Music Lessons (8.30am-4pm) -  We offer one-to-one specialist tuition on violin, viola, cello, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, bass guitar, flute, clarinet, recorder, saxophone, piano, jazz piano (for Grade 4+ pianists), percussion, drum kit, trumpet, cornet, trombone, french horn, euphonium, tuba and singing.

No previous experience is required and we teach from beginner to Diploma level, preparing pupils for exams including music scholarship & higher education applications. Pupils selecting music lessons need to be aged 6+, in Years 2-13 at school.

Sometimes it is hard to know what instrument to choose. We have the following recommendations:

• Instruments suitable from age 6 - violin, cello, piano & recorder. (Taller pupils aged 6-7 who have a good set of second teeth may also manage the flute, clarinet or cornet!)
• Instruments suitable from age 8 - violin, cello, piano, acoustic guitar, brass (although larger brass instruments may not be suitable due to the size of the pupil), drum kit/percussion, recorder, flute, clarinet and saxophone. Voice - if aged uder 11 we recommend going to the Choir before opting for individual voice lessons.
• Instruments suitable from age 11 - All instruments including jazz piano (for Grade 4+ pianists) and composition.

Parents are a very important part of a child’s musical journey, so we ask parents of young or beginner pupils to attend the first few lessons to meet the teacher and where necessary receive advice on purchasing an instrument. In some instances, teachers may suggest parents attending regularly in order to help establish a good practice routine and aid setting up of instrument. As pupils progress parents can continue to attend their child’s lesson, but on a more irregular basis thereby encouraging pupil independence. On the last Saturday of term we have an Open Day where all parents are invited to their child’s lesson. Open Day is instead of a written report and is an opportunity to catch up with how your child is progressing, what their next challenges are and how you can best support them.

Learning an instrument or taking singing lessons can be extremely rewarding, but it is important to understand that to be successful, pupils and parents need to commit to regular lesson attendance, the hire/purchase of a reasonable quality instrument and almost daily practice. This is the key to making progress and of course makes learning an instrument fun.

Practice Notebook – JASSPA sells a practice notebook called Jot-a-note. It is designed to organise communication between pupils, parents and teachers and is particularly suited to U11s. It costs £7 and can be bought from reception. All instrumental pupils are expected to use a notebook for their teacher to write in on a weekly basis, but it does not have to be a Jot-a-note.

Lesson Length - The majority of pupils have a 30-minute music lesson but for Grade 5+ students we suggest 45 minutes. For advanced pupils we offer hour long lessons.

Performances - Learning an instrument is also about learning to perform, so there are concert opportunities where pupils can sign up to perform solos or duets with their teacher. Our concerts are friendly and supportive and pupils from beginner to advanced are encouraged to take part. Our teachers also prepare their pupils to perform at concerts in their weekday schools.

What am I committing to if I sign up for music lessons?  Music lessons require a long term perspective because it takes a long time to master an instrument.  Beginners are encouraged to complete a year’s worth of lessons in order to fairly assess interest levels and potential. For all other pupils, music lessons are a continuing course until we receive a term’s written notice. This means writing to us by the first day of term stating you wish to stop lessons at the end of the term.  We also ask that pupils taking music lessons at JASSPA do not have music lessons on the same instrument elsewhere. (Where we have space we can offer 10 x trial lessons - do contact us if you would like to discuss trial lessons.)