Music students treated to Royal Albert Hall masterclass

Oaklands College music students visited the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 21 November.

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Oaklands College music students visited the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington, London on Wednesday 21 November, as part of the concert hall’s Albert Sessions and were treated to a workshop masterclass from New Zealand-born Unknown Mortal Orchestra (UMO) frontman, Ruban Nielson.

Oaklands’ students had the opportunity to work with Ruban Nielson and his close-friend Jack Sharp, who is a member of the band ‘Wolf People’.

Students performed covers and their own original songs in front of the two musicians, who gave feedback and advice to the young performers.

The college’s music students, who benefitted from a wide range of advice and tips throughout the day, were given 10 tips on song writing and how to stand out within the music industry such as;

  1. Find some part of your personality that makes you who you are and translate that into sound, you’ll learn how to manoeuvre the technical ‘stuff’ with time but you need something soulful to begin with.
  2. Play as much as you can to develop experience, when Ruban was in his first band, The Min Chicks, with his brother, they played any show they could get.
  3. Don’t wait for the industry to make things happen for you, it’s not going to help you make your music. Write, play and develop as musicians
  4. You may not make any money for a long period of time and it will be hard work
  5. You can build your audience online a lot, but it’s not so much a matter of how many people listen to you, but who listens to you. Make something good, have the right people help you and work hard!

Ruban added: “You’ve got to remember that at some point you’ll need to get away from technology and YouTube tutorials and just start working on your songs” Explaining: “One night, we played three shows in a row, driving, loading and unloading our gear from the car at each venue.”

If you’re interested in our engaging and practical music courses you can discover more about the courses available at Oaklands College here.

(Photo Credit: Charles Henderson)

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