Saturday Folk Music Workshops

Photo: Kirstin Smith

Discover your inner folk!

Whether you want to learn to play from scratch, or improve your technique and musical confidence, come and enjoy high quality teaching from professional folk musicians.

Launched in 2008, the Saturday Folk Music Workshops aim to promote the musical traditions of the British Isles and beyond through song and folk instruments. We offer group classes in a range of folk instruments and song.

"The song workshop took me down paths I didn't know existed and opened doors to me: for example, I have now sung in folk clubs and have started my own folk club!" - participant

Summer Term 2013 - enrolments open!

20 & 27 April; 18 May; 1 & 22 June; 6 July

Who is it for?

Everyone over 16 years of age is welcome to join the Saturday Music Workshops. No prior experience of folk music is necessary - just a willingness to learn something new and enjoy making music in a celebratory, examination-free and sociable environment.

Please note that the content of the Saturday Folk Music Workshops follows a three term/annual cycle. Because of this we are unable to accept beginners in the summer term; if you are new to your instrument we recommend that you wait until the autumn term to enrol.

Class content

Our courses usually consist of 6 sessions, spread out over the term to give students time to practise. We run beginners and intermediate classes in banjo, accordion and fiddle, an intermediate folk ensemble class for group playing and an open level class in song. New for this year is our beginners Melodeon class. For detailed information on course content and other aspects of the courses, download our information pack at the bottom of this page.

Instrument Hire

Limited numbers of banjos, accordions and melodeons are available to students of the workshops to hire each term for a small fee plus a deposit. We also have details of where students can hire fiddles for our other classes. If you would like to hire an instrument please check availability first - contact the Education department for more information: education@efdss.org or 020 7485 2206 ex. 223. Then complete and send in the attached form with deposit and fee. Please check the Information Pack below for conditions of hire.

Tutors

Our tutors are all professional folk musicians who regularly perform, tour and teach. For a detailed list of tutors and more information, see the bottom of the page for the 'Tutor biographies' document.

How do I start?

Enrolments for summer 2013 are now open! Booking is essential - you may wish to contact us to check if a place is available for your class, to avoid disappointment. Please contact the Education department at EFDSS for more information and to be put on the contact list: education@efdss.org or 020 7485 2206 ex. 223.

To enrol, please download an enrolment form from the bottom of this page and return it to us enclosing a cheque for the course fee. Alternatively, you can pay by credit or debit card over the phone by contacting Nina/Jenny (Education Administrators) on the number above.

Annual enrolments via 3 standing order payments a year are available at a discounted price. As each class is designed as a yearly programme, we recommend enrolling for the whole year to get the most from your course. Annual enrolment forms with further information are available - please contact us for further details. Please note that you can only annually enroll in the autumn term.