We are all over the place!  Weekly classes for guitar & singing take place in The Exchange Inishowen & The Sliabh Sneact Centre.  Our weekly Boogie Bugs drop off class for 3-6yrs is in The Exhcange, but we also meet lots of babies and toddlers at our early yrs classes for parents and toddlers in Derry, Letterkenny, Carndonagh & Buncrana!  We are also in many area preschools and primary schools – check with your teacher to see if we’re coming to see your kids at school soon!

Here’s our regular schedule:

THE SLIABH SNEACHT CENTRE CLASSES, DRUMFRIES.

Guitar Academy, beginners class – Tuesdays 4 – 5pm, ages 7+

This class is for absolute beginners – if you’ve never held a guitar before we’ll go through all the information you need to know to get started.  We’ll quickly move to learning some basic chords so you can play a tune or two by Christmas!  This is a performance based class, focussing on the music, learning songs, chords, collaboration and progressing as a group!  The songs we learn range from new to old depending on how much we’ve learned or what we need to work on.  Classes are pay weekly, but full attendance is required to keep the group moving and learning!

The Sliabh Sneacht Singers – Tuesdays 5 – 6pm, ages 6+

A brand new singing group welcoming children from all the surrounding areas!  Based on the model of the wonderful Wee Glee Singers based in Buncrana, this performance based community singing group will perform 3-6 times a year at ‘Family & Friends’ concerts, community and seasonal events.  We learn lots of songs, work on singing techniques, breathing & performance skills.  As we progress we’ll add solo work & harmonies.  The Wee Glee singers have been fortunate enough to record and perform dozens of times in the past few years, so the sky is the limit for a room full of children who love to sing, enjoy the fun of a group class, and support each other all the way!

THE EXCHANGE BUNCRANA CLASSES

Guitar Academy, beginners class – Thursdays 4 – 5pm, ages 7+

This class is for absolute beginners – if you’ve never held a guitar before we’ll go through all the information you need to know to get started.  We’ll quickly move to learning some basic chords so you can play a tune or two by Christmas!  This is a performance based class, focussing on the music, learning songs, chords, collaboration and progressing as a group!  The songs we learn range from new to old depending on how much we’ve learned or what we need to work on.  Classes are pay weekly, but full attendance is required to keep the group moving and learning!

The Wee Glee Singers – Wednesdays 5 – 6pm, ages 6+

What a ride this group has had! This performance based community singing group performs 3-6 times a year at ‘Family & Friends’ concerts, community and seasonal events.  We learn lots of songs, work on singing techniques, breathing & performance skills.    The Wee Glee singers have been fortunate enough to record, be included in the Dept. of Education 1916 programme, and perform dozens of times in the past few years, so the sky is the limit for a room full of children who love to sing, enjoy the fun of a group class, and support each other all the way!  Dedication, hard work and fun – a great combination!

Boogie Bugs Early Years Music & Movement – Wednesdays 4-5pm, ages 3-6yrs

This is one busy hour, and this class always books fully so do get in touch if you’d like your child to join us for a great musical start in life!  This is a drop off class where we cover every angle of music!  We sing, learn songs about everything from syllables and beats to fruit and vegatables!  We learn many originals songs written just for our students and dance to our very own actions songs.  We have dozens and dozens of percussion instruments, parachutes, bubbles, scarves, rainbow ribbons – but behind every single activity is a plan – to teach a particular theme or topic, to work together, to improve co-ordination and rhythm, to share and play, to create a love of music that will stay with them forever!  We also run holiday/seasonal workshops where we create interesting age appropriate crafts and musical instruments as well as all the musical activities we love!

Guitar Academy – Improvers classes, various times, ages 7+

These are our returning students, hard working and ready to improve!  We can also  accommodate a small number of new students who may be returning to guitar after a break or have some previous playing experience, so get in touch if your child would like to play in one of our groups! This year we have a plan in place to keep you focussed!  Bringing in the skills of local guitarist Rickey Fullerton for a few visits each term, he will work on specific skills and projects with us and set us goals for his return visits.  In addition to his visits, we will continue to expand our chord base, but also work on scales, melodies, notes, tabs and much more throughout the year!  We will continue to be a performance based group of course and will still perform at Christmas and Summer, but with these added elements we’re going to have a busy but productive year!

EARLY YEARS MUSIC & MOVEMENT 0-3YRS (PARENT & BABY/TODDLER CLASSES)

Encore Performing arts Letterkenny, Thursdays 10.30 – 11.15 & Spraoi Agus Sport Carndonagh, Mondays 11am (part of a parent & toddler group that runs from 10 – 12), & Cockhill Community Preschool Buncrana, Wednesdays 12.30 – 1pm (part of a parent & toddler group that runs from 12.30 – 1.45)

We sing, learn songs about everything from numbers and colours to fruit and vegetables!  We learn many originals songs written just for our students and dance to our very own actions songs.  We have dozens and dozens of percussion instruments, parachutes, bubbles, scarves, rainbow ribbons – but behind every single activity is a plan – to teach a particular theme or topic, to work together, to improve co-ordination and rhythm, to share and play, to create a love of music that will stay with them forever and beautiful memories between you and your wee one!!

SCHOOLS PROGRAMMES

We work with schools at every stage from preschool, right through primary school classes and can tailor a programme depening on the ages of your students.  Our younger students focus on music & movement on a weekly, seasonal or monthly basis, while older students can undertake a programme that includes songwriting as well as learning songs & harmonies.  We have limited times slots for new preschools/schools/seasonal or 6 week primary school programmes so get in touch if you’d like more information!

CONTACT INFO: themusicboxireland@gmail.com / http://www.facebook.com/themusicboxschool