Learning Materials
Making complex topics clear and accessible.
I develop learning materials that structure knowledge, reveal connections, and support independent learning.
My current focus is on materials for music. In the past, I developed technical learning materials. Although these subjects may seem very different at first glance, the underlying task is the same: presenting content in a way that is clear, well structured, and easy to learn.
My professional background is in IT. I later studied psychology and education. These different perspectives continue to shape my work: analytical thinking, didactic structure, and an interest in how people take in, understand, and retain information.
My work includes learning texts, exercises, reference materials, and visually structured learning resources.
Good learning materials do more than convey information. They provide orientation and help learners discover connections for themselves.
Qualifications & Experience
Trained
IT specialist
Master's
Educational Science & Psychology
Experience
Technical writer, teaching online and offline, IT project management
Music
Over five decades of musical practice
My Projects
I am currently developing learning and practice materials for different areas of music. The focus is on listening, independently exploring musical structures, and creating materials that encourage active music-making.
Traditional Irish Music
Several specialised projects have grown out of my work with Traditional Irish Music. DotFreeTrad.com is aimed particularly at adult learners and offers visual tune maps, materials for learning by ear, practice strategies, and other resources for building a repertoire.
The range is complemented by projects such as JustBodhran.com, which provides rhythmic practice and backing tracks, and DADGADTabs.com, featuring arrangements of traditional tunes for the distinctive DADGAD guitar tuning.
What these projects have in common is a practical approach: music is not only meant to be read or explained, but heard, understood, and played.
Functional Ear Training
FunctionalEarTraining.com focuses on functional ear training. Rather than recognising individual intervals in isolation, the emphasis is on hearing notes in relation to their tonal context.
The project includes exercises and learning materials designed to help learners increasingly hear and identify musical functions directly and apply them to their own music-making
Improvisation
This project is currently in development. I am planning a collection of backing tracks for improvisation that deliberately takes a different approach from conventional rock, pop, or jazz play-alongs.
The focus will be on spacious, reduced soundscapes: drones, sustained textures, gentle harmonic movement, and meditative accompaniments. They are intended to create room for exploring sound, listening closely to individual notes, and discovering improvisation without time pressure or the need to perform.
Consort Minus One
Consort Minus One is also currently in development. The project will feature minus-one recordings of Early Music for ensembles of four to eight recorders.
One part can be played live while the remaining parts are provided as a recording. This makes it possible to practise polyphonic music alone while still experiencing the individual part within the full ensemble texture.
