Frederich Chopin is often cited as saying of my instrument that “nothing is more beautiful than a guitar, save perhaps two.” As with many quotes this proves slippery to track down, but the idea of the poetic master of the piano reflecting on the beauty of two acoustic guitars playing together, perhaps informally in a 19th century drawing room, gives a resonant image - although perhaps today we might relate a twin guitar line up to the music of indie rock and progressive metal bands.

By Christian Miller. Guitar teacher

1. “Start with just 5–10 minutes a day — little and often works best.”2

2. “Practice can be messy — progress comes with repetition.”

3. “Praise effort, not perfection: ‘Great job trying the tricky bit!’”

4. “Find a calm spot to practise and keep a simple routine.”

5. “Break tough sections into tiny steps — it really helps.”

By Serena Sheane. Piano teacher

Lots of us want our children to access music and a musical education, but getting started can be a real challenge and quite daunting—especially if you yourself are not musical. This is where I’d like to offer some guidance and ideas. There are many different ways to bring music into children’s lives, but for this September blog I’ll focus on the very early years of learning.

By Agnes Hamilton, Founder & Director Pelican Music

Unbelievably, this year marks 10 years since I started Pelican Music – a decade of highs, lows, and everything in between. We’ve gone from me teaching Violin in my living room to 30 schools and over 100,000 lessons taught to well over 1,000 children at this point. Countless concerts (one with 500 students!), numerous scholarships, conservatoires through to university orchestras - we’ve supported countless musical journeys.

By Agnes Hamilton, Founder & Director Pelican Music

As musicians, performance is at the heart of what we do. We want to share our music making with as many people as possible. But building a great musical performance is about more than just knowing which notes to play. We all know how a piece of music can transport us emotionally and make is feel happy, sad, at peace or giddy with joy. And at Pelican we know that a perfectly plucked open string piece played on a half-size violin can move the audience to tears of joy just as a Bach can pull your heart strings, Beethoven can stir the soul and Bernstein set your toes a-tapping. 

By Fiona Williams

Don't worry! It's not impossible and we're here to help!  Here are my top five suggestions for achieving successful practice.

By Agnes Hamilton, Founder & Director Pelican Music