The Irish Music School of Chicago

The Irish Music School of Chicago teaches children and adults as it has been done for generations in Ireland and Irish communities around the world: as a collaboration between Irish musicians, teachers, students and the community itself.

Students learn almost entirely by ear with little to no reference to written music. The School does more than just teach students the tunes, though. In keeping with the tradition of Irish music, the School tells the stories behind the tunes, and the significance of being part of a living musical community, a community that values its senior members and is much larger than any individual.

From the first day, our students have fun with Irish music. By acquiring creative and social outlets that will last them a lifetime, they are able to make friends wherever they go. Our teaching philosophy demands that our students have access to and participate in all forms of Irish music.

As such, they learn how to perform in front of audiences, how to play for hours at sessions, how to play for dancers and how to help others learn to play. They can arrange themselves into groups, decide which tunes to play, and then figure out and memorize their own accompaniment parts and arrangements. Many of our students can do these things on multiple instruments.