A music school & community choir in Hatherwick
Prospectus for the fall, winter and spring terms
One measure at a time.
We teach piano, strings, guitar, woodwind, singing and theory by the graded method: a clear, published path from a first lesson to a diploma. You walk it at your own pace, and you never have to take an exam to follow it.
- Lessons weekdays from 3:45 pm and Saturday mornings
- Choir on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm, no audition
- Exams optional, always
In this prospectus
- 1LessonsWhat we teach, and what it costs
- 2JoiningFour steps, one bar
- 3PathwayEvery grade, in plain words
- 4TimetableThe week, with a metronome
- 5ChoirTuesdays. Everyone sings.
- 6TeachersWho teaches, and what they hold
- 7TermsA glossary for beginners
- 8VisitFinding us, and practical questions
- 9Sign upAsk for a trial lesson
What we teach
In short One-on-one lessons, once a week, in terms of eleven weeks. Small group classes for theory and for our youngest players.
Every lesson has the same shape: a warm-up, a scale, a piece, and one new thing. It sounds plain. It works because it repeats, and because you always know what the next thing is.
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1.1 Piano
From age five, all the way to diploma. Two uprights in the Piano Room and a grand in the hall for concerts and exam run-throughs.
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1.2 Violin, viola & cello
Bowing before fingering, and a good posture before either. Instruments to rent in quarter, half, three-quarter and full sizes, swapped as you grow.
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1.3 Classical guitar
Nylon strings, reading from the first lesson, and a footstool you are allowed to take home. Solo pieces first, then duets.
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1.4 Flute, clarinet & recorder
Breathing is taught as carefully as fingering. Recorder from age seven, flute and clarinet once hands are big enough to cover the keys.
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1.5 Singing
Solo lessons from age eleven, when voices are ready for them. Breath, vowels, and songs in the keys that suit you, not the book.
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1.6 Theory
How music is written down and why it works. Taught in groups of up to eight, with a pencil, an eraser and no rush.
Joining takes one bar
In short Four steps, always in this order. You can stop after any of them and owe us nothing more.
The grade pathway
In short Ten stages. You begin below the staff and finish above it. Choose any note to read what that stage means and what you would actually do.
grade noun
A published standard for one instrument. Each grade lists what to play: pieces, scales, sight-reading and listening tests. An independent examiner hears it and marks it as a pass, a merit or a distinction.
Use the notes, or the arrow keys once one is focused.
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Stage 1 of 10
First lessons
The weeks before any grade: learning to sit, to hold the instrument, to listen, and to read a first handful of notes.
- What you do
- Thirty-minute lessons. Short tunes by ear and from the page. Ten minutes of practice on most days is plenty.
- The exam
- There isn’t one. Nothing is scored yet.
- Usually takes
- One to three terms.
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Stage 2 of 10
Grade 1
The first published standard. Short pieces, a few scales, and the basics of reading music you haven’t seen before.
- What you do
- Three short pieces in different moods, scales in two or three keys, and clapping rhythms back.
- The exam
- About twelve minutes: pieces, scales, a short sight-reading and listening tests.
- Usually takes
- Six months to a year after starting.
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Stage 3 of 10
Grade 2
The same shape as Grade 1, a little longer and a little quicker, with the hands (or bow, or breath) doing more.
- What you do
- More keys, and the first pieces where each hand has a different job.
- The exam
- About twelve minutes, the same four parts as Grade 1.
- Usually takes
- Nine months to a year.
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Stage 4 of 10
Grade 3
Pieces begin to have characters of their own: a dance, a song, a study. Playing them differently is the point.
- What you do
- Loud and soft, smooth and detached, are now part of the notes. Scales run to two octaves on most instruments.
- The exam
- About fifteen minutes.
- Usually takes
- About a year.
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Stage 5 of 10
Grade 4
The halfway point, where steady practice habits start to matter more than a good ear.
- What you do
- Longer pieces, minor keys in both their forms, and sight-reading that changes key halfway through.
- The exam
- About fifteen minutes.
- Usually takes
- About a year.
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Stage 6 of 10
Grade 5
The traditional checkpoint. From here on, the music asks you to understand what you are playing, not only to play it.
- What you do
- Pieces from different centuries. We ask for Grade 5 theory before practical Grade 6, not because a rule says so, but because the pieces start to need it.
- The exam
- About eighteen minutes.
- Usually takes
- A year to eighteen months.
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Stage 7 of 10
Grade 6
Music you might hear in a recital, played with your own choices about how it should go.
- What you do
- Scales and arpeggios from memory in every key, and pieces that need a practice plan, not just practice.
- The exam
- About twenty minutes.
- Usually takes
- A year to eighteen months.
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Stage 8 of 10
Grade 7
Advanced playing. The notes are hard; the harder part is saying something with them.
- What you do
- Longer works, sometimes a whole movement. Most students move to forty-five-minute lessons here.
- The exam
- About twenty-five minutes.
- Usually takes
- Around eighteen months.
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Stage 9 of 10
Grade 8
The top of the graded ladder: a full program, played with control and conviction.
- What you do
- Three substantial pieces, every scale from memory, and demanding sight-reading. Sixty-minute lessons suit most people now.
- The exam
- About thirty minutes.
- Usually takes
- Eighteen months to two years.
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Stage 10 of 10
Diploma
A leap, not a step: a short recital that you plan, explain and talk through with the examiner.
- What you do
- A thirty-five-minute program you choose yourself, written program notes, and a viva, which is a conversation about your choices.
- The exam
- About fifty minutes, including the viva.
- Usually takes
- Two years or more after Grade 8.
The staff keeps going after the diploma. So does the music.
Tradition, questioned
Grades are a tool. We think they are a good one, most of the time. Here is our honest account of both sides.
Why we still teach this way
- You can see the next step before you take it.
- Scales and sight-reading get practiced, not quietly skipped.
- A grade travels with you. Another teacher, in another town, knows what it means.
- The standards are published, so your teacher is held to them too.
When we’d tell you to skip it
- When the exam date has become the reason to play, instead of the music.
- When you learn for pleasure and the pressure takes the pleasure away.
- When you are an adult coming back after years away. Start with pieces, not tests.
- When an exam fee would cost more than the grade would give back that term.
The week at the Wool Hall
In short One-on-one lessons every weekday from 3:45 pm and on Saturday mornings, booked for the whole term. Group classes are marked.
The week, day by day Monday to Saturday, group classes marked
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Monday
3:45–7:30 pm
One-on-one lessons
Piano, strings · Rooms 1 & 2
5–5:45 pm Group
Junior strings
Grades 1–3 · the Long Room
6–7 pm Group
Theory, Grades 1–3
The Library
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Tuesday
3:45–7 pm
One-on-one lessons
Piano, guitar, singing
7:30–9:15 pm
Common Measure Choir
Everyone · the hall
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Wednesday
3:45–8 pm
One-on-one lessons
All instruments
6:30–7:30 pm Group
Theory, Grades 4–5
The Library
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Thursday
3:45–8 pm
One-on-one lessons
All instruments
5–5:45 pm Group
Recorder consort
Ages 7–11 · the Long Room
7:30–8:30 pm Group
Adult beginners’ piano
Up to four · Room 1
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Friday
3:45–6 pm
One-on-one lessons
Piano, woodwind
6–8 pm
Practice rooms open
Free for students · sign in at the desk
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Saturday
9 am–1 pm
One-on-one lessons
All instruments
10–10:45 am Group
First Notes
Ages 5–7, singing and rhythm games
11:15 am–12:15 pm Group
Theory, Grades 6–8
The Library
Closed on Sundays and during school breaks. The last Saturday of each term ends with an open concert in the hall at 2 pm; anyone may play, and anyone may listen.
Common Measure Choir
In short A community choir for anyone aged fourteen and up. No audition, no need to read music. $60 a term, or free if you ask.
5.1 Four parts, defined
A choir sings in four parts, highest to lowest. You don’t need to know yours before you come. Marguerite will hear you speak and sing a scale, and suggest one. You can change your mind.
Where each part sits
- Soprano
- The highest part, and often the tune.
- Alto
- Lower, holding the harmony just under the tune.
- Tenor
- The higher of the lower voices. Anyone who sings there is a tenor.
- Bass
- The lowest part: the floor the others stand on.
5.2 An evening, in order
- 7:30 pmWarm-up: breath, stretches, one silly vowel exercise
- 7:45 pmNote-pounding, one part at a time
- 8:30 pmCoffee break, and ten minutes of learning to read music
- 8:45 pmAll four parts together, start to finish
- 9:15 pmHome, humming
This term: a set of folk songs arranged in four parts, and a winter carol concert in the hall. Music is lent to you, pencil markings welcome.
Who teaches, and what stands behind it
In short Six teachers. Open any name to read what that teacher holds, in plain words. The certificates are in the office if you would like to see them.
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Ines Marrow
Piano · Theory · Director of studies- Holds
- A performance diploma in piano and a teaching diploma.
- Teaches
- Piano to diploma; theory groups; plans the pathway.
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Tobiah Fenn
Violin · Viola- Holds
- A music degree, majoring in violin.
- Teaches
- Violin and viola to Grade 8; runs Junior strings.
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Oona Weald
Cello- Holds
- A teaching diploma in cello.
- Teaches
- Cello to Grade 8; looks after the rental instruments.
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Marguerite Salt
Singing · Choir- Holds
- A music degree in voice and a certificate in choral conducting.
- Teaches
- Singing from age eleven; directs the choir.
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Dev Achari
Guitar · Recorder · First Notes- Holds
- A teaching diploma, and Grade 8 in guitar and recorder.
- Teaches
- Classical guitar, the recorder consort, and our youngest group.
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Hal Brennock
Flute · Clarinet · Piano- Holds
- A music degree, majoring in flute.
- Teaches
- Woodwind to Grade 8, and adult beginners’ piano.
Terms, defined
In short Music has its own vocabulary. Here it is in plain English. Wherever a word has a dotted underline elsewhere in this prospectus, it links here.
The glossary Twenty-two words, in plain English
- accidental noun
- A sharp, flat or natural sign that changes a note until the end of the bar.
- arpeggio noun
- The notes of a chord played one after another, up and then down. From the Italian for “like a harp.”
- aural tests plural noun
- The listening part of an exam: clap back a rhythm, sing back a phrase, say whether a piece sounds major or minor.
- bar noun
- One box of time between two bar lines, also called a measure. In common time, a bar holds four beats.
- common time noun
- Four quarter-note beats in every bar, written 4/4 or as a large C. The first beat is the strongest. It is where our name comes from.
- diploma noun
- The stage after Grade 8: a recital you plan, with written program notes and a viva.
- distinction noun
- The highest result in a graded exam, above a merit and a pass.
- ensemble noun
- Any group that plays or sings together. Here, that means Junior strings, the recorder consort and the choir.
- graded method noun
- Learning in published steps, each with a set standard, so that the student, the parent and the teacher all know what comes next.
- half note noun
- A note two beats long: an open head with a stem. Some teachers call it a minim.
- ledger line noun
- A short extra line for a note that sits above or below the five lines of the staff.
- metronome noun
- A device that ticks a steady beat at a speed you choose, counted in beats a minute. There is one on this page.
- middle C noun
- The C nearest the middle of a piano keyboard, and the note most beginners learn first.
- note-pounding noun, informal
- Choir slang for learning your part a phrase at a time, the piano playing it over and over, before it sounds like music.
- quarter note noun
- A note one beat long in common time: a filled-in head with a stem. Some teachers call it a crotchet.
- scales plural noun
- Runs of notes in order, up and down, in a given key. Every grade asks for some, played from memory.
- sight-reading noun
- Playing a short piece you have never seen before, after half a minute to look it over.
- staff noun
- The five lines that music is written on. Some teachers call it a stave.
- syllabus noun
- The published list of what each grade asks for: which pieces, which scales, which tests.
- tempo noun
- The speed of the music. Italian words describe it: largo is broad and slow, andante is a walking pace, allegro is quick and bright.
- theory noun
- How music is written down and why it works: keys, intervals, chords and the rules that join them.
- viva noun
- The spoken part of a diploma: a conversation with the examiner about the pieces you chose and why.
No term matches that. Ask at the desk; we like the question.
Finding the Wool Hall
In short 3 Fulling Street, Hatherwick. A no-step entrance at the front, and a ten-minute walk from the station.
Hatherwick
- Office, Mon–Fri
- 3–8 pm
- Office, Saturday
- 8:45 am–1:30 pm
- Sunday
- Closed
- Phone
- 555-0105
- hello@commonmeasure.example
8.1 Practical questions
Is the building wheelchair accessible?
Yes. The front door on Fulling Street has no step, and the Piano Room, the Long Room and the hall are on the ground floor. The Library is up one flight; we move theory downstairs for anyone who needs it, without a fuss.
Do I need my own instrument?
Not for the first term. Pianists practice at home on anything with keys, even a small keyboard. Strings and wind can be rented from us at $75 a term, and we’ll tell you honestly when it is worth buying one.
Can adults start from nothing?
Yes, and they do. Adults follow the same pathway at their own speed. Many never take an exam, and that is a perfectly good way to learn.
What if we miss a lesson?
Tell us by noon the day before and we’ll try to move it. A lesson we cancel is always made up or refunded. A lesson missed without notice is not, because the teacher was there.
Do I have to take exams?
No. The grades describe what to learn next, whether or not you are examined on it. Your teacher will suggest an exam only when they think it would help you.
Can I sit in before I join?
Please do. Ask at the desk and we’ll find you a lesson or a rehearsal to watch, with the student’s permission.
Can I sing in the choir without having lessons?
Yes. The choir is open to anyone aged fourteen and up. Just come along on a Tuesday at 7:30 pm. The first rehearsal costs nothing.
Ask for a trial lesson
In short Tell us who is learning and what. We reply by phone or email within two business days, and nothing is booked until you say yes.