FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What age should my child start to learn a musical instrument?

We have successfully taught students from age 5 to 75.  It is never too early or too late to learn, but for the younger student, attitude and focus is important. Some 5 year olds are passionate about music and able to concentrate for half-hour lessons plus spend time practicing each week. Please call our office and we can discuss your child's age and suitability for lessons.

Why are only individual lessons available with Rudd School Of Rock?

If you are serious about wanting to learn a musical instrument, our extensive experience shows that individual lessons are the way to go.  Group lessons, learning from Youtube, DVDs or books have their place, but are not effective in developing life-skills and the correct technique on a musical instrument.

We tailor our teaching programme and materials to the individual student.  In doing this, we create the best environment for you to learn, develop and thrive as a true musician.

What times/days are lessons available?

Most of our music lessons for school-age children are held after school from 3:00pm-6:30pm Monday-Friday.

Adult lessons are offered Monday to Friday during the day and evenings.

Please note that our teaching timetable is often over-subscribed and we operate a wait-list system for lesson times.

What is the lesson format?

Lessons are ½ hour long once per week.  Lessons are designed to be enjoyable (i.e. fun) but intensive in that they will fully use a student’s concentration span. 

Do I need a guitar, drumkit, bass guitar, ukulele or keyboard?

Short answer: Yes.

In order to maximise the benefit of professional lessons and be able to practice at home, we highly recommend you invest in a beginner guitar, keyboard or drumkit.  Purchasing your own musical instrument represents a small investment over the lifetime of the instrument. 

Where should I buy a guitar, keyboard, ukulele or set of drums and what do I look for?

It is important to get good advice when choosing an instrument. For example, size is an important factor with a beginner instrument for a child and knowledgeable sales staff will help you select the right instrument for your child e.g. a 7 year old may be more suited to a ½ or ¾ size guitar as their first instrument.

Rudd School of Rock can highly recommend Rockshop. Rockshop has stores nationwide and carries an impressive range of instruments and brands with expert sales staff on hand to assist you with your purchase. 

Acoustic or electric?

In general, for guitar we recommend starting on acoustic strings (nylon or steel strings). Once basic fundamentals are achieved, students could look to upgrade to a more professional acoustic or electric guitar.

Today, electric drums are very popular with students. They are more transportable and have the benefit of being able to be played at low volume or with headphones in noise-conscious residential suburbs.

Keyboards are increasingly popular over traditional piano as they can be easily transported to rehearsals, school, lessons etc.

Can parents sit in on student lessons?

We find most young students learn best without parents perched over their shoulder; however, parents and caregivers are welcome to sit-in on music lessons occasionally to check how their child is progressing and receive an update from their respective teacher.

For new young students, sometimes it helps for mum or dad to sit in on the first couple of lessons to calm the nerves!

The key indicators for determining a student's ability and progress is their playing technique and the sound they are producing from their instrument.  Are songs and exercises played in the way that they are meant to sound?  All assigned learning material is stored in a student’s music folder, so it is easy to see student progress through songs and exercises of increasing difficulty.

We also conduct our annual Rudd School Of Rock Student Assessments in July/August to enable our students to receive feedback on their progress.

External examinations are also available with Trinity College London. Please note, additional fees are associated with external examinations.

Are there opportunities for performing live on stage in front of an audience?

We encourage all our students to seize opportunities for performing in front of friends, family and live audiences.  Many of our students have formed school bands or adult bands or joined the school orchestra, symphonic, rock or jazz band.

Rudd School Of Rock also provides the following live music performance opportunities for students:

1. Rock Band Programme is a great way for more experienced students to learn the dynamics of rehearsing and performing as a live band on stage.   
2. Annual Showcase & Prizegiving is our end of year concert and the perfect opportunity for all of our music students to display talents developed over the year(s) to their family, friends and peers.

Why should I learn with Rudd School Of Rock rather than another music school?

Rudd School Of Rock has successfully taught thousands of students from ages 5 to 75.  Many of our students have been learning with us for several years, so we must be doing something right!

Rudd School of Rock was established with the mission of 'Building Future Music Leaders'.  We are serious about delivering music tuition of the highest quality because among today’s music students are the budding music stars of tomorrow.  We differ considerably from most other music schools in that we offer:

1. Individual and customised lessons for students, because we recognize that no individual is the same and therefore individual customised lessons is the only true method for learning a musical instrument effectively;
2. Expert music teachers with relevant, up-to-date real world music industry experience, because we want to inspire you to become a musician by learning with one.

Don’t just take our word for it.  Please read what some of our students have to say about us on our Testimonials page.

Be your best by learning with the best