No instrument teachers - implications for secondary orchestras

[DressedForWarmth]

DS(8) is desperate to learn how to play the trumpet, and has been for a number of years now.

He's quite a shy boy and not very sporty, so we thought this would be a good thing for him to learn, thinking that as he reached secondary school it would allow him to join bands and orchestras, so that he could make friends with people who are similarly interested in music.

However, we're really struggling to find a teacher for him. It seems that the few private music teachers we have in our area only each piano, guitar, or drums. There don't seem to be any teachers that cover strings, brass, or wind instruments. I've even looked further afield, but the closest one is at least an hour's drive away on a good day, meaning a 2.5+ hour round trip each week for a lesson. School isn't an option as they only teach piano, guitar or drums too.

What I'm now wondering is that if there aren't any music teachers locally, does this mean that as no children are learning these instruments that there are no longer school (or local) orchestras any more?

Where should I be looking for a teacher, or is this just how things are these days if you don't live in a big city?

Thanks

Have you looked at your council run music centre? Or if you could give a rough idea where you are, people may be able to help?

Good suggestion @Coruisk. I've had a look and from what I can see our council doesn't have a music centre. There used to be a local music academy, but these days it's only a venue for performances and doesn't run any classes for beginners or do teaching.

It’s a nightmare. Round here only the private schools have decent music provision - you’re on your own if you need to rely on the council services. Our LA provision is probably ok but it’s not offered in the smaller schools, and increasingly it’s only for the common instruments - so piano, guitar and violin. Can you find a Saturday workshop near you? Some are run via Council/LA music hubs.

It obviously will depend on your area, but often it is the county council music service that will organise lessons and ensembles for children. 8 is on the young side to start brass tuition though (I think because of teeth and lung capacity) so it might be that more opportunities open up at secondary school.

That's a shame no music centre. I think you can sometimes use neighbouring counties, but that may not help either! Mumsnet has lots of knowledgeable people though if you can say roughly where you are?

My whole family plays brass instruments.

In some areas of the country teachers can be hard to come by.

Is there a local brass band? They might know of more local teachers who don't necessarily advertise.

Some brass bands also run youth bands or training bands and will offer tuition.

Contact your local high schools. They normally use peripatetic music teachers to teach instruments within school - and some of these will probably offer private lessons out of school hours

Check out local brass bands, particularly youth bands. One local to me teaches from complete beginners and has instruments to loan until kids know they want to continue longer term.

Thank you for all these suggestions. I know of a secondary school that's outside our catchment but has an orchestra. I'd not thought to contact them to ask for teachers, but will do that. I'll also see if we have any local brass bands I can contact.

@BarnacleBeasley, I played french horn in my primary school band, and so knew it should be feasible from at least 9 years old, which is when I started. He's been asking for years though, so we'd held off until at least KS2 to start looking for a teacher.

I'm really saddened by what has happened to instrument lessons in schools, it's more and more of a lottery.

We're in Bristol and have a music centre as previous posters have described which provides individual lessons as well as ensembles and orchestra. There's a cost but it's subsidised (the music trust is a charity).

My daughter's secondary school no longer offers violin lessons as they have been unable to secure a teacher. I managed to find a private teacher who comes to our house, he's a folk musician and she's really enjoying that style. Cost is significantly more tho.

@DressedForWarmth yeah, to be fair, we did have brass available in my primary school in years 5 and 6, but no woodwind was available till secondary. I would still hope maybe your area does offer brass but just starting later (rather than the plausibly bleak picture of crap county music provision other people are talking about).

Is he at all interested in guitar piano or drums?
I know they’re not what you were thinking but piano gives an amazing grounding in music theory, guitars and drums give good grounding too but perhaps less emphasis on reading melodic notes quickly, less range than piano. But both are better for playing in bands or groups. Piano tends to be quite solo oriented (although good for accompanying! And there’s always one in an orchestra/band)
In your position, if my son was at all interested in piano guitar or drums I’d start him off with what’s available and tell him I’d support him adding/switching to a different instrument later on if more is available at secondary level.

Is there a Yamaha music school anywhere near you? Or any really good music shops that sell brass instruments - they will often know local musicians who may offer tuition but not necessarily advertise widely. Or do you have a local University that offers music - if so maybe contact them and see if there any undergrads who might offer to teach?

Thanks @CaptainBarnaclesandthevegemals (awesome name!). Yes, we've got him started on piano lessons already, which is giving him a good grounding in music theory too. We'd also told him we'll support him to trying any new instruments as he gets older, if we can find a tutor. I just hadn't realised it would be this difficult to find one.

Brass bands are a really good shout, I'd forgotten those! Our local ones tend to offer free instrument loan and tuition (it's the older players who teach the younger ones)

Or you could do what we did:
Send your DC out in the garden to play trumpet and then your new next door neighbour (who has only just moved in and you haven’t met yet) will pop round and say ‘Did I hear someone playing trumpet?’ (And you’re thinking they’re going to complain about the noise when you say DC is only just starting to learn) and then they say ‘I run XXXX local brass band, would she like free lessons in return for joining the band because we would love some youngsters to join’.
I promise you this really happened! DD was probably the only 13 year old at her school whose besties included about 15 70+ year olds. She loved it and has gone in to study music at Uni. Ok so this probably won’t happen for you but my serious point is yes, definitely contact local brass bands because they may be as interested as ours was in getting younger players interested.

Oh and btw it will be Cornet rather than trumpet for brass band.

That is the most amazing story @Judashascomeintosomemoney! 😄Unfortunately we know our neighbours well and none of them are at all musical!

It does take my back to my original question though. Assuming we can find DS a teacher, does this mean that as he gets older his only options for playing with others will be with adults in local brass bands. If there are so few music teachers for orchestral instruments these days, does this mean that most secondary schools or towns (particularly like ours in a fairly rural area) no longer have orchestras for teenagers?

Possibly, although there are other options maybe like national brass band, NYO, NCO etc if he improves. Our school band is really poor (as in only runs a few times a term, if that) but we are lucky that despite being in a rural area we have an ok music service. It's depressing though how variable music provision is!

NYO and NCO are full of private school kids, it's really unequal. Our local comp (admittedly not great) has a guitar group (I think) but no orchestra or choir. Depressing :/

NYO inspire is not for private school kids though, unless ethnically diverse (sorry I meant inspire rather than nyo itself). I know though that the main orchestras have many private school kids. It's depressing what has been done to music I agree!

We're a bit further down the line age wise, but have ended up sending our dd to junior conservatoire, which is incredible but not cheap. There are bursaries available, but of course you need to have some musical background to apply in the first place!

Not necessarily. When you look into it there may well be other orchestras or brass bands locally, maybe with younger students, but who don’t take beginners, only those of a certain standard. Which is why the older adults brass bands might be a good route in to learning and moving up the levels. Also, brass and orchestra isn’t the only option for playing (cornet) trumpet. My DD went on to play trumpet in both Soul and Funk and Jazz bands. That led her to learning various other instruments and she now plays bass guitar more often than trumpet. In fact she’s the only bass guitar player in her Uni music dept atm and is in high demand for various bands - five different bands in Pop Collective are after getting her on board - think some of them are going to have to pay an external bass player or else she’ll have no time for the actual lectures and work 😂

Nothing at the secondary schools even? Our primary school only had piano/guitar/drums, but secondary school has a wider range. Still don't have any kind of orchestra or band though so it's limited help. Other schools in the area manage it though, and some of the groups are not so strictly tied to the school though they run at the school, so kids from other schools can join.

One thing you could consider for lessons - not ideal but it might work to get started - is finding someone who teaches on zoom. Many music teachers worked out how to get this to work for their pupils during lockdown, and some continue to offer it as an option.

Thank you to everyone who suggested contacting my local council's music service. I eventually found one listed under arts on their website, and it had a contact email. I've been in touch with them and been sent a link to a directory of music teachers and youth orchestras, none of which had come up in any general internet searches. I've now found a whopping 5 possible teachers in my area, and am going to start contacting them!! Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply, you're all stars! ⭐