Our Creator Spotlight this month is on Georgina Wilson.  Georgina lives in a little countryside village in England and has been teaching piano for over 10 years. She creates fun and quirky music resources for teachers and students around the World, including games, worksheets and puzzles. These help students to learn, reinforce and test musical concepts in a way that doesn’t feel like hard work!Find out a more about Georgina’s musical background, resources and tips for creating successful teaching resources below. 

Georgina, thank you for being under the spotlight this month. Can you tell us a bit more about your background and how you became a music teacher?

My sister was actually the reason why I started teaching! I was at college and my sister was teaching piano privately from our home studio. She had two sisters back to back who had to wait during each other’s lessons. To help them pass the time, my sister would give them extra note reading practice to do, and one day I walked past and noticed that they looked a bit bored – 30 mins of note reading can really take it out of a 7 year old!I suggested to my sister that the following week I could turn the note reading into a game to play with them, and she was up for the idea. I found an old Ludo board, got some Lego figures, and made some note reading cards (drawing them by hand!) The two girls loved having a fun music games session, and my sister could see the boost in their note reading skills. This became a weekly thing, and other students caught on and asked if they could have additional music theory games sessions with me.As my sister’s teaching schedule became full, I braved teaching a beginner student and I LOVED it! The rest, as they say, is history! 

I’ve been using your Summer music games in lessons recently with my pupils and they have been great fun, engaging and educational. In your experience, what’s the secret to creating successful music teaching resources?

I have always loved playing games (we have a very large board game collection!) and even as a child I remember making board games to play with friends, so I try to bring my love and knowledge of what makes games fun into the resources I create! I place a big emphasis on making sure the resource is fun and enjoyable for the student – if they feel they’re playing an actual board game, or taking part in a really immersive and engaging activity, then they’re more likely to put their all into answering the musical questions, which then in turn sees them improving their musical knowledge and skills! 

Do you have any favourite teaching resources for lessons?

One of my go to resources is the Online Games With Little (Or No) Resources, which you can download for free. I find myself using a game out of that in most lessons! They’re great because they’re perfect for quick brain-break activities, and they don’t require any moving about or set-up.

The other favourite (that definitely requires moving and set-up!) is the Music Owlympics. I’ve never seen students so determined to answer note reading questions so they can be at the top of the leader board! 

Finally, what piece of advice would you give to other teachers who’d like to create their own resources?

Think like a child! Things that are too simplistic will get a groan and a, “That’s way too easy, it’s boring,” but things that are too complicated will get a, “No, don’t get it, I give up!”  Find the balance and you’re onto a winner! 

Click here to access Georgina Wilson’s resources.