The opening ceremony, which was later praised as a masterpiece, saw her perform Christian hymn “Abide With Me” alongside an almost haunting performance on the theme of mortality, choreographed by Akram Khan. Sandé manages to hold her nerves despite a whole 900 million people watching worldwide. We’d certainly prefer 1 examiner…

The closing ceremony was successful in equal measure! Emeli performed in the “Rush Hour” segment of the evening, the first live part of the ceremony. She appears on top of a truck to sing one verse of her hit “Read All About It (Part III)”, which has since become her highest streamed track with over 215 million streams on Spotify alone. The truck drives her away and the rest of the 3-hour performance continues. A truly spectacular achievement for Emeli whom at the time was still a relatively new breakthrough act.

Her first album, Our Version Of Events, was toured from 2011 to 2013, surrounding her Olympic performances, and was a huge success. She supported the enormous Coldplay on their Mylo Xyloto tour and went on to play many shows across America and Europe. Our Version Of Events was a huge success, selling 5.4 million copies. Towards the end of her tour she played alongside some other huge artists like Ed Sheeran, Rudimental, Jessie J and Soul II Soul for a concert in tribute to Stephen Lawrence, the young black British boy who was killed in a racial attack in 1993.

Charity

Emeli has never shied away from working with organisations to help raise awareness on issues she is passionate about. In 2013 she was part of the AIDS Foundation concert hosted by Elton John. Sandé’s mother is Scottish but her father’s home origin is Zambia, so she is extremely passionate and understands the seriousness of the HIV/AIDS crisis. Emeli also launched the “Community Clavinova’, which is a nationwide opportunity for organizations to receive free clavinovas who may not otherwise be able to, in partnership with Yamaha UK.

Keys Cover Girl

If you’ve picked up a copy of our Keys Debut book, you will know that Emeli is the cover star, and her song “Next to Me” is featured inside. Also from the album Our Version Of Events, the song was a huge hit, peaking at number 2 on the UK Singles chart! It also became her first song to make it into the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, reaching number 25 there. Not bad for a debut album!

To top it all off, in 2017 Sandé was awarded the Brit Award for Best British Female Solo Artist, and an MBE. Yes, an MBE for her services to music. You might say that she’s had a pretty successful few years!

If you happened to miss it (we forgive you), you can have a listen to the album that shot Sandé to success. Enjoy!

We’ll see you again next Tuesday for another Artists in Focus! In the meantime, catch up with some of our previous blog posts: Snarky Puppy, James Brown, and Kaki King.

Singer, songwriter, band leader, dancer, musician, producer… there really isn’t much that James Brown can’t do.

With a career that spanned over 50 years, from the mashed potato to social commentary and activism, Brown is nothing short of a legend.

I Got You (I Feel Good)

If you haven’t heard this song before, where have you been?!

Perhaps one of Brown’s most well-known tracks, this song was also the highest charting of his career too. It was originally recorded for the Out Of Sight album, but was eventually released on his live album, Live At The Apollo. Believe it or not, James was actually advised not to release Live At The Apollo because “live albums are bad sellers” … Needless to say, it became an immediate hit on its release. Have a listen below!

“I Got You (I Feel Good)” was the track that we chose to include in our Bass grade 4 syllabus, and the reasons for this should come as no surprise. The relentless bass riff that runs throughout the song acts as both a harmonic and rhythmic driver of the 12-bar blues. Throw in some funky drum patterns, syncopated rhythmic unisons and an outstanding Maceo Parker sax solo, and you’ve got yourself a masterpiece. Of course, no James Brown song would be complete without his characteristic screams and shouts too, of which there are plenty.

Brown the Performing Perfectionist

Despite his fun-loving demeanour on stage, James was known to pile on the pressure behind the scenes. He had high expectations for his band members and required extreme amounts of discipline from them. James would give out fines or even fire band members who did not adhere to his strict commands!

Brown’s explosive and lively performances were highly acclaimed, and thus his shows needed a big band to match his even bigger stage presence. His final show had an incredible 3 guitarists, 2 bassists, 2 drummers, 3 horn players and a percussionist all onstage! Of course, all his signature dance moves were on display too: leaps, splits, slides, and even the mashed potato (yes, the dance kind, not the vegetable kind!). To be in the crowd for a James Brown show was to be in for a dramatic ride!

Activism

For a long time, Brown was nervous to speak on civil rights issues in his music, for fear of losing some of his audience. However, after some pressure from other black activists to use his platform to say more on these issues, Brown really began to immerse himself in social activism too. His song “Say It Loud – I’m Black And Proud” became an anthem for the civil rights movement.

After growing up in extreme poverty himself, Brown was hugely passionate about keeping young people in school. He released a song called “Don’t Be A Drop Out”, and donated all royalties to a drop-out prevention charity. He also wrote “Killing Is Out, Schooling Is In”, the title of which speaks for itself. In 1971, James began touring Africa, and in Lagos, Nigeria, he was made “freeman of the city” for his “influence on black people all over the world”.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of James Brown’s career in this blog as his successes are hard to quantify in so few words. However, being number 7 in the Rolling Stone “100 Greatest Artists of All-Time” list goes some of the way to demonstrating this. Up there with The Beatles, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley, Brown belongs among some of the greatest musicians that the world has ever seen.

Thanks for joining us for another week of Artists in Focus. We love putting the spotlight on one of our favourite musicians each week, and we hope you do too! If you haven’t checked out last week’s addition, you can view that here.

As a self-employed person, record keeping is an essential part of our yearly routine to make sure our business runs by the book in the eye of the taxman! To follow up our article about Claiming Expenses for Music Teachers, we are going to discuss the importance of record keeping.

This article has been written for Rockschool on behalf of MGR Music by Leigh Fuge

When you submit your tax return at the end of the financial year, you should have a collection of records to back up the claims you are putting forward. The records you keep will help determine a number of things such as your tax amount owed, the expenses that are deducted from your tax bill and your overall business profit and loss.

Records for Income

When you earn money, it is helpful to keep a record of this. Many music teachers use invoices with students as a proof of booking. This isn’t essential to your record keeping, but it is useful should you ever need to prove your income.

When tracking income for the business, an Excel spreadsheet is a good tool to utilise. You can create income records for each student for each month of the year. This allows you to filter by student name, by date, by month and more.

Having this master record of every pound that enters your business over the year is the starting point for working out everything else.

Records for Outgoings

Your business outgoings are your expenses. This is the money that you spend in order for your business to run. Knowing exactly what your income and outgoings are over the financial year allows HMRC to provide you with an accurate tax estimate.

Outgoing records are very important. If you are spending money that you plan to claim as a business expense you must have proof to back this up.

Proof of expenditure would be things like receipts or email invoices for products and services that you might have acquired for your business. For your home office expenses, you would need to be able to provide proof of your utility bills and rental costs.

Outgoing records are very important. If you are spending money that you plan to claim as a business expense you must have proof to back this up.

Don’t forget to keep a mileage log for claiming travel expense! Our guide to claiming expenses outlines the sort of things that you can claim for against your tax bill.

If you use a digital accountancy tool such as Quickbooks, you have the facility to scan in receipts and invoices so that you can keep digital copies rather than filing away loads of paper copies. This can save a lot of time when it comes to submit your accounts so that you aren’t rummaging around through a box of a thousand pieces of paper!

About the Author:

This article has been written for Rockschool on behalf of MGR Music by Leigh Fuge, a professional guitarist, tutor and journalist from Wales in the UK. He has been working in the music industry for over 10 years as a touring and studio musician with various artists, guitar tutor and writer for many high profile guitar publications. Read more of Leigh’s pieces relating to Rockschool here…

Practising can often feel like a chore, especially when a concert or exam is looming. It is important to use a practice diary and vary your routine to stay positive and motivated. Give yourself regular goals, and suddenly it’s not that boring after all!

Keep us posted on how your exam preparation is going by tweeting us @RSLAwards using the hashtag #practisewithpurpose.

Practise with Purpose

Practising regularly is key to any musician’s development, regardless of where they are on their musical journey. An absolute beginner and an experienced professional will practise in very different ways, but both will need a routine that helps them to maximise their potential by attaining new skills, and then maintaining and building on them.

DOWNLOAD YOUR PRACTISE WITH PURPOSE DIARY NOW

If this is something you think your practice sessions could profit from, then try out RSL’s practice diary to help you practise with purpose, set realistic and achievable goals, and stay motivated! Practice is not about reaching perfection – it is about being better than you were yesterday.

How Can RSL’s Practice Diary Help?

This practice diary helps you keep track of your daily practice and monitor your own progress. Master a technique, nail a performance piece, and prepare for your next Rockschool exam.

On each page you’ll find space to make notes on your weekly practice routine to ensure that your sessions are as productive as possible, and that you are well prepared for the different sections of the Rockschool exams. Throughout the diary there are tips from some of the teachers on our RSL Teacher Registry – use these to inspire and motivate you along the way. You can find hundreds of Rockschool teachers on our Teacher Registry HERE.

Stay in Tune

We have included some blank sheet music as well as individual boxes for warm ups, supporting tests, and performance pieces that will allow you to identify your strengths and weaknesses, ultimately leading to more efficient and rewarding practice.

Happy practising!

DOWNLOAD YOUR PRACTISE WITH PURPOSE DIARY NOW

PLEASE NOTE: THE PERIOD B ENTRY DEADLINE (UK & IRE) IS SET FOR 3RD APRIL 2020! THINK YOU’RE READY?

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