MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2016: Merlin Academy of Traditional Music

Congratulations to Merlin Academy of Traditional Music who have been nominated in Community Project of the Year sponsored by Gordon Duncan Memorial Trust in the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards 2016. Vote now!

We asked Bridget Gray of Merlin Academy of Traditional Music the following questions.

Tell us about yourself
The Merlin Music Academy was founded in 2011 as a Traditional music education business and is based in the very attractive Borders town of Melrose. We think we are pretty unique in this country as we receive no funding from public bodies and rely completely on income from students and from our cafe. We teach traditional folk, blues and acoustic music to all age groups (our oldest is 85 and youngest 5) and abilities within our 2 buildings in Melrose. We first started teaching Fiddle, Guitar and Accordion but have now grown considerably and offer music tuition over a huge range of instruments. We have over 13 tutors working at the Academy all of whom are extremely passionate about offering first class tuition within a friendly, supportive and very importantly fun environment. We believe that music tuition should be available to anyone with an interest in music and you are never too old to learn! We have also recently started running Guitar and Fiddle classes on a Tuesday evening in our new centre in Musselburgh.
Here is a list of just some of the teaching on offer at the Academy:-

Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Fiddle, Saxophone, Alto Sax, Clarinet, Recorder, Flute, Piano, Keyboard, Drums, Percussion, Accordion, Vocal/Singer Song Writing groups, Rock Blues Band – mixed instruments, Traditional Adult Band – mixed instrument, Harmony Singing Group.

Why are you involved in Scottish music?
The Merlin Music Academy has been teaching Scottish and other roots music since it was set up in 2011 as a result of a lifetime's involvement in Scottish music by it's directors. Music Director Iain Fraser has been playing and teaching Scottish music for most of his life. The directors have all been involved in Scottish Music because of it's value culturally, it's energy and diversity. We all get a great buzz from seeing how the next generation are continuing the tradition as well as helping adult learners rediscover their music roots.

Any particular career highlights?
A highlight for us was to realise that we were bursting at the seams trying to accommodate students in our small shop and therefore had to expand into two buildings with five teaching rooms and a small performing space. An unexpected highlight was just how many students have continued to learn with us since we first set up and how they have progressed year on year and developed great skills as musicians.

What are your plans for the future?
Our future plans are to continue to offer high quality teaching in a fun and social atmosphere and to widen access to music-making including local concerts and working with other partners. As well as continuing to build our teaching capacity in Melrose we want to expand our small teaching base in Musselburgh and perhaps look at other areas of Scotland in the future.

If you would like to come along to the MG ALBA Scots Trad Music Awards in Dundee’s Caird Hall call the Caird Hall box office on (01382) 434940 or buy online.