Jake Murphy (17) from Portadown, is developing his musical skills and learning in an environment that feels right for him through the Level 2 Traineeship in Music at SERC.
Jake developed a keen interest in music while studying for his GCSEs. After completing them, he decided to look at other education pathways to study music as it was not available at his school. Researching his options online, Jake found out about the Level 2 Traineeship in Music at SERC’s Lisburn Campus and enrolled on the course.
Jake comments, “When it comes to music, I’m a big fan of getting into a room and immersing myself in the process of learning while I practice playing. At home, that can be a bit difficult, but in SERC it feels like a great environment for it – I feel really engaged with the information I’m learning in class. We learn a lot about performance which includes planning a music show for ourselves and working together with other students on a group project. We also learn a lot about music production through using Digital Audio Workstations like Logic Pro, Pro Tools and FL Studio, and how to set up and use equipment such as microphones and amplifiers. Self-promotion is also covered on the course, so we had to set up a web page about ourselves and the music we make.
“The most important unit on the course, in my opinion, is self-development. Over the course of a couple of weeks students targeted one area of the course we wanted to focus on. I chose music theory as it’s something I didn’t know too much about before joining the course. Since I made that area my target, I spent a lot of time learning and improving my knowledge of music theory. I could see how I had progressed in that area when l looked back to my starting point.
“As part of course, we have a placement element which is fulfilled by practical live performances we do throughout the year. We did a big show just before Christmas in which we all performed live music, and a tutorial show at Halloween in which we worked together to set up for another band. It’s great experience for improving your public performance ability and helps strengthen your technical skills in setting up equipment.”
Offering advice to anyone completing their GCSEs, Jake said, “To anyone thinking about their next steps, I would definitely encourage them to consider coming to an FE college such as SERC – it gets you out of your comfort zone and into the wider world, and is a very different learning environment from school. I honestly found school quite difficult, just sitting in a classroom with lots of other students. I suffer from cluster migraines, so the louder and more crowded nature of a school made learning difficult. At SERC, the classrooms are smaller and, ironically as a music student, less noisy than my experience at school. Learning, and progress, feels a lot easier now.”
Jake concluded, “I would recommend SERC - there’s a good vibe on my course. There are also pathways for progression. I want to go on to the Level 3 Music here at the college after my traineeship. The equipment you use on the course is high quality and the tutors are easy to talk to and know how to motivate you to do your best.”
There is still time to apply for courses commencing September 2026.
