Welcome to Yamaha Music UK's education community, Yamaha Education Friends
- connecting people who teach or contribute to music education, all around the UK and in the Republic of Ireland, at all levels and in all kinds of settings.

While we have areas for general discussion/sharing on general music education topics, we are developing specific focus areas, which include: jazz, improvisation in general, contemporary classical music, composing (and teaching it) and music technology.

Further info about Yamaha Education and Yamaha Education Friends is available from: Bill C Martin.

YES MAGAZINE OFFER: Whether you’re setting up a professional production suite, trying to record on location or just installing a small music technology corner in a classroom, the selection of the right technology, that can stand up to the severe wear and tear that a music department and its students will almost certainly give it, can be a confusing task.

To help overcome these headaches, you can now download the first seven free Educational System Guides from Yamaha from our resources page on this site. Simple descriptions with logical, suggested configurations, make your choice of set-ups for studio, classroom or stage a painless experience.

To access all the educational resources we've made available on this site you will need to join (it's free and we promise we won't spam you or pass your details to anyone else). Membership information can be found at the top of this page.

If you'd prefer to read them online you can now do so at Yamaha Education UK's online Yudu library.

Our major UK-wide 2009-2010 jazz education project kicked off in March and April 2009 with a series of 1-day workshops around the UK, for teachers who were new to improvising. The exciting second phase of the project is a UK competition for ensembles in the 11-18 age group, with a final event at Cheltenham Jazz Festival in May 2010.

Due to a late start to the term for some colleagues - because of the bad weather - we will accept competition entries up till 5pm on Friday 12 February. Some entries are already in and looking great! 9 finalists will perform at Cheltenham Jazz Festival on 1 May 2010. The three winning enselmbles each win £3,000 worth of Yamaha gear and a gig at either Ronnie Scott's, the 606 Club or the Bull's Head jazz club in Barnes!

So register now on this site and go to the Jazz Experience page for more info, impro practice advice and the details of the exciting competition.

You can now also follow Yamaha Education on Twitter!

Hosted by BBCR2's Richard Allinson, this free podcast will appeal to all budding rock musicians. It features all that's new at Yamaha, with reviews, interviews with world-class artists, hints and tips and our 'Band For A Grand' competition that showcases new band talent with £1k of equipment up for grabs!

Download it from iTunes or from www.yamahadownload.co.uk

• Record pupils' performance and progress 
• Record instrumental lessons to help with later practice 
• Track the development of group compositions 
• Capture audio samples for music technology projects 
• Record rehearsals 
• Pocket-sized audio notepad for recording your ideas, as they happen
• Gathering audio evidence for assessment

Pocketrak CX by Yamaha...

...How do you use yours?