About us
Ostinato is made in the UK by Caitlin, a strings teacher, and Alex, a developer and musician. It started with a gap Caitlin saw in teaching, between how a pupil played in a lesson and how practice was really going at home, which a practice diary scribbled at the end of the lesson never quite closed. Alex built Ostinato with Caitlin to keep on top of pupils’ progress, and together they’ve shaped it into a simple practice tool for teachers, pupils and the adults who help them at home.
Caitlin
Strings teacher
Caitlin teaches strings in schools in Cheshire and co-leads a junior string ensemble. She has a music degree from the University of Manchester and Trinity’s Certificate for Music Educators, and taught for her local music hub before going self-employed. Ostinato was her idea, and it’s shaped in her own lessons.
Alex
Developer and musician
Alex builds and looks after Ostinato, keeping it simple to use and careful with children’s data. Alex is a bassist, clarinetist and qualified teacher who plays in rock bands, ceilidh bands, pit bands and everything in between.
Caitlin’s story
In her own words.
Growing up with music
I have been passionate about music from a very early age. I was lucky to grow up in a very musical family and spent much of my childhood making music. It was as a teenager, playing in Cheshire Youth Orchestra, that I met Alex.
I graduated from the University of Manchester with an honours degree in Music, focusing on participatory music and music in education. I loved living in Manchester and made the most of the countless orchestras and performance opportunities the city had to offer.
Teaching
After graduating I moved back to Cheshire and started working full time for my local music hub. I taught a mixture of one-to-one lessons, group lessons and First Access (Wider Opportunities). I absolutely loved working with young people and inspiring them to start their own musical journey. I was working flat out, and although I loved it, I was exhausted!
Alongside my work, I completed Trinity’s Certificate for Music Educators (CME). This gave me an even broader knowledge of music education: what helps students learn, and what can get in the way.
In 2023 Alex and I got married, and in 2024 we welcomed our son. Having a year off work was a complete game changer for me. I missed my students, but I didn’t miss driving for hours a day between schools, some of them well over an hour from home.
In 2025, on my first day back at the music service, I was hit by a curve ball: all music staff were made redundant. At the time it was horrendous, but looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened to me. I set up as self-employed, my schools were keen to keep working with me, and I’m now as happy as I have ever been. I spend more time in fewer schools, all of which I have a great relationship with, and I love co-leading my own junior string ensemble.
Why Ostinato
Throughout all my work, one thing has stayed the same. Consistent, structured practice is very hard to achieve, and parents often feel excluded from lessons and unable to help at home because they aren’t “musicians”. That is where the idea for Ostinato was born. I wanted something that gave students a structured approach to practising, with clear guidance for both them and their adults at home.
I also found I wasted so much time at the end of lessons scribbling notes in a practice diary (sometimes several copies of the same thing for a group lesson) that I couldn’t even be sure would be read at home. With Ostinato I can send guidance, and even a recording of myself playing for students to play along with or to help with tricky rhythms. I can choose how many practice sessions I want my students to do each week and see how many they actually complete.
I have loved working alongside my husband Alex on designing the app. I believe it really does close the gap between the pupil, their adults at home and me as their teacher, so that good, well-structured practice can happen at home.
What we care about
- Made with teachers. Built and tested in real lessons, by real music teachers.
- An extra tool, not an extra task. Nothing to answer between lessons unless you want to.
- Careful with children’s data. Stored in the UK, private by default, no ads or tracking.
- Simple on purpose. The practice side of teaching, done well, and nothing else to learn.
Teach music in the UK? We’d love to hear from you.
Or email hello@ostinatoapp.co.uk. Read how we look after data.