Huntingdonshire Music School Association - Cambridgeshire

If you’re thinking about either enrolling one of the family or yourself at the Music College it’s probably best to come and see what we do first.

The Music College does run specific open days but but any Saturday morning during college term time (09:00 to 13:00) provides an opportunity to wander in and see what’s going on. Ask at the reception by the entrance for the Director, Gary Sieling [ the effervescent one with professional music qualifications after his name and a cycling proficiency to boot], or if you you know what instrument or band interests you someone can guide you.

Types of Enrolment

There are 2 basic types of enrolment, which depend on where you have tuition:-

• full - this is where you have tuition at the Music College and take part in the full music package (tuition + theory + group work (when OK))
• associate - this is suitable if you already have lessons elsewhere but want to make use of the theory or ensembles

In either case you’ll want to get in contact with the college.

You can enrol at any time during a term (not just at the beginning) and fees will be adjusted accordingly.

Prospectus

You can download a prospectus which has more information about the Music College, including fees and an application/enrolment form:-

• 2007 - 2008 prospectus (Adobe Acrobat 7 file, 12 pages, 1 Mbyte)

If you need to get hold of the free Adobe Acrobat reader in order to read the file you can do so using this link.

Saturday Mornings

Here we try to illustrate what goes on on a typical Saturday morning at the Huntingdonshire Music School.

The activities are split into the following categories:-

• lessons. These happen throughout the morning with pupils dipping into and out of theory and/or group playing to take their lesson. Not everyone takes lessons.
• theory tuition. Where you learn the theory (that makes sense of the black sqiggles on the page) and, if appropriate, prepare for exams. Not everyone takes exams.
• group playing. Getting together in groups to practice, usually for a concert at the school or externally. Sometimes we do daft things, like turning the music upside down and seeing what it sounds like ...
• socialising / eating / drinking. Catching up with the gossip, in the cafe when we have quieter moments. Some even practice their pieces for the benefit ( ) of everyone else.

Theory Tuition

Theory is important when learning an instrument. It is so much easier to read and understand music if you understand the basic building blocks.

Theory classes are organised by Grade. This aligns with the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music (ABRSM) examination grades. In terms of difficulty we start at Grade 1 and finish at Grade 8 (the hardest). You do not have to take exams and anyone can take theory lessons.

There are two types of theory tuition:-

• written. This is covered by a range of set books, by teacher-derived quizzes, tests, games and learning aids. Often a piano or other instrument may be used to help illustrate theory principles, or practice such as key signatures, scales, chords or timing. Practice theory exam papers are available for those taking theory and practical exams or those who want to see how far they’ve reached.
• aural. This aims to make the student better at listening to and analysing music. Since music exams include aural tests, as well as playing, students taking exams are encouraged to also take aural lessons where they get practice at the different types of listening skills looked for in an exam. For early grades these are covered in the last 15 minutes of a theory lesson. For Grades 4 and beyond these can take anything up to an hour (on top of the normal written theory lesson).

Group Playing (Bands, Ensembles & Orchestras)

One of the strengths of the Huntingdonshire Music school is the number and variety of groups provided for folks to play in. You don’t have to learn an instrument to play. You might take lessons privately elsewhere and want to learn the skills of playing as a member of a larger team (albeit in loose formation at times!). This sort of experience is very hard to get and almost impossible to get as an adult (most things are geared up towards the little dots, youngsters and teenagers (a decidely different species ). Not only that, but it’s convenient, sociable and you can join as many as you want.

We are also looking at forming new ensembles, particularly choral/singing and perhaps blending music technology with classical instruments.

A typical Saturday morning timetable for the various ensembles, bands and orchestras is shown in the following diagram. It is hectic!

Everyone at the music school gets the opportunity to play in one or more groups whether they be an ensemble, band, or orchestra. These cover musical style ranging from classical, swing to rock. Depending on the enthusiasm of potential musicians, new ones are being added - for example the rock band(s) are new and permanent fixtures and this year saw the first performance of the flute choir.

Unlike most other musical institutes, there is no mandated minimum grade or level to attain before you are allowed to join in. This does not mean that the standard of playing is lowered - far from it (bands such as the Swing Band play in paying fixtures and are in great demand). Your music teacher will normally suggest when it is sensible for you to join in. When starting out you are not expected to be able to play every note - so long as you play the ones you do know at the right time and keep quiet at other times then others will be none the wiser;-)

Group work is an integral part of the day in addition to the music lessons and theory. In fact one of the real benefit of this college is that you do play in groups (almost impossible to get this sort of experience otherwise as an adult) as part of the package.

You can play in as many groups as you’ve the time and energy for, for the same small amount.

You don’t have to take lessons in order to join a group. We also have Associate Members who either take lessons elsewhere (or not at all!) and who simply join us for group playing. See the current set of ensemb;es, bands and orchestras...