Our Christmas Concert on December 11th was a big success. For many students it was their first time performing in front of an audience, they all did so well to get through their pieces. It was also great to see the progression of the students who performed at last year.
The concert was held at St Aidan's Church in Wheatley Hills, a wonderful venue, with a lot of character and great acoustics!

Our students have been writing their own spooky pieces for Halloween. They have all done so well and we are pleased with all pieces submitted for the contest.

The winners are:
Best piano composition.
1st place: Susie 
2nd place: Anna 
3rd place: Rayna 

Best instrumental composition.
1st place: Paul 
2nd place: 

Most popular piece as voted by the public.
​Penelope Brown

Check out the student's pieces on our Facebook page ​Monelly Music | Doncaster | Facebook

Congratulations to our exam students this term.
​
Penelope - passed grade 1 piano with distinction
Paul - passed grade 1 violin with distinction
Evan - passed grade 3 violin with distinction

All 3 students have shown a dedication to their instruments, and have put in a lot of hard work at home. This shows the importance of practice, it really does get results!

 Our own Corinna Monelly is playing piano, and singing for this online talent show Sunday May 2nd at 7pm. There’s a variety of other brilliant acts too!!! £5 for full access to the show, all proceeds go to Bluebell Wood Childrens' Hospice and The Sick Childrens' Trust.
Buy your ticket here at £5: https://paypal.me/pools/c/8vVTQspWj2

We have been following the updates from the government and it looks like the return date for all Monelly Music activities is April 12th. 
This includes private instrumental tuition at our studio and our baby/toddler music class on Wednesday's at Edenthorpe Community Centre. 
We are taking enquiries and bookings now in anticipation for our return on April 12th. 

As I've had a few enquires from adults keen to learn something new after the restrictions lift, I thought I'd address a common worry from potential adult students. The answer to this is "no, you can never be too old!" In fact there are a few advantages that adults have over children when it comes to learning an instrument. I'll go over the main two that I've noticed in my teaching experience.
1. Focus and attention to detail. Adults are better at being focused and can keep their concentration for longer which helps as playing music requires reading, counting, technical ability and expressiveness. Adults also protect their practice time as they understand that getting good results depends on how much practice they do. 
2. Having life experience means that adults can interpret what they are playing into meaningful expression. This means that for them playing music is a stress reliever and are more likely to practice. 
This is not to say that children are incapable of concentration or that they can't learn how to play their instrument with emotion; I have some wonderful students who are very young. All it means is that they need to be reminded  to do these things by their parents and teacher.
If you are an adult wishing to learn an instrument there is nothing stopping you! :-) 

Since having our daughter in 2018 we have been researching into the influence music has on babies and toddlers. The most striking thing we discovered is that listening to music on a recorded track simply does not activate a child's brain the same way that listening to live music does. This is why we have put together a music class that is filled with live playing. Consistent exposure to music in this way will help your child's literacy, numeracy, coordination and creativity
​  In our classes you can expect the usual elements that all children enjoy including nursery rhymes, bubbles, and finger puppets. However this is also a chance to explore a wider range of instruments than you would normally get in a baby class including violins and guitars. We will also explore movement through different pieces of classical music. ​