When it is not possible to have a lesson at school/college, young people living in the borough can enrol for music lessons with Dudley Performing Arts at just £13.75 for a 20 minute individual lesson. We will be enrolling students to start in September from 22 April.
The lessons will take place at Resonance, our base on the Waterfront in Brierley Hill. When appropriate, some lessons can take place online if there is a specific night that you can't make the journey and we will try to find the best time for lessons to take place after we have received your application. In the event that we are unable to find a time that works for you we will provide a full refund.
Certain instruments are available to hire at £10.50 per term with the first term free for new starters.
The offer is open to students who are not able to have lessons in school and includes:
- Clarinet (i)
- Flute (i)
- Trumpet/Cornet (i)
- Trombone (i)
- Tenor Horn (i)
- Violin (i)
- Viola (i)
- Cello (i)
- Guitar (acoustic/electric)
- Bass Guitar
- Keyboard/Piano
- Drum Kit
- Voice
Where instruments are marked (i) DPA can provide an instrument at £10.50 per term (first term free for new starters)
To get started, please enrol your child.
After you have enrolled and online safety
You will be contacted by one of our teachers from a secure work email ending in either @dudley.gov.uk or @dpa.dgfl.org and this will include all the information you need. In most cases this will be the teacher you know contacting you. These are the only two email addresses we will use regarding online lessons. Communication about these lessons will only take place by email so please only ring the office in an emergency.
- Note: Contact about these lessons must be between our teacher and a parent or responsible adult. Our staff will not correspond with children’s email addresses.
Our teacher will ask you about your preferences for how the lessons take place and we will do every thing we can to make your preferences work. This will include the option of face to face lessons at our base at the Waterfront or online lessons in your home should Covid measures return.
If it becomes necessary to teach online the teacher will be at home, dressed professionally and will conduct the lesson as if they were in the same room at school. We need you to ensure that the lesson in your home takes place in a suitable room, that children are dressed appropriately and ensure that siblings or others do not wander into view.
A responsible adult must be present at the start of the lesson and remain in proximity throughout. Ideally, we would like this person to remain in the room to help children with practice or work for next week.
The session must not be recorded or shared by either teacher, parent or student.
The session will end if our teacher feels that any of the above is not in place or if they feel that anything is not as it should be. If this happens they will email you and the Head of Dudley Performing Arts.
For more information see Online Safety Questions and Answers
Your lesson
Face to Face at Resonance, Cable Plaza, Waterfront West, Brierley Hill, DY5 1LW
The lesson will take place in a purpose built rehearsal room. Parents can wait in the cafe area where a drinks machine is available. Parking is free at Resonance but please avoid parking next to any moored narrow boats.
Online Lessons
As a minimum, you will need a smart phone and have either the Zoom or Teams app downloaded (we will tell you which). Please experiment with these apps and see which works best for you. The lesson will work better on the highest quality equipment you have. A tablet will probably work better than a smart phone and a laptop probably will work better than both. However, you know what works best in your house, please decide accordingly.
The lesson may work better if the student wears earphones and you might experiment with this (including one earphone on, one off etc).
Background noise can be a major problem during online tuition, especially in a music lesson. Try and find a quiet place in the house. NB – if this is a bedroom the responsible adult must be visible at all times.
Find somewhere stable for the phone, tablet or PC and be prepared to experiment. The teacher may ask you to move the device to get a clearer picture of how the student is playing the instrument from time to time. You may also need to think about lighting in the room. For example, a bright light behind the student's head will make it hard to see what is happening.
Make sure that any books, printed music or backing tracks etc that may be needed are ready before the lesson starts.
When will lessons take place?
Our teaching follows a set calendar that follows school term times that can be seen in the lesson calendar
After you have enrolled we will confirm with you the time and date of your lesson. Please specify in the "Any additional relevant information" box during enrolment if you have a preferred lesson day/time. Alternatively please email dpa.cs@dudley.gov.uk and tell us the name of the students with your preferred lesson day and time.
Lessons will take place between 5pm and 8pm Monday to Thursday.
Terms of agreement
- Lessons will commence at the beginning of each term as defined in the teaching calendar
- Applications received after the published closing date will be rolled over to the following term/start date
- The spirit of the agreement is for a year of tuition split into 3 periods based on school terms. It is not possible to cancel tuition once the service has begun
- Where applicable, the length of a group lesson is 20 minutes for 2/3 students. The lesson length will be extended to 25 minutes (4 students) and in the event of a suitable group not being available an individual 15-minute lesson will be given
- The length of individual tuition is agreed during enrolment
- Fees for all tuition and instrument provision are payable in advance each term and are non returnable. When the expected number of lessons are not completed due to the fault of DPA parents will be refunded or credited for future invoices. Pupils absence for any reasons will not qualify for refunds
- After initial application parents will be invoiced termly in advance of the following term Failure to pay by the given deadline could result in a disruption to tuition and if there is no indication on intent to pay lessons will be cancelled
- No guarantee can be given as to the condition of DPA instruments, but every effort will be made to ensure that they are in a condition which allows the student to progress. Where applied, the charge for maintenance covers normal wear and tear, but not the cost of replacement strings, rosin, reeds, valve oil or cleaning. In the event of wilful damage and/or negligence, parents will be responsible for the cost of replacement of repair. Insurance against damage and/or loss is the responsibility of parents. The Head of DPA will have the final decision as to who receives a DPA instrument. The period of the loan for flutes, clarinets, cornets and trumpets is limited to 2 years. At the discretion of DPA this may be extended
