Workshops
Professional music workshops brought directly to your school, youth organisation or community group — designed and delivered by working musicians at the Vocal & Music Academy, Leixlip, Co. Kildare.
“The best workshop our kids ever did.”
— Youth worker, Insync Leixlip, summer 2024
Workshop 1 — TY Songwriting
For Transition Year groups · 3 hours · 30 to 120 students · Musical experience beneficial but not required
We give every group the same chord progression from an unnamed famous/popular song and one simple task: write a song. Each group works in isolation. At the end of the session, every group performs.
The results are always completely different. Students who walked in thinking music was something that happened to other people walk out having made something entirely their own — and having witnessed at first hand what creativity actually means.
We use a real chord structure from a well-known song — but we don’t reveal which one. This frees students to respond to the music on their own terms. No instruments needed. Lyrics can be spoken, rapped, sung, or performed theatrically. There is no wrong answer.
What students get from it
| A real creative experience Not a music theory class. An afternoon of making something from nothing. |
A live performance Every group performs at the end. Students leave having actually done it. |
| Professional facilitation Delivered by professional music teachers, writing & recording musicians and experienced performers. |
No prep required from you We bring everything. You provide the space and the students. |
Group size: 30 to 120 students · Duration: 3 hours
Workshop 2 — The Performer’s Mindset
For Junior Cycle & Leaving Cert Music students · 2 hours · 12 to 20 students
Designed for Junior and Leaving cert students preparing for music practical exams, this workshop addresses the part of performance from a perspective almost nobody practices: what happens in your head when you walk into the room.
The examiner is not a judge waiting to catch a mistake. They are the only audience member in the room. Your job as the performer is to make them feel something. The mark follows from that experience — not from whether every note was correct.
Your preparation: the notes, the technique, the muscle memory. By the time you walk in, this is fixed. Trust it — don’t manage it.
“I want the person listening to feel ___.” That sentence is your north star. Everything — tempo, dynamics, phrasing — serves that intention.
How you enter. How you settle. The pause before you begin. The moment after the last note. These are how you signal to the listener: I am in charge of this room.
Group size: 12 to 30 students · Duration: 2 hours
Who delivers these workshops?
Every workshop is facilitated by working professional musicians from the Vocal & Music Academy. We teach, perform, record and have even toured. When we talk about nerves before a performance, or making a mistake on stage and keeping going — we’re talking from inside that experience.
Also available for youth organisations
The TY Songwriting Workshop works just as powerfully outside schools. If your organisation works with young people aged 12 and up, come to us or we can bring it to you — your space, your schedule, your group. Instruments or musical background necessarily required. If you work with Foróige, Youthreach, or any ETB or community youth programme, we’d love to talk.
Book a workshop or make an enquiry
We are scheduling workshops for the remainder of the 2025/26 academic year and taking bookings for September 2026 onwards. Fill in the form below and we’ll be in touch within one working day.
