Music

Therfield enjoys a thriving and active Music department. We have a large number of instrumental lessons taking place each week, as a result of our highly successful Year 7 Band Scheme and teaching input from Surrey Arts. Students and staff are regularly involved in concerts, recitals, festivals, and other performances and events in school and in the wider community. In 2007, the department relocated into new, state-of-the-art accommodation.

The Music Suite

In 2007, the Music department moved into new accommodation. This has enabled an already vibrant department to truly excel in what it can offer students and for students to achieve their full musical potential.

The accommodation comprises two main teaching rooms (D1 and D2), eight practice rooms (including an ensemble rehearsal room) and a recording studio. Both of the main teaching rooms have a network of 15 electronic keyboards linked to the teacher’s console which allows work to be monitored, recorded and for the teacher and various combinations of students to work together without interrupting others in the class. The keyboards in D1 are also linked to PCs running all the music software you would expect to find in a cutting edge department. D1 is a large room used during lunchtimes and after school for rehearsals by the orchestra, wind band, jazz band and other extra-curricular music groups. Parents and the public are invited to attend A Level and GCSE recitals in D1.

Of the eight practice rooms, four are most often used as group rehearsal spaces for students working in D2 and are accessed from it; three are routinely used by visiting instrumental teachers; and one (D3) is an ensemble/band practice room which also doubles as an A Level teaching room. All classrooms have interactive whiteboards. Since September 2007, A Level Music Technology has been offered to students alongside the more traditional Music A Level.

Year 7 Band Scheme

Through the Year 7 Band scheme around 30 Year 7 students, who are usually complete beginners, are supplied with a wind instrument, a tutor book and a year of instrumental lessons in small groups. Since the band was first run in 2001, the programme has met with great success. It was made possible by with the help of the Therfield Trust Fund, who purchased all the resources required in order to start the band, including a variety of brand new instruments for students to use.

The only charge to students is an instrumental service charge of £25 per term, used to keep the instruments in good working order. A weekly band practice takes place at 7.45am on a Wednesday morning, and the band performs together twice a year. Students must apply for a place in the band; information and forms are given to students during one of their first music lessons in September.

Instruments available for loan are:
Woodwind: Flute, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Brass: Trumpet, Trombone, Euphonium

Students may also use their own instruments in the band, although they may need to arrange their own lessons if they wish to learn an instrument which is not listed above. Students who have wanted to learn instruments such as the oboe or bassoon have done this in the past. Saxophone tuition can be provided by the school as part of the scheme but students will need to obtain their own instrument before commencing lessons.