Music at Trafalgar High School
At Trafalgar High School, our thriving and engaging Music program has embedded the Musical Futures approach, with a particular focus on modern contemporary music making. Students have the opportunity to learn and play a variety of instruments; including but not limited to guitar, piano, bass, drums, vocals, flute and saxophone; supported by lunchtime band rehearsals and band coaching sessions. Our school has classroom Music in Years 7 and Year 8, with Elective Music classes running in Year 9 and Year 10, continuing through into VCE Units 1-4 in Music Contemporary Performance for those students wishing to learn, further their instrumental skills and perform and immerse themselves in music. Music is a cultural and creative outlet for the vast majority of society and it is a subject that can be both a potential career pathway or a subject that students undertake for their own personal interest and creative development. It is always good to have a balance of subjects at school and subjects like Music can make a huge difference in a student's wellbeing as they move through their schooling.
Music Tuition
Students are offered the opportunity to take private music lessons (pay-as-you-play lessons at a flat-rate cost of $150 per term, per instrumental lesson in 2026) with our engaging and suitably qualified music instructors. These lessons are an extra-curricular activity and our 30 minute, weekly, music lessons are scheduled during school hours throughout the week; some lessons are available after school upon need/request and are scheduled on a case by case basis. Students are encouraged to take up the opportunity to form and work in bands, duos or as solo artists when their interest and skills are at a suitable level and thus, they can begin to develop their own musicality and focus on developing their own individual tastes in music.
Performance Opportunities
We host regular events for students to showcase their musical skills, from lunchtime jam sessions, band rehearsals, recording sessions, Open Mic Nights, music workshops and our Traf High Live All-Ages Shows, as well as our end of year, outdoor, live music festival and art show, normally held in late November each year.
Give Your Child the Best Opportunity
If your child is musical, currently plays an instrument or wants to play an instrument, loves learning and performing music, loves modern music of any style, wants to be in a rock/pop/indy/funk band, or perform as a duo, or solo artist; if they want to write, record and produce music and have access to the best permanently set up and purpose built music facility in Gippsland, then enroll them at Trafalgar High School. By enrolling your child at our school, you are giving them the best opportunity to discover who they are as young musicians, to learn technical and relevant musical skills and to find out what musical styles interest them the most. Music is about individuality, culture, creativity and connection; all things we value highly in our Music program, so by enrolling your child to learn Music at Trafalgar High School, you could make a huge difference to their creative life, wellbeing and future as a musician.
AMEB Rock School Exams
Trafalgar High School offers students the AMEB Rock School syllabus and access to music lessons and exam preparation to undertake these AMEB qualifications. If your child would like to know more, or, undertake the AMEB Rock School course on their chosen instrument; RS Guitar (Electric or Acoustic), RS Bass, RS Drums, RS Keys or Piano and RS Vocals, please get in touch with the school's music coordinator at music@trafalgarhs.vic.edu.au or by calling the school during business hours.
Click here to download the Music Tuition Form for 2026.
Traf High Live – All Ages Events
Trafalgar High School hosts regular monthly Open Mic Nights for underaged youth and also regular all aged shows with professional bands from Melbourne and surrounds performing for the youth in our region. At these professional shows, local youth bands are offered the opportunity to perform a 20-30min set as the support band for these shows, providing young musicians with a real-world gig experience and the chance to chat with professional musicians, ask questions, network and learn more about live music performance. As well as the students from our own school, we offer this live performance opportunity to young musicians from other schools in our region, to come and perform on a professional stage. This has been a huge success over the past two years and we we are constantly building up these events, with regulars and new performers gracing the stage at each show. We can easily host solo, duos and full band performances and have recently upgraded our live sound system thanks to a grant from Trafalgar Community Bendigo Bank and Rotary Trafalgar, future-proofing our stage for many years to come. We have a growing audience ranging from 70-100 people depending on the type of show and we are very excited to see these regular performance events getting stronger each month. These shows are generally hosted between Wednesdays and Fridays and normally run from around 6:00pm until 9:00pm to allow for the most amount of access to all-aged live music for the youth in our region. Students wishing to perform, just need to see the staff in the music department and or sign up for the next Open Mic Night using the sign up sheets on instagram (@theartsattrafhigh) or the posters in the music building. Promotion and event information is posted on our instagram account, the school FaceBook page, Compass and posters and these are open to youths from all around the community.
All of the photos above were taken at some of our Traf High Live shows and feature both students and professional bands on stage at Trafalgar High School.
As part of the Traf High Live project, we are currently beginning a recording project for youth bands and music artists and aim to be self-sufficient and able to undertake more professional music recording in our own facility. Stay tuned for more!
To learn more about our classroom music, elective music and VCE music programs, or, our instrumental music program, please contact our school’s music coordinator during school hours on (03) 5633 1733. Lesson forms are available in the link at the top of the page and all completed forms should be returned to the music coordinator or general office and will be forwarded to the music coordinator and appropriate instrumental teaching staff.
