Music Lessons at Hope Valley College

As an external teacher, I teach weekly music lessons for 11-16 year olds at Hope Valley College in Derbyshire. To these lessons I bring 20 years of experience as a community musician, my knowledge of a wide range of musical instruments and styles and 30 years of playing and performing in different bands playing a variety of styles of music including:

  • Electronic dance music

  • Indie and Rock

  • Blues and Jazz

  • Reggae and Dub

  • Ceilidh bands, folk bands and traditional music sessions

  • African drumming

  • Samba bands

Lessons at Hope Valley College are usually funded by parents and emphasise creativity, playing by ear and performance skills.

Available lessons include:

Music Technology / Creating electronic music

Learn how to use make and perform your own music from scratch using a variety of electronic musical instruments including samplers, synthesisers, phone apps, iPad and computer. Learn how to mix and produce your own pop, hip-hop, house, techno, grime and drum and bass music. Start with a creative spark such as a field recording, a favourite song, a beat you made on your phone at home, a new instrument to explore or an idea for melody or chord progression and try to make a new piece of music each week. Record your music on your phone to play to friends and family.

Contemporary and Jazz Ukulele

Learn how to play one of the most accessible, enjoyable and affordable musical instruments in the world. For beginners, these lessons teach ukulele from scratch, starting with how to hold, strum and play chords alongside the learning of popular songs and finger style folk tunes. For more advanced students, the focus is to develop a repertoire of beautiful finger style contemporary and jazz pieces including Somewhere over a Rainbow, Summertime, Fly Me to the Moon.

Tin Whistle

Become part of the English and Irish musical tradition and learn a repertoire of folk tunes that are played at the sessions in the local vibrant folk music scene. Tin whistle is the simplest, cheapest and most portable instrument available and is great fun to learn. Lessons teach technique and a repertoire of tunes that played in informal music gatherings by musicians all over the world.

Annual Showcase

All students will be offered the opportunity to play at the annual Showcase event I organise every summer at the Greystones in Sheffield, a venue with a great reputation that hosts great musicians from all over the country. The showcase event is a fabulous opportunity for students to experience live performance on stage at a professional venue.

20 minute weekly lessons - £11 per lesson

For more info please use the form below or email info@mattlaurie.com

Community Projects

Grindleford Junk Samba Band

This community music group was set up to play at the 2024 Grindleford Carnival and now meets fortnightly. Junk Samba is a fantastic application of community music: the instruments are accessible, the rhythms range from incredibly easy to more challenging, the teamwork is empowering, it attracts a diverse group of people and its great fun.

If you’d like to know more about community junk samba and would be interested to set something up in your community then please get in touch.

Hathersage Ukulele Club @ Open House

More infö to follow!

Community Music and Storytelling

I have worked as a community artist for over 20 years and developed, managed and delivered small and large scale projects in:

  • Care homes

  • Hospices

  • Hospitals and acute mental health units

  • Special schools

  • Community groups

  • Mainstream schools

  • Nurserys and early years settings

Over this time I have specialised in the following areas:

  • Elders, dementia and end of life care

  • Autism, Learning Disability

  • People at risk of marginalisation and social isolation

Previous long term collaborators include RDASH (Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS), Doncaster and Bassetlaw NHS Foundation Trust.

Ethics

As a community artist I believe that creativity and the arts are a unique forum to foster wellbeing and social inclusion. My work is underpinned by community music practice, Social Pedagogy (www.thempra.org.uk), rapport-based communication (Laurie 2021) and person-centred arts.

Please get in touch if you’d like to discuss a future collaboration.