The School of Musical

Instrument Crafts

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2 | www.lincolncollege.ac.uk | +44 (0)1636 680680

Introduction
The School of Musical Instrument Crafts,
based at Newark College has been established
since 1972. It enjoys an enviable reputation
worldwide as a centre of excellence for the
time-honoured traditional crafts of instrument
making, restoration and repair. The College
Diploma is highly regarded by professionals in
the trade.
Students compete for places from all over
the world, current students hail from China,
Korea, Iceland, Japan and the United States.
The School is the only centre in the UK to
offer a full range of practically based courses
in making, restoring and repairing the violin
family of stringed instruments, woodwind
instruments, classical guitar and training in
piano tuning and restoration.
Students come to the College for a variety of
reasons: recognising that the training they
receive is the best grounding they could have;
to gain and further develop their skills, or just
to pursue the craft they love.
We have a diverse student community with
a mix of ages, nationalities and backgrounds
who share a common commitment to keep
these traditional crafts alive.

Our strength lies in the fact that training is

based at the workbench, rather than at the
desk. This makes sure that students leave
with the highest quality practical skills and
understanding.
Most of our teaching staff work as
professionals in the trade so they stay up
to date with the changing demands of the
industry. All staff are committed to tailoring
the programme to individuals own needs,
skills and aspirations by offering one-to-one
support.
The School continues to lead the way,
developing standards that are recognised
throughout the world by the trade and
producing prize winning students.
Our annual open day provides a chance
for students to showcase the instruments
they have made. Later we congratulate our
graduating students with an awards evening
and hear professional musicians choose
and play instruments made by students in a
graduation concert.

Our Patrons
Dutch violinist Tim Kliphuis is classically
trained and widely regarded as the inheritor of
the Stephane Grappelli crown.
Kliphuis first made his name playing with
the fiery European gypsy guitarists but soon
developed a crossover style taking him to
classical, jazz and folk venues across the world.
The Violin School is proud to have him as its
ambassador. He says Newark College offers
one of the very few violin making courses in
the world and has an international impact
on violin making through its students and
seminars. I have seen some beautifully crafted
instruments come out of the Newark and
strongly support this important school.

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Pierre Bensusan was described by the L.A.

Times as one of the most unique and brilliant
acoustic guitar veterans in the world music
scene today. He was voted Best World
Music Guitar Player in 2008 by Guitar Player
Magazine Readers Choice. Pierre says I am
happy to be a patron of the guitar school and
to bring my contribution in promoting this
great programme.

Newark College

Newark Town

While the School of Musical Instrument Crafts is

a closely knit family of like-minded craftspeople
working together to develop their skills, it
is also part of a thriving College community
where students benefit from a wide range of
facilities.
Support with finding accommodation
Advice on welfare and financial issues
Access to IT and specialist books and journals
Access to language support
Use of sports and gym facilities
Involvement in activities such as the choir or
orchestra
Opportunities to get discounted tickets to
classical concerts in the town.

Newark itself is a charming and thriving market

town with an active open market in the town
centre five days a week. Newark has a full range
of retail, cultural and leisure facilities, high
quality yet affordable housing and a unique
community atmosphere. The town is host to
a growing number of events that celebrate
music. These include annual jazz and folk
festivals which our students often take part in.
Nestling in the heart of the East Midlands,
Newark has excellent communication links
by road, rail and air to the rest of the UK and
the world. The busy cities of Nottingham
and Lincoln are 30 minutes by car or train.
Nottingham East Midlands Airport is an hour
away and a high-speed rail link means that
London can be reached in just over one hour.

Guitar Making

This highly specialised practical programme

was established in 1984 and is situated at
the heart of the college campus. It teaches
the craft of making classical and steel
stringed guitars using the traditional Spanish
method. The colleges position as the leading
classical and acoustic guitar making centre is
recognised throughout Europe and therefore
the course attracts many overseas students.

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The programme consists of two stages and by

the end students will have built a minimum
of two guitars of contrasting designs. The
programme equips students with the
knowledge and practical skills that will enable
them to be guitar makers in their own right.
The tutors are all professional makers and
teach a range of techniques and expertise. The
School has close links with players and other
makers who visit to lead special workshops
and discussions, as well as providing students
with valuable feedback and comments about
their work. Recent visitors have included the
internationally renowned musicians John
Williams, John Etheridge, Clive Carroll, Paul
Gregory, Mark Ashford and Pierre Bensusan.
Visiting guitar makers have included Paul
Fischer, Gary Southwell and David Reid and
N.K. Forster.
The schools position as a leading classical and
steel string guitar making centre, recognised
throughout Europe, has been further
enhanced by the support of its patron Pierre
Bensusan.

Guitar Making
Guitar Making (Foundation)
The course is practical and takes place in
specialist workshops fitted with benches,
specialist tools and space to store work and
materials. Specialist books and journals are
also available in our library.
Students learn to make either a guitar based
on a design by Antonio de Torres or a steel
string guitar based on a Martin 00.
The course is made up of units that develop
practical skills such as creating working
drawings, jigs, necks, soundboards, back and
ribs, fingerboard, strutting and bridges and
learning how to design and make rosettes.
Students keep a record of the making process
by documenting everything in a journal or
sketchbook.
All the components are made, then assembled
and finished with French polish or oil.

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Students are also introduced to the history,

influences and development of guitar design
and the woods and materials suitable for
guitar design.
Students will also learn to manufacture their
own hand tools for guitar making and gain a
separate NVQ qualification for this work.
Duration
The Foundation stage takes one year of study,
consisting of 36 weeks divided into 3 terms.
Entry requirements
Previous experience or qualification in basic
woodwork such as basic cabinet making is
desirable. Selection is based on interview.
It can be an advantage to play the guitar but
this is not essential.

Guitar Making (Advanced)

The Advanced Guitar Making Diploma

This stage of the programme builds on the

Foundation year. At this advanced level
students learn the craft of making classical,
flamenco, steel stringed or arch-top guitars.
Students are encouraged to develop their
own design ideas and refine techniques to
produce more complex rosettes, neck joints,
internal construction and other features of
a professional standard instrument. Some
students choose to make a guitar following
the latest trends in guitar making, such as the
lattice-braced system.

Students who successfully complete the

advanced course will be able to present two
guitars together with supporting sketchbook
or journals to gain the much valued Newark
College Diploma in Guitar Making. The quality
is judged and graded.

This second year includes the study of

acoustics and guidance on how to set up your
own business as a guitar maker. Students
make specialist precision tools that they
can keep and use in their own work. This
work again leads towards a separate NVQ
qualification.

Duration
The Advanced stage takes one year of study,
consisting of 36 weeks divided into 3 terms.
Entry requirements
Completion of the Foundation year or an
equivalent experience or qualification is
essential.

Piano

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The Piano School is the UK centre of excellence

for piano tuning, restoration and repair.
Designed for those who wish to work in the
piano industry as a tuner or technician, this
programme is recognised as the only one of its
kind in the UK and valued throughout the world.
The school is situated in specialist facilities close
to the main college campus giving easy access
to the college facilities and the town centre.
Amongst our well-lit facilities, we boast sixteen
individual tuning rooms containing more
than forty pianos, which are used exclusively
for piano tuning practice. Our dedicated
workshops and tuning booths are fitted with
suitable workbenches and tool storage facilities
compliant with health and safety regulations
and COSHH. Large stocks of piano trade
materials and replacement parts are available
including felts, cloths, leathers, springs and case
parts. This helps to ensure that the students
gain practical experience of all aspects of piano
restoration and repair on a range of upright and
grand pianos.
The students gain good links with the
industry through visiting speakers from trade
organisations and suppliers. Graduating
students enjoy a range of job opportunities
either employed directly by retail shops and
manufacturers or on a self-employed basis. The
Steinway Company, amongst others, recruits
directly from the Piano School.
This programme has been recognised for
accommodating visually impaired learners.

Piano

Piano Tuning, Restoration and Repair

(Foundation)
This stage of the programme acts as an
introduction to the world of piano tuning and
repair in its broadest sense. It assumes no prior
knowledge of music, pianos or the piano trade
and develops skills and understanding from
the bottom up.
The course is based in the workshop and
largely practical. It centres on four main
elements; piano tuning, chipping up (a type
of rough tuning), repairs to the mechanism
including replacing felts, case repair including
French polishing.
Other aspects of the course include materials
and their application, the history and
development of the piano, woodworking for
instrument makers and health and safety.

12 | www.lincolncollege.ac.uk | +44 (0)1636 680680

Students will also learn to manufacture their

own hand tools for piano tuning and repair
and gain a separate NVQ qualification for this
work.
Successful completion enables progression to
the advanced stage.
Duration
The Foundation stage takes one year of study,
consisting of 36 weeks divided into 3 terms.
Entry requirements
No formal qualifications required. Each
application is treated on its own merits.
Selection is based on interview.

Piano Tuning, Restoration and Repair

(Advanced)
This stage of the programme is designed to
build on the Foundation year and prepare
successful learners with the skills needed
to join the piano trade. It develops skills,
techniques and understanding based on
commercial standards of quality and time.
The advanced course covers all aspects of
piano tuning on both upright and grand
pianos. It also covers everything from
minor maintenance tasks as performed in a
customers home, to full workshop restoration
and refurbishment.
The programme is based in the workshops
and mainly practical. It involves demonstration
and explanation but increasingly becomes
self directed as concepts and techniques
are practised by the learner. Main elements
include; upright and grand piano fine tuning,
restringing, action overhaul, setting up and
regulating, case restoration and polishing.
This advanced stage includes the study
of acoustics and prepares students for
employment or self employment by
introducing basic business planning and
practices.
A comprehensive range of specific piano
repairing tools as well as woodworking tools,
standard hand tools, electrical tools and
abrasives are available for students to use.
Students make specialist tools for piano
tuning and repair that they can keep and use
in their own work. They gain an NVQ for this
work.

The Piano Tuning and Repair Diploma

At the end of the Advanced stage students
can sit a timed tuning exam. The work is a
marked and graded to recognise the quality of
the standards reached.
Duration
The Advanced stage takes two years of study,
each year consists of 36 weeks divided into 3
terms.
Entry requirements
Completion of the Foundation year or an
equivalent experience or qualification is
essential.

Violin

This highly-acclaimed and internationallyrecognised Violin School provides a wide

range of instrument making skills for violin,
viola and cello. It also teaches professional
techniques for the repair and restoration
of stringed instruments covering the main
requirements of the violin trade. Bow repair
classes are a recent addition. All of these
skills are as much in demand today as they
were 300 or 400 years ago. Located in the
centre of Newark, a short walk from the main
college campus, the school has developed
links with the Italian violin making centre of
Cremona (home to the maker of the famous
Stradivarius) and Mittenwald in Germany.

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J & A Beare of London have a long and

distinguished history in violin dealing and
expertise dating back to 1892. Beares act as
consultants to the programme and assess the
Diploma awarded in the Advanced stage.
The success of the course lies in its
combination of enthusiastic and experienced
tutors, comprehensive course materials and
practical demonstrations complimented by
workshop time. The emphasis is on allowing
the student to gain as much practical
experience as possible.

Violin

Violin Making (Foundation)

Students make a violin based on the Stradivari
design to develop their skills and techniques
in making instruments. These include; the
use of hardwoods and softwoods, use and
maintenance of tools, marking out from plans
and data sheets, template and jig making,
joints used in instrument making and types
and use of adhesives.
Students make a personal set of specialist
violin making tools and gain a separate
qualification for this work.
Duration
The Foundation stage takes one year of study,
consisting of 36 weeks divided into 3 terms.

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Entry requirements
Previous experience or qualification in basic
woodwork such as basic cabinet making is
required. Selection is based on interview.
The ability to play an instrument is desirable
but not essential.

Violin Making and Repair

(Intermediate and Advanced)
The aim of these stages of the programme is
to instruct students in all aspects construction
and repair of violins to the highest standards.
This serves as an apprenticeship to the
Lutherie trade.
During the first year of the intermediate
stage students develop methods of
construction and practice the necessary
craft skills including varnishing and fitting
up instruments. Students also make the
templates and jigs required. They will also
study acoustics and learn business planning
as well as extending their historical and
theoretical knowledge of classical stringed
instruments.
In the second year at intermediate stage,
students will be introduced to repair and
restoration techniques and also learn how to
repair bows.
In the third year students work to advanced
standards with the choice of making violins,
violas or cellos.

The Violin Making Diploma

Students who successfully complete the
advanced year can choose to take a five week
exam at the end of the year. The task, set by
Newark staff and adjudicated by J & A Beare of
London to international competition standard,
is to make a Stradivari violin (in the white).
Final marks are awarded by Beares.
This Newark College Violin Making Diploma
is only available at Newark and is recognised
throughout the world by the trade.
Duration
The Intermediate/Advanced stages take three
years of study, each year consists of 36 weeks
divided into 3 terms.
Entry requirements
Completion of the Foundation year or an
equivalent experience or qualification is
essential.

Woodwind

The Woodwind programme has a worldwide

reputation for producing skilled craftspeople
able to repair the whole range of instruments
in the woodwind family, from piccolo to
saxophone. The course also includes the
making of a complete Boehm system clarinet
from basic raw materials.
The programme is housed on the main
campus providing easy access to computer
facilities, specialist books and other college
amenities.

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The programme has excellent links with

the trade. Companies regularly contact the
college to offer employment opportunities.
Our graduate students work for a wide range
of instrument manufacturers and repairers.
Many have also started their own successful
businesses, and in turn provide employment
for other students as they graduate.

Woodwind

Woodwind Instrument Making and Repair

(Foundation)
This stage of the programme aims to
introduce the precision skills needed to repair
the whole range of woodwind instruments.
Practical skills are taught in our well equipped
workshop.
Students learn a range of repair skills from
the basic replacement of pads to complete
overhauls of a clarinet, flute, oboe and
saxophone. They will also be able to carry out
basic fault finding and diagnose repairs.
Students learn to turn wood and metal
and manufacture their own hand tools for
instrument making and repair e.g. screwdriver,
spring hitch, pad slicks and bench pegs
gaining a separate NVQ qualification for this
work.

20 | www.lincolncollege.ac.uk | +44 (0)1636 680680

Duration
The Foundation stage takes one year of study,
consisting of 36 weeks divided into 3 terms.
Entry requirements
No formal qualifications required. Each
application is treated on its own merits.
Selection is based on interview.

Woodwind Instrument Making and Repair

(Advanced)

Woodwind Instrument Making and Repair

(Metal Bodied)

This advanced stage of the programme builds

on the repair skills gained at Foundation level
and also provides the basic skills for those
wishing to make woodwind instruments.
Making woodwind instruments involves
measuring and manufacturing techniques,
tool design, turning a clarinet body, specialist
making, mounting and finishing skills, Work
begins on the construction of the individual
clarinet.

There is an option for advanced level students

with suitable experience to focus just on the
repair and making of metal bodied wind
instruments alone if they choose.

The range of instruments for repair widens to

include bassoon and piccolo.
Fault finding and repair techniques continue
and include the replacement of tenons, tone
holes and repair of dents in metal bodied
instruments.
Students also study acoustics and learn how
about running a business to prepare them for
employment.
Students make a range of tools useful to the
woodwind instrument repairer. A separate
NVQ qualification is gained for this work.
In the second year of this stage repair and
making techniques reach advanced standards.
The clarinet making is completed and
students can opt to experiment with flute
making techniques.
Advanced and speed repair techniques are
introduced and range of instruments extends
to bass clarinet and cor anglais.

The Woodwind Diploma

At the end of the Advanced level, students
who have made a clarinet and successfully
carried out speed repairs under exam
conditions can receive the Newark College
Woodwind Diploma. The work is a marked and
graded to recognise the quality of the work.
Duration
The Advanced stage takes two years of study,
each year consists of 36 weeks divided into 3
terms.
Entry requirements
Completion of the Foundation year or an
equivalent experience or qualification is
essential.

Qualifications
All our main qualifications are Newark College
certificates. These are validated and monitored
by respected organisations and professionals
in the trade and respected throughout
Europe. Moderators from these organisations
visit each year to review standards of practical
work, written work and tests.
All students make their own precision tools
and the qualifications they gain are NVQ levels
1 and 2. These qualifications are validated by
EAL and nationally recognised.
Materials
The cost of materials needed to complete the
programmes in this brochure varies according
to the subject and stage. These costs are often
part of the course fee which is published
seperately. Details are provided at interview.

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Tools
You may be given a list of tools to bring
to college with you when you start the
programme. Others may be provided for you.
Some precision tools can be expensive so the
tool making class is a valuable feature of each
programme and enables students to make
their own precision tools for a fraction of what
it would cost to buy them.
Fees
Fees include the cost of tuition, examination
entry and certification as well as the cost of
many materials. The fees are due at the start of
each academic year and are subject to annual
review. Details are available at interview.

International
students
We welcome applications from people outside
the EEU. For students whose first language
is not English they will need to demonstrate
a standard of English equivalent to B1of the
Common European Framework of Reference
for Language.

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If international students are offered a place

at Newark College they will need to get a UK
(Tier 4) students visa before they start the
course.

Newark College
Friary Road
Newark
NG24 1PB
+ 44 (0)1636 680680
www.lincolncollege.ac.uk
enquiries@lincolncollege.ac.uk

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