Student Information

This is for students who have registered for instrumental classes.

Welcome Sessions

Friday 1st - arrive in Nelson and welcome sessions begin.

We know many of you will be arriving on Friday evening and we look forward to meeting with you. There will be sessions on around town. The Free House in Collingwood Street will be available to us for the whole evening.

Friday night is a busy night at the Free House Pub as every one drops by for Friday night drinks, so not such a good place for tunes on that night.

There will also be an option to have a session or two at Accents (YHA) Hostel where many of us are staying.

Registrations and Venue

You need to be at the Nelson Centre of Musical Arts, corner of Collingwood and Nile Street between 9am - 9.30am on Saturday 2nd to complete registration. Classes will start promptly at 10am so please be there in plenty of time to collect your paper work and find out where your class will be.

PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF VENUE! Our new venue is not quite as central as the Nelson English Centre where we've been for many years - allow a little extra time to get there!

Class and learning format

Classes are held on each of the three mornings, Saturday 2nd, Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th, between 10am and 12.30pm. The classes are kept to a maximum number of 20 students in order to facilitate the optimum learning environment.

It is expected that students have some prior competence with their chosen instrument and in the playing of traditional Irish music. Most classes will be taught at an intermediate to advanced level.

All classes are taught in the traditional style, by ear, and students are expected to be familiar with playing traditional Irish music and comfortable learning by ear. The classes are not suitable for beginners or for advanced musicians from other genres.

If you have any questions, or would like advice in evaluating your playing level, please don't hesitate to contact us.

It is appropriate to bring a recording device such as an MP3 player, minidisc or walkman and a note book to take notes. The tutor is not obliged to write out the tunes for the student.

Any recording during the classes is for student learning purposes only and not to be published or posted on the internet.

Adding Extra Classes

Some classes are very popular (Flute and Fiddle). Classes are capped at 20 students to ensure an ideal learning environment for everybody. Classes with either be closed when they reach the cap or if we think that there is enough interest we look into recruiting an extra tutor and split these classes loosely on ability. It is better to be with learners of similar ability. If this happens we rotate the tutors between the classes to ensure that everyone gets time with both tutors.

Cancellation of Classes

In the unlikely event of a particular class having very low numbers of registrations, we reserve the right to cancel that class. In that case, you will be able to transfer to another class or get a refund.

Student Cancellations

A full refund will be given to students who cancel their registration before the 7th May. A 50% refund will be given to students who cancel between 7th May and 7 days prior to the school commencing. No refunds are available if requested within 7 days of the school commencing.

Ceol Wind Up

Classes officially finish about 12.30pm on Monday 4th which is the public holiday day of the long weekend. Please, where possible, take care when making your departure travel bookings and allow yourself enough time not to have to hurry out of class early. It takes about 20 minutes to drive to the airport from the central city area.

Note: There is usually a friendly and relaxed wind-down session at (venue to be announced) during Monday afternoon.