Music for Life
The purpose of the Shirley District Music School Trust is to encourage participation, provide opportunities and quality tuition to develop a life-long interest in learning instrumental music for children in the SDMS community.
Affordable, fun, quality in-school music lessons for primary school students.
The Shirley District Music School is a small music school who cater for children in the Shirley district in the East of Christchurch. We have served the Shirley community for over 60 years. Our core funding is provided by the Ministry of Education.
What We Offer
Music lessons taught by qualified and experienced instrumental tutors in 15 minute indvidual lessons, or 30 minute group lessons for groups of two or three. Lessons are held once a week at the student’s school during the day depending on the availability of the tutor and room space at the contributing school.
Strings:
Violin, Viola, Cello
Percussion
Woodwind: Recorder, Flute, Clarinet, Saxophone
Piano or Keyboard
Brass:
Trumpet, Cornet, Trombone
Guitar
Easy Instrument Hire
All students require an instrument to practise on at home.
Cello, violin and viola are hired out by SDMS.
Clarinet, flute, saxophone, trombone, and trumpet are hired by KBB Music Christchurch (Papanui Branch, 51 Main North Road). The rates we charge have been subsidised by KBB Music.
Our Contributing Schools
What Our Students Say
“My teacher does a really good job of teaching because she takes it fast (for me) and it's fun. She gives me really good feedback on my clarinet playing and techniques and also how to make it better.”
Jesse, Year 6
First year clarinet student
“It's fun to learn new notes. It's quite fun getting better at playing. On recorder you can play really high notes and it's easier to play harder songs. On the flute it's been a bit harder to get the sound right but I'm still enjoying it and I'm learning both next year too.”
Lucy, Year 3.
Second year recorder student and first year flute student
“I wanted to learn cello because I saw the '2Cellos' (playing on YouTube) and I really wanted to be like them when I was older. It sounded cool and the strings on the bows were flying. Some of the songs I learn are really cool and they really suit the sounds of the cello”
Tomas, Year 3
First year cello student 2CELLOS ThunderStruck Video