The aim of the APC teaching programme is to develop our pupils' creativity in music through weekly classes, informal sessions, attendance at musical performances, master classes and performance opportunities. Weekly tuition is provided on Monday nights at St.Patrick's Grammar School, Cathedral Road, Armagh (the school is behind St. Patrick's Cathedral), except for the Adult Fiddle Classes which are on Tuesdays at 12 Victoria Street from 7.30 - 8.30pm.

APC's music education programme caters for musicians from a large area comprising most of the northern and border counties. Weekly classes provide tuition for over 210 children and adults in both instrumental music and singing. The classes are taught by experienced teachers, all of whom are excellent musicians. Many of these are professional musicians, while others have university degrees and post-graduate qualifications. Senior students are also given an opportunity to teach small groups.

APC tutors include

• Pipes:
  Tiarnán Ó Duinnchinn, Eamonn Curran, Brian Vallely, Sinéad Lennon, Jim Hanna


• Flute:
  Martin Meehan, Gough Glenn, Emma Murphy


• Tin whistle:
  Louise Hughes, Orlaith Hughes, Conor Mallon


• Fiddle:
  Thomas Smyth, Justin Toner, Martina Murphy, Eithne Vallely, Carmel Toner, Niall Murphy, Rosie Smyth


• Button accordion:
  Gerry Lappin, Caroline Judge


• Banjo:
  Mark Mohan, Dermot Mulholland, Katriona Meehan


• Harp:
  Laura Henderson, Bernadette Nic Aoidh


• Concertina:
  Dara Vallely, Ciaran Hanna, Joan Kiernan


• Singing:
  Thirza Mulder, Eithne Vallely

Once a month, classes are replaced by a Family Session, where all pupils have an opportunity to play together in an informal way.

Listening to live music is the most important part of the learning process in music so the third element in our music education programme is the monthly concert series held on the first Friday of each month in St. Patrick's Trian. Each concert focuses on the music of one singer and one instrumentalist, performing acoustically. Following each concert on the Saturday morning are master classes in singing (all levels) and an instrumental class (usually for intermediate to advanced levels). A wide range of classes and workshops are also available during the annual William Kennedy Piping Festival.

These three activities - weekly classes, monthly sessions, monthly concerts + master classes - form the teaching programme of Armagh Pipers Club and pupils are expected to attend all three. Regular practice is essential as is regular attendance at all club activities. Absence from classes/concerts/sessions should be explained by telephone/e-mail/letter.

Teaching materials
Junior pupils are taught using the various tutor books produced by APC. These are accompanied by CD or cassette recordings to use when practising at home. All pupils are taught to read music, enabling them to access a wide range of published music. Advanced classes are taught aurally and pupils are expected to bring along their own recorder e.g. minidisc/cassette/MP3 etc. (mobile phones are not adequate). The Club also has a large archive of recordings, music collections and tune/song transcriptions. Pupils should aim to build up a collection of traditional music recordings. Every family should have a copy of the APC 40th anniversary CD, and the WKPF CD.

Singing
There are 3 Singing Classes each week. Beginners Singing is 6 - 6.30. Two other Singing Classes, one at 6.30 and one at 7.30 provide an opportunity to combine singing and instrumental lessons on the same evening. Junior and Senior Singers are expected to attend monthly master classes in conjunction with Trad at the Trian.

Music Groups
Term 1 teaching will be in single instrument classes. In the second Term, we will divide junior and senior classes into mixed instrumental groups where they will prepare pieces for performance at the Annual Concert in April. From time to time other groups, such as the String Band and the Junior String Quartet, will have additional rehearsal time allocated.

ST. PATRICK'S GRAMMAR SCHOOL
We are indebted to Fr. Kevin Donaghy for allowing us to hold our classes in the school. We expect all our pupils to respect the building and leave the classrooms tidy. The Assembly Hall is available for pupils to do their homework, and for parents to wait for their children. Please remember that APC teachers are only responsible for children while they are attending classes - outside of this time they must be supervised by their parents or collected immediately after classes. We also ask parents to park in designated parking spaces and to drive carefully especially in the winter when the car park is very dark.