Choosing an Instrument
Below are just some of the instruments you can learn with nma. To find out more, click one.
Piano
With a choice of lesson formats and affordable prices, there is something for everyone, catering to all ability levels from beginner up, and all ages from four years. Further, in addition to in-person lessons lessons at the Academy, online lessons are also available.
Our piano lessons offer both depth and scope, covering popular styles from classical to jazz, rock etc, including composition, to rhythm and blues, truly something for everyone. Taking Music Grades is optional, as appropriate. Meanwhile, our expertise in playing and teaching piano pretty much guarantees your success, providing of course of course that you put in the necessary effort! Fortunately, practise is generally fun.
Piano is also a great starter instrument for anyone to learn, while almost all musicians would benefit from at least some piano knowledge.
You may enjoy learning for pleasure, or study for grades, develop jazz improvisation, work on your GCSE or simply develop your repertoire. One of our teachers even specialises in instant composition and musical arrangement, a handy skill to have, should you ever need it.
As a beginner, we aim to get you started quickly with simple tunes, while preparing you for the road ahead with fundamental skills and technics. Our teachers are experts at providing positive experiences that enthuse and enable you in equal measure, allowing you to develop a confidence in your own abilities that grows and grows.
Guitar
At Northern Music Academy you can learn all styles of guitar including acoustic guitar, electric guitar and classical guitar. Whether you are looking to improve your picking technique, try your hand at finger style or learn some of your favourite songs and riffs, we can help you every step of the way. We even offer ukulele lessons. To find out about bass guitar lessons, check out the bass lessons page.
Younger students often opt to work through the ABRSM (Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music) for classical guitar, or the Rockschool or R.G.T. (Registry of Guitar Tutors) grades for the electric and acoustic pupils. However, some pupils decide not to work through the grade system and instead learn their own choice of material guided by our tutors.
Drums
Rhythm is the most primal element of music, and something that almost everyone can connect with. Learning drum kit means developing a strong sense of pulse, refining coordination skills and, ultimately, achieving a high degree of independence. In most cases, 7 years upwards represents a good starting age.
Vocals
Singing is all about self expression, and so almost everyone would benefit. Lessons focus on popular singing styles, rather than classical, with the material chosen to suit the student. The song repertoire compliments this approach perfectly, and is drawn from a mix of contemporary song and classics from yesteryear.
We welcome almost any age, with 7 years upwards being a good age to begin. Singing is equally popular with teenagers and adults of all ages, and it is increasingly recognised that older students can gain wide ranging health benefits from singing.
Bass Guitar
From slap bass or funk grooves, to rock bass techniques and jazz arpeggios, our tutors can walk you through from your first few notes to a slap bass odyssey! You can start out on the Rockschool or RGT grades, learning relevant pieces and techniques, or you can learn your favourite bass lines along with the know how to work your way towards more challenging and exciting music.
With the guidance and encouragement from our experienced and professional tutors, you can realise your full potential and accomplish your goals one step at a time.
Saxophone
Saxophone is suitable for older children, with nine or ten years being a good starting age for most. If they can already play another instrument, especially recorder, flute or clarinet, some may even be able to start a little earlier. Saxophone is also very popular with adult students, from beginner onwards.
Which type of saxophone should I choose?
For most of us, Alto sax will be the best choice to begin on. You can naturally progress to Tenor once you have developed your technique on Alto. Generally, Soprano and Baritone saxophone would not be recommended for the beginner saxophonist.
Do I need a new saxophone?
Not strictly necessary; however, do bear in mind, the words ‘cheap’ and saxophone do not go together very well. Having said that, decent quality can still be affordable in a new instrument; please consult us if you need help in choosing one. If buying used, a thorough checkover may be worthwhile. For maintenance, simple or otherwise, we recommend All Brass and Woodwind of York Street, Leeds.
What will I learn?
All great players have one thing in common: beautiful tone. Indeed, players may spend their whole career in pursuit of ever better tone. From Stan Getz to Sonny Rawlins, Kenny G to Candy Dulfer, you can learn to recognise the greats by their distinctive tone alone. You will focus on your sound from the very first lesson, whilst also learning to play tunes and read music notation from the early stages. With proper application. you will soon be developing a tone of your own. Meanwhile as you progress, scales and exercises will be introduced to help you develop speed and fluency on the saxophone. Expect to develop a wide range of repertoire of varying styles.
Flute
Flute is suitable for children and adults too, with around 6 or 7 years representing a minimum starting age.
Grade exams have traditionally been popular with flute students, and if you do decide to take flute exams you will be pleased to know that we use only accredited exam boards, so that you can acquire useful UCAS points toward University entrance. Alternatively, you can simply play for pleasure; the choice is yours, as it should be.
Theory
All our teachers at Northern Music Academy have music degrees and top grades in their instruments and music theory. You can have your theory lessons either as an accompaniment to your instrumental tuition, or individual lessons to improve your theory for an ABRSM, GCSE or A-level exam.
As well as covering theory generally, often using the ABRSM music theory books, we can also help you with theory specifically for your particular instrument. For example, we could help with chord construction for piano players and guitarists, arpeggios for bassists, transposition for some brass or woodwind players, or use of different scales and notes for improvisation and melody construction. These are just a few examples of theory related topics we can cover.
Our teachers also have training in composition and can help you with your own song writing and composition in various styles. Some of our teachers can even help you with your lyric writing for your songs as well as compositional techniques and exercises to make you a better composer.
Other
Here at Northern Music Academy we have many other skills under our belt. We offer many instrumental/theory lessons aside from the aforementioned such as recorder, mandolin, ukulele, accordion, synthesiser, music production & composition and finale lessons.