Youth is wasted on the young, they say. How many of us look back to the instrumental lessons we had as children and wish we’d kept playing? Recent research gives a clue to the scale: during lockdown, one million people took up an instrument, according to a 2021 UK Music survey, and Gear4Music saw its sales rise by 80 per cent in the first three months.
Clearly there is demand, and to meet this there are adult education services, local authority classes, and private teachers. But very few conservatoires offer even broad music classes, let alone instrumental lessons. So I was excited to discover that the Royal Irish Academy of Music (RIAM) in Dublin not only offers beginner classes for adults, but has also created a dedicated Adult Division. I got on a plane to find out more.
‘There are so many benefits of having time to do something away from your everyday life’
On a Monday evening in early
