Huntingdonshire Music School Association - Learn

Huntingdonshire Music School was founded in 1966 and has grown into one of the largest and most successful establishments of its type. It runs the only Saturday Morning Music School in the county and for miles beyond that is open to both children and adults. There are more than 460 students with ages ranging from 4 to 83, and at least 35 staff who give individual tuition and direct ensembles.  Lessons take place at Huntingdonshire College on weekday evenings and at the exciting Saturday Morning Music School. There is a flourishing and supportive Huntingdonshire Music School Association.

You may have heard the recent BBC Radio 4 programme, hosted by William Hague, about Late Learners (a very good listen).  Well we cater for late learners.  We can also cater for early learners.  Worried about making noises in public (or at least in front of other people)?  We also cater for terrified learners.  To be honest, whatever kind of learner you are we can cater for you. It is a wonderful thing when (as someone quite a bit over 21!) you sit down for the first time in the preparatory concert band and the very composed young person sitting next to you says “don’t worry if you make a mistake - we all do at times “

Huntingdonshire Music School provides the opportunity for children and adults to learn (or continue to learn) a musical instrument (including the voice) in a relaxed, friendly and social setting.

We cover most types of instrument from classical, jazz to rock and electronic.

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!