394: Meet TopMusicSheets Composer Matt Walker

The TopCast: The Official Music Teachers' Podcast

In today's episode, we dive into the creative world of Matt Walker, our TopMusicSheets composer for November 2024. Matt's diverse background as a writer, composer, pianist, and piano tutor brings a unique perspective to his compositions. Join me as we unpack Matt’s musical journey, from his early fascination with musical theater to his innovative teaching methods that inspire creativity in students. We'll explore several of Matt’s captivating pieces, discuss his pedagogical approaches, and learn invaluable advice for budding composers. If you're passionate about enriching your music teaching repertoire, this episode is a must-listen!

• Matt shared a brief overview his background and accomplishments, including teaching, writing novels, and composing.
• Discussion about Matt’s contributions to the November 2024 TopMusicSheets collection.
• Matt describes his composition process and the themes behind his pieces.
• He talks about his musical influences including musical theater and classical composers.
• The role of improvisation and pedagogy in his teaching approach.
• Importance of chord-based teaching and pattern recognition for students.
• Matt's advice for other teachers and composers.

Links Mentioned

• Learn more about TopMusicSheets here.
• Watch Tim playthrough Matt Walker's TopMusicSheets Collection here.
• Walker Productions Facebook Page
• Matt Walker's Amazon Author Page
• Matt Walker YouTube Page

Today’s Guest

Matt Walker is a writer, composer, pianist and piano tutor. He was the resident pianist at the Ramada Birmingham for five years, has musically directed many shows with Trinity Players, the Vesey Players and Aldridge Youth Theatre, and now teaches and accompanies at different schools. For ten years he accompanied for the award-winning Singing Community of Choirs, winning the Manchester Amateur Choral Competition 2015 and reaching the category finals (last 4) of BBC Choir of the Year 2012. Matt has also written seven novels and dozens of short stories (many of which are published in international magazines).

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