Our Team
rachel Cox
BMus, LMusAGM (Voice Teaching), LMusAGM (Piano Teaching), MMTA
Rachel Cox really loves teaching music. Like, really loves it. Rachel has been teaching music since 2014, and in that time has been committed to ongoing learning and professional development.
Rachel holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance & Pedagogy from the Australian Guild of Music, where they were the recipient of the Dean’s Medal. There, they were fortunate enough to study under the tutelage of Dr. Jean Callaghan, a leading expert in vocal pedagogy. Rachel also holds Licentiate Diplomas in voice teaching, focusing on musical theatre and contemporary voice, and piano teaching. The latter Rachel studied with Anthony Van Den Broek, an AMEB NSW examiner and one of the only Taubman Technique certified teachers in Australia.
Rachel is currently undertaking a Masters Degree in Music Education at the University of Sydney, investigating the potential uses of popular music in Kodály-inspired teaching. Rachel’s research into examination syllabuses in Australia has been published in the Australian Journal of Music Education.
Rachel is a fully accredited member of the Music Teacher’s Association of New South Wales (NSW MTA) and is the president of the Newcastle Chapter Committee. They are a full member of the Australian National Association of Teachers of Singing (ANATS), the Australian Society for Music Education (ASME), the Kodály Music Education Institute of Australia (KMEIA) and the Gordon Institute for Music Learning (GIML). Rachel has completed their Estill Voice Levels 1 & 2 Course with EMCI Stephanie Marko and is in the process of completing their Australian Kodály Certificate course in Primary 1 (Kindy-Year 2).
Rachel has extensive experience as a singer-songwriter and performer, performing at large and small events all around the country including Groovin’ The Moo Festival, Twilight at Taronga and even Parliament House. They have won several awards and competitions, including Triple J Unearthed’s NIDA Competition and the American Express Music Backers Grant, and have been nominated for many others including the Vanda & Young Songwriting Prize, The National Live Music Awards’ Live Pop Act of the Year, and the Australian Women In Music Awards’ Diversity Award. Rachel maintains an active presence as a highly sought-after DJ and vocalist.
In addition to private teaching, Rachel teaches K-2 classroom music, and has been an academic tutor in Musicianship, Music Technology and Pedagogy for undergraduate music students. In their spare time, Rachel enjoys knitting, sudoku, and strength sports.
Rachel’s philosophy
I recall hearing once that the role of the music teacher can be broken up into three tiers. Firstly, it is to teach the instrument. More importantly, it is to teach music generally. Most importantly, it is to teach the student in front of us. My philosophy of teaching draws inspiration from the Kodaly and Gordon approaches as well as the Estill and Taubman approaches to technique.
I believe that:
Music education should begin with age-appropriate musical experiences as early as possible
Singing is fundamental to any quality musical education
A sound-before-sight approach to teaching increases students’ chances of success in both developing sound technique and the ability to read fluently from notation
Children are inherently creative, and good teaching of children provides a variety of music making experiences for them to have fun and express this creativity
Alongside general musical education, the other primary focus of teaching should be to provide logical, sequential and developmentally appropriate technical development on the instrument.
All music has inherent value, and repertoire selection should be a collaborative process between teacher and student.
Each student is precious and unique, an my most important role is to ensure that they feel this.