Francis McPeake School of Music
Name: Francis McPeake School of Music
Business: Music School
Address: 2 Gloucester Street, Belfast, BT1 4LU
Telephone: 028 90 246 006
Website: www.francismcpeake.com
Situated in the heart of Belfast, only 5 minutes walk from City Hall is the Francis McPeake School of Music. AU had a chat with leading man Francis McPeake to hear about how folk music is still important today.
What got you into teaching folk music?
Well the McPeake family name has carried a lot of weight for over three generations. We’re a family business of world-reknowned folk musicians. The school started just over thirty years ago, and was originally intended to be just 6 weeks of tin whistle classes. The idea was to offer a slice of culture to young people during the seventies, when Irish roots were starting to get tangled up a little.
In October 2003 we moved into city centre in order to acquire a base of operations that was neutral to both sides of the community. Folk music is global, vibrant and most importantly young. We’re keen to shake off the typical image of a bunch of old men in the corner of a pub.
What makes the school different?
The school is focused not only on teaching pupils how to play their instruments. We operate with the mantra of ‘know your instrument, be practised, know your material’, but we also teach our pupils how to survive in the world of music as a whole. If you move outside of your own personal music style, whether its blues, rock, traditional or pop, you need to know the rules.
We offer classes in bodhran, banjo, fiddle, tin whistle, acoustic guitar, bazouki, pipes, flute. We’re also the only independent Irish music school, yet we have the highest number of professional musicians and all-Ireland champions. As a consequence, discipline is placed in high regard here. Talent will only go so far, and then hard work takes you the rest of the way.
Are there any unique services offered beyond the classes?
We run a recording studio here, too. What’s brilliant about it is that we’re one of very few studios based right in the city centre, and so very easy to find. The studio uses a recording system called Radar, which is designed for caputring live sound. We’re not too keen on over-dubbing here, preferring to keep the feeling behind the performance as much as possible, but if people wish to use it, we have Pro Tools available as well.
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